VCE English Language 2026 Unit 4 AOS 2: 'Individual and Group Identity' Essay Evidence

Gender and age based identity.

Married at First Sight 2026 women’s group. Shortening, blending, slang.

Shortening of the word ‘relationship’ to ‘relaish’, the blending of the words ‘situation’ and ‘relationship’ to form ‘situationship’, and the use of the popular youth slang term ‘Karen’ by one participant to critique herself. ‘Babes’, ‘Hun’, ‘Girlie’.

Gender and age based identity. MAFS mens group. Covert prestige.

Dysphemistic expressions including the idiom ‘sh**ing bricks’ and swearing such as ‘f*ing’ and ‘damn’. ‘Fat’, ‘lads’, ‘brother’, ‘mate’.

Gender Identity- 'Microfeminisms' guardian article 2026- Shows female identity and creates sense of solidarity .

Saying "mommy long legs" instead of "daddy long legs" 

Greeting in meetings "hello ladies and sons of ladies" (Greeting?)

Defaults to "she" when don't know gender of animal" (pronoun choice0

Article quote- "microfeminisms push back on…'everyday sexism'." 

Gender and digital discourse, Individual: @kayla.ryan1 New Makeup Launches (Age, gender, digital discourse)

⭐🦋💗' #makeupinspo

'I feel like I'm giving peanut baby right now.' (too dark makeup for her)

'little bit more hydrating, has a little bit more pigment, also has luminosity in it which I love cuz I'm a glowy makeup girl.'

'supposed to have the staying power of eyeshadow with the blendability of a contour stick'

Individual Identity, Politics

7NWS Melbourne Facebook August 2026 Jaqui Lambie. Direct, blunt, honest, determined, expressive.

Jacqui Lambie to Albo 'Drop the bloody cap, drop it mate' (Dysphemism, condescending colloquial endearment).

'These are legislative instruments that set out factors which can connect injuries, disease or death from service' (Formal and professional)

Prime Minister, Minister Marles, and Minister Keogh what they would do if their penis was hanging by a thread.' - 'Would they say okay no worries?'

‘Vag prolapse’.

Identity around occupation

McDonald’s employee slang Victoria 2026.

Hypocoristic suffixation ‘tenner’, ‘halfer’. Shortenings ‘drive’, ‘cash’, verb ‘drop’.

In group membership- Rugby Team, Sports.

Rugby coach message to team 2026. Reflects their gender and identities around sports and the rugby community.

Dysphemisms ‘pussies’ and ‘fuck’. Repetition ‘smack rucks’, ‘smack people.’

In group/ interests identity- Backstage slang.

Shortenings ‘Mic’ (microphone) and ‘cyc’ (cyclorama), ‘Chookas’, ‘The Scottish Play’, ‘OP’ (Opposite Prompt).

Identity around sexuality.

LGBTQ slang ‘serving’, ‘giving’.

Joel Creasey at the Nova Drive, "She was serving chaos on the red carpet, it was giving Eurovision". identity in sexuality through verbs 'giving' and 'serving' commonly used in the drag community 

Interests/ hobbies: Rowing Coach

 "We're not here to f* spiders lads" (metaphor/colloqiualism) 

 "You're pulling like girls, girls!" (similie/humour/sarcasm) 

 "I want this next one flat out like a lizard drinking" (similie/colloqiualism) 

 "Roll it up to heads" "Swing out round the riggers" "check your gates" (jargon) 

Standard Australian English Aus Alert

AusAlert broadcast in July 2026. Adhered strictly to the standard, with various features such as simple sentences and a subject-verb-object sentence structure (quote), as demonstrated through the passive sentence ‘This message is authorised by the Australian Government’. Reflects an identity of authority??

Brand Identity- Grammarly

Provides ‘much needed authenticity’. ‘Make your writing sound like you.’ ‘Keep your voice, make it clear'.

Teacher Occupation, Age

Apologies but I’m unwell today. You can work on material from other classes but LOCK in. 

AI hindering expression of identity. ‘The Conversation’ 2025

"Poses a serious threat not only to the functioning of democracy... but also to a person's identity."

Standard: ‘Bogan’ Accent article.

Australian Amy Fallon wrote on Substack ‘For years Australians have mocked my bogan accent.’ ‘[It] really meant ‘you don’t sound like you’re from Sydney or Melbourne’, which might as well be the only two cities in Australia as far as the media and others are concerned.’ Signified by a deeper and wider version of the “I” phoneme, leading to ‘noice’ for ‘nice’, and elision of the ‘ng’ sound in lexemes such as ‘runnin’’ and ‘goin’’.

Adam Heath Standard Professional Educated. Overt prestige.

"The school board has carefully reviewed Intersection's report and accepts in principle all of the 44 recommendations.”

Pauline Hanson broad accent examples.

“No pretension there, what a breath of fresh air! Spoken like a true Aussie!" “Honest, direct and straightforward speaking’ (Facebook comments).