AS 91106 Clarification

Clarification details

Overview

The standard requires students to read texts that are at New Zealand Curriculum level 7 with sufficient complexity of language and ideas. This means that children’s or young adult texts taught in junior programmes are not suitable selections. 

Students must select and read texts independently. Texts that have been taught cannot be included. This includes texts studied in previous years and in other subjects. Students may choose to respond to visual or oral texts played, but not studied, in class. Teachers should provide guidance on the suitability of texts to ensure they are of sufficient complexity to enable students to meet the standard at NZC level 7.

Appropriate text types

Successful text types seen in moderation include:

Extended written texts

• Popular adult fiction, e.g. novels
• Popular adult non-fiction, e.g. biographies, autobiographies, history
• Plays

Short written texts

• Poetry
• Short stories
• Song lyrics
• Feature articles, e.g. Time Magazine, The Listener, Elle, Mindfood
• Online content/blogs/websites
• Essays

Oral texts

• Podcasts
• Long-form radio shows, e.g. The Long Read (Stuff), BBC Radio 4
• Speeches, e.g. United Nations, political speeches

Visual texts

• Short and feature-length films
• Extended graphic novels, e.g. The Sandman Series, V for Vendetta
• TV episodes
• Web series

Students should avoid using R18 and RP18 texts for this standard, unless they are 18 years or older.

Developing personal response

• Responses need to demonstrate personal engagement, rather than close reading of text.
• Students must demonstrate their engagement with the text by, for example, expressing a point of view or discussing an issue in the text that has some personal relevance or meaning for them. Links need to be made between the text and the student, and between the text and a wider social context.
• Responses that clearly meet the standard tend to focus on one main aspect (purpose and audience, ideas, language features, structure) where this aspect has sufficient scope for depth and engagement with the text.
• Plot summaries and lengthy descriptions not linked to the response are not needed and do not contribute to the grade.
• Specific and relevant details from the text are needed to support the explanation of the response. Details can include quotations or specific description and must be directly linked to the reaction and explanation.
• Responses need to be text based. Students respond to aspect/s in a text, supported by evidence from the text. Identification of an issue in a text followed by the student’s opinion/viewpoint on the broader issue itself does not meet the standard.

Sufficiency

Teachers must be confident that the student has independently selected and read all six texts. Students must form personal responses to all six texts. Different modes of assessment (for example a combination of written and oral responses) are possible and reflect effective assessment practice.

To meet the standard:

• All six responses must be at Achieved or higher.
• For Merit, all of the evidence must meet the Achieved criteria, and five responses must be at Merit or higher.
• For Excellence, all of the evidence must meet the Achieved criteria, and five responses must be at Excellence.