VCE Year 11 English / EAL practice exams with worked answers

Unit 1 begins with you as a reader. Before you can analyse a text, you need to connect with it: notice what it makes you think about, what it reminds you of, and what puzzles you. In VCE English as an Additional Language (EAL), a personal connection is not just “I liked it”.

It is a link between something specific in the text and your own experience, knowledge, culture or values, explained clearly enough that a reader understands why the link matters.

There are three common kinds of connection. A text-to-self connection links the text to your own life (moving schools, family expectations, learning a language). A text-to-text connection links it to another book, film or song. A text-to-world connection links it to events, issues or communities beyond you. Strong connections always point back to the text: they help you understand the text better, rather than drifting into a story only about you.

To make connections you must read actively. Inferential reading means working out what the writer suggests but does not state directly. Useful strategies include: predicting what will happen and checking your prediction; asking questions as you read (Why does she hide the food? What is she afraid of?); visualising the scene; noticing repeated words or images; and reading the gaps, such as silences, actions instead of speech, or what characters avoid.

Annotating with short notes in the margin (“shame?”, “two cultures”, “contrast”) helps you remember your thinking for later writing and discussion.

A simple routine is See – Infer – Connect. First, see: quote or describe a detail. Second, infer: explain what the detail suggests. Third, connect: link that inference to your experience or knowledge and say how the link deepens your understanding. EAL students can draw on knowledge of more than one language and culture, which is a real strength when texts explore migration, identity or belonging.

Model passage used in this topic (original): “Mai kept her grandmother’s recipe card folded inside her school diary. The ink had faded where the steam once touched it, and the words for ‘ginger’ and ‘patience’ were written in two languages. At the new school, nobody asked about the card. At lunch she ate quickly, the lid of her container half closed, as if the smell might give her away.”

Notice that the model connection ends by returning to the writer’s choices. That final step turns a personal comment into the beginning of analysis. Avoid connections that are vague (“this is relatable”) or that replace the text’s meaning with your own story.