RATIONALE

Language is fundamental to thinking, learning, and communicating in all cultures. The skilled use of language is associated with many opportunities in life, including further education, work, and social interaction. As students come to understand and use language more fully, they are able to enjoy the benefits and pleasures of language in all its formsfrom reading and writing, to literature, theatre, public speaking, film, and other media.

Furthermore, the skilled use of language in the workplace is becoming increasingly essential as we experience:

the shift from a heavily resource-based economy to an increasingly information-based "knowledge economy"
rapid technological innovation and the more widespread use of communication technologies
Canada's emergence as a culturally diverse society
increased global interdependence

The English Language Arts 11 and 12 curriculum provides students with the opportunity to study literary and informational (including technical) communications and the mass media and thereby experience the power of language. Students are presented with a window into the past, a complex portrayal of the present, and questions about the future. They also come to understand language as a human system of communicationdynamic and evolving, but also systematic and governed by rules.

Revised: January 25, 1999

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