Learning activities

Unit 4: Language variation and identity

In Unit 4 teachers should use a range of texts through which students explore how language use reflects and constructs identities. There is a particular focus on the connections in Australia between language use and ‘national identity’, and language varieties and individuals’ identities. Individuals’ identities are not fixed, but alter according to the ways in which they draw on their understanding of social expectations and community attitudes to shift their language style in a given context. Individuals’ identities are shaped by their capacity to access the overt or covert norms of a particular speech community.

Texts for analysis in Unit 4 should enable students to apply their knowledge of informal and formal language features in investigating varieties of Australian English and analysing how language choices reflect and construct identities. Non-Standard English can be used in some contexts to reinforce solidarity and the user’s sense of belonging, while simultaneously reinforcing social distance from those who are excluded. Standard English is generally associated with power and/or prestige, although attitudes towards language varieties will vary according to the context.

Teachers should select a range of texts that enables students to understand how language varieties are shaped by the situational and cultural elements of a given context.

Area of Study 1: Language variation in Australian society
Area of Study 2: Individual and group identities