Page 141 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: English, 2007 (Revised)

Grade 12, Workplace Preparation
1. Understanding Media Texts: demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts;
2. Understanding Media Forms, Conventions, and Techniques: identify some media forms and
explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning;
3. Creating Media Texts: create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques;
4. Reflecting on Skills and Strategies: reflect on and identify their strengths as media interpreters and creators, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in understanding and creating media texts.
1. Understanding Media Texts
THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | English
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SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this course, students will:
Purpose and Audience
1.1 explain how media texts, including increasingly complex texts, are created to suit particular purposes and audiences (e.g., horror movies use a unique villain, special effects, night-time settings, and teenage characters as victims to appeal to a teenage audience; apprenticeship training brochures include images of smiling young people in the uniform of their trade, and quotes from skilled workers who completed apprenticeship training and found lucrative jobs, to encourage students to enrol in apprenticeship training1)
Teacher prompts: “Why do instruction manu- als and instructional videos supplement explanations with graphics?” “Why do tele- vision reality shows provide opportunities for audience participation and feedback?”
Interpreting Messages
1.2 interpret media texts, including increasingly
complex texts, identifying and explaining the overt and implied messages they convey
(e.g., identify the implied messages that safety brochures use to strengthen their overt messages about following workplace safety rules and pro- cedures;2 identify clues in radio advertisements that indicate who the broadcaster’s target audience is)
Teacher prompt: “What kinds of implied messages do safe-sex ads use to try to convince people of the urgent need to take appropriate precautions?”
Evaluating Texts
1.3 evaluate how effectively information, ideas, issues, and opinions are communicated in media texts, including increasingly complex texts, and decide whether the texts achieve their intended purpose (e.g., determine how effectively a CD cover communicates the appeal of the artist and of his or her new collection of songs to its target audience; determine how well a company website conveys the impression of good management and responsible corporate cit- izenship to its employees or customers)
Teacher prompt: “What aspects of Remembrance Day television coverage are most effective in conveying how people’s lives are affected by war? What could it do better?”
Audience Responses
1.4 explain why the same media text might prompt different responses from different audiences (e.g., explain what attracts different people to different local newspapers, taking into account both design and content; explain why young children might respond differently than seniors to the playlist and advertising on a local radio station)
MEDIA STUDIES
OVERALL EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this course, students will:
1. TL Media 7-10 “Exploring the Key Concepts of Media Literacy” 2
2. TL Media 7-10 “Reading Graphical Texts” 6