VM Literacy Study Notes

In this area of study students will become familiar with and develop confidence in understanding and accessing texts of an informational, organisational or procedural nature. These texts should reflect real-life situations encountered by students and be representative of the sorts of texts students will encounter in a vocational setting or workplace, or for their health and participation in the community. Students will learn to recognise, analyse and evaluate the structures and semantic elements of informational, organisational and procedural texts as well as discuss and analyse their purpose and audience. Students will develop their confidence to deal with a range of technical content that they will encounter throughout adulthood, such as safety reports, public health initiatives, tax forms and advice, contracts, promotional videos and vocational and workplace texts.

This area of study focuses on texts about an individual's rights and responsibilities within organisations, workplaces and vocational groups. Students read and respond to a variety of technical content from a vocational, workplace or organisational setting of their choice, demonstrating understanding of how these texts inform and shape the organisations they interact with. On completion of this unit the student should be able to create organisational, informational and procedural texts that reflect a specific workplace or vocational experience.

In this area of study students will investigate, analyse and create content for the advocacy of self, a product or a community group of the student's choice, in a vocational or recreational setting. Students will research the differences between texts used for more formal or traditional types of advocacy, influence or promotion, as well as some of the forms that are increasingly being used in the digital domain for publicity and exposure. Students will consider which elements are important for creating a ‘brand' (including personal branding) and how different texts, images, products and multimedia platforms work together to produce one, central message to influence an audience. Students will compare and contrast the ways in which same message can be presented through different platforms and participate in discussions that consider the effectiveness of these messages, considering their purpose and the social and workplace values associated with them.

In this area of study students will use their knowledge and understanding of language, context and audience to complete an oral presentation that showcases their learning. The presentation needs to be developed in consultation with the teacher and should focus on an area of student interest with a clearly stated vocational or personal focus. Students are encouraged to connect this area of study to their learning in Unit 4 of either Work Related Skills or Personal Development Skills. If students are not undertaking either of these studies, they may select an option from either of the two outlined below: Literacy for civic participation or Literacy for everyday contexts. On completion of this unit the student should be able to negotiate the topic of choice for, and complete, an oral presentation that showcases reflections and evaluations of student learning.