Rules and Guidelines
Want to participate in the discussions? Please read our Community Rules and Guidelines. Need some help? Visit Support and Answers.

  • State Not Answered
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 26 replies
  • Subscribers 9 subscribers
  • Views 988 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
You may also be interested in
This discussion is locked.
You cannot post a reply to this discussion. If you have a question start a new discussion

English literature GCSE

Arran Cameron
What does the IET and the engineering community think of the English literature GCSE? Is it relevant or beneficial for engineering or is it (like food tech) something that hardly anybody cares about?


English literature is a near compulsory GCSE in England but is now optional in Wales where it has experienced quite a heavy decline in the number of secondary school students taking it.
  • 0
    I can see English Language being important.  A large part of "engineering" seems to be writing documents.  I'm not sure about Eng. Lit. though.


    I expect they are all doing Welsh Literature in Wales these days.
  • 0
    English Literature ought to be used to encourage reading for pleasure and reading a varied range of genres... I suspect it doesn't.


    You could expand and say that the humanities and the arts have no benefit either, but I would argue they benefit the society at large (image that there were no art galleries, no music, no libraries).


    I'm not sure about food tech not being relevant.  I've met engineers who design the process equipment used on modern food manufacturing lines.
  • 0
    Well, the basics of survival doesn't require anything but the ability to hunt, make tools,  keep warm, shelter build and procreate, the rest is surplurflous, but then what about enrichment, love and the joy of life?


    Legh
  • 0
    In a survey of parents, asking what the most useless and pointless secondary school subject is (not the one that they were worst at or hated the most), English literature was a clear first. Nobody picked English language or ICT.
  • 0
    I did Pure English Literature at A level and I can confidently say that yes it has enriched my life. ? I absolutely loved studying Shakespeare and love watching his plays be they in a theatre or on TV.   See 45 Everyday Phrases Coined by Shakespeare to understand his influence on the English language. 


    Studying literature isn't just about, and I quote "reading stories". It's much more than that.  It goes hand in hand and compliments basic English Language studies in that it helps with reading, spelling and writing skills. It also helps with analytical skills "Why did the author use that specific word?" "What is the author trying to say here?"  


    I would say that obviously studying literature isn't necessary if you're looking for a career in Engineering but it does help in your overall career as a well rounded human being... ?
  • 0
    I took and failed O level English Literature, simply because I didn’t put the work in, to prepare for the examination. It  does help to have done more than skim read the set books!? I had read a number trashy paperback novels full of sex and violence, that I won’t name now. In fact my English Teacher, myself and a friend , were interviewed on Radio 4 after he had spoken at an educational conference about how young people devoured material aligned to their interests, but hated Shakespeare etc. I also loved Crown Court https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Court_(TV_series)  which I watched when I went “home for lunch” and probably learned a lot from it.  Perhaps spurred by some remorse for my 16 year old self, I later became quite “bookish” at times.


    The nature of my role in recent years means that I have seen a great many pieces of written work by Engineers applying for Professional Registration.  Eloquence of expression is clearly an advantage gained by many of those with an advantaged academic preparation, although it can be developed in other ways. The profession tends to communicate a message that engineering is all about maths and some elements obviously are. However, to exercise leadership you have to influence, by describing, evaluating, recommending and persuading. There are hardly ever simple black and white answers to more complex challenges. 

    I would therefore strongly recommend the study of “storytelling” as a something valuable for engineers looking towards leadership. As a purely personal feeling, I also think that it is easy to slip “over the line” into intellectual pretentiousness through the use of language intended to impress rather than inform, but that is in the eye of the beholder.  Examples might include references to classics, Latin etc, which are primarily the realm of those privately educated or specialised academic language. The IET has some Journalists , perhaps one of them would like to comment?  I obviously lack their key skill of succinctness; or is that the editors? “Brevity is the soul of wit”! – actually it was Macbeth that I neglected not Hamlet?                
  • 0

    Arran Cameron:

    In a survey of parents, asking what the most useless and pointless secondary school subject is (not the one that they were worst at or hated the most), English literature was a clear first. Nobody picked English language or ICT.




    Well its very important to get 'gang wise' and slaughter your first saber-tooth as entry to the tribe and then to provide food and clothing by hunting down and killing your woolly mamouth But then that's the choice the human race has to contend with......hunt with the pack or starve in a garret....

    There is definitely a problem with developing enthusiasm in young people to take up the arts. Can the arts tell us anything about life? History and that old chessnut, Classics are better candidates to give us direction but it seems that young people do not desire positive direction but instant access to self gratification and self grandiment.  As soon as the hormones kick in antlers start to grow and the brains drop down the legs, but then that is not such a bad thing as we're producing some fine young performance artists.


    Legh

  • 0

    Arran Cameron: What does the IET and the engineering community think of the English literature GCSE? Is it relevant or beneficial for engineering... 




    My view is that it's helpful at GCSE level for prospective engineers to appreciate at some basic level the rich and varied literary heritage and culture of the society they will likely serve. Being able to write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting language and style in, and for, a range of contexts, purposes and audiences, use discussion in order to learn, elaborate, and explain their understanding, and their ideas, and make formal presentations and participate in debate, are all useful skills whatever profession students ultimately pursue.  English Literature, when taught well, can help with much of that.  (Excuse the earlier run-on sentence - it certainly wasn't my strongest subject) ;-)  ?

  • 0
    My mother took just 8 O Levels and so did most other students of her generation. English literature was compulsory at her school (along with English language, mathematics, and one science) but given the choice she would not have taken it although she was happy with her other subjects. In more recent times it has become the norm to take 11 or 12 subjects at GCSE. There is some evidence of a law of diminishing returns when it comes to the number of GCSEs taken, so that the advantages of 12 GCSEs over 8 is marginal and far less than the advantage of 8 GCSEs over 4.


    There are times when I think that there should be a technical and factual English GCSE that goes into greater depth than what is covered in the existing English language GCSE. Whether Britain has the teachers who can teach such a GCSE is a different matter.
  • 0
    There was/is a an A level icalled 'the use of English', this was purely covering, as far as I can assertain structure, grammer, composition, etymology and possibly historical etymology.

    However, as you might have perceived, this was not one that I took.


    However, any strucutred learning has value if only to discipline the mind to concerntrate and evaluate ideas.


    Legh

Join us to get the best from IET EngX.

Joining EngX lets you personalise your experience so you stay up to date on the topics that interest you, plus you’ll be able to make connections who are looking to collaborate, exchange ideas and more.

Join us Not now

Community Rules & Guidelines