IB English Language & Literature SL
The IB English A: Language and Literature SL course is a two-year program focusing on developing critical reading and thinking skills. Students are assessed on their abilities to speak and write academic responses to questions about various topics and global issues. The Language part of the classes exposes students to a range of non-literary text types, such as advertisements, multipanel comics, infographics, and more. The Literature portion of the class explores themes, characters, and how authors make deliberate choices in their works to shape meaning for readers.
Course Structure and Content
IB English Language and Literature students will study four literary texts in class at the SL level. They will also study an equal number of non-literary “bodies of work” with their teacher and class. Students at the SL level will be assessed through three major assessments: Paper 1, Paper 2, and the Individual Oral.
For Paper 1, students will choose one of two texts and write a guided textual analysis to a guiding question. Paper 2 is the same for all courses, and this task requires students to choose one of four questions and write a comparative literary essay using two works from class. The Individual Oral is a 10-minute recording followed by a 5-minute Q&A session with the teacher. The goal is to show how the content and form of a work (Literature) and a body of work (Language) support a Global Issue from the course content.
