VCE English Language 2026 Unit 4 AOS 1: 'Language Variation' Essay Examples

The value and prestige of the standard: AusAlert broadcast.

The national AusAlert broadcast in July 2026 is one example of Standard Australian English used to communicate official information across the country. The broadcast adhered strictly to the standard in order to enhance reader comprehension, 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’. The usage of the British English spelling of ‘authorised’ over the American version ‘authorized’ is particularly notable here, subscribing to the most common Australian spelling of the lexeme.

The choice to use SAE in this highly significant nation-wide broadcast is reflective of its value as a tool for communication across the country, above all other variants used within Australia as the variety of choice for the federal government.

Television broadcast by a privately owned news company.

Furthermore, Standard Australian English is most commonly used in media broadcasts, valued in order to connect with a wider audience. A weather broadcast from July 2026 reflects this, with the presenter stating ‘It will be sunny to start inland, but then cloud will build into the afternoon’. This compound sentence continues to use subject-verb word order, and is easily comprehensible to its audience of Standard Australian English users.

Reddit example of defending the standard, reflecting national pride.

In a 2024 Reddit post on the subreddit r/AskanAustralian, Australian users were asked what Americanisms irritated them the most when used in Australia. ‘Candy’, ‘diapers’, ‘soda’, ‘trash’ were amongst the nouns chosen in response, whilst one user claimed their ‘biggest pet peeve’ was convincing computers to ‘default to UK English’. This defensiveness over the Australian English Standard as it exists reflects the national pride held by many Australians and they value that they place in this variety, along with their willingness to defend it in an increasingly connected world where American influence on language is common.

Lack of honorifics use in Aus reflecting laidback attitudes.

As stated in one Sydney Morning Herald article, the honorifics ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ are ‘too loaded’, whilst the Instagram user ‘youraussieuncle’ said of the use of the adjective ‘pretentious’ itself, 'you sound like a textbook mate’.

Ayers Rock- Standard Australian English can be controversial or offensive.

In one Australian Reddit post in June 2025, one user explained the controversy around the original Standard Australian English name for the land mark, saying ‘Ayers Rock’ has become ‘socially distasteful’ as it is ‘rooted in colonial history’. They suggested that Uluru is the more ‘acceptable alternative’.

Ethnolects are valued in literature ‘Down the Hume’ example.

The use of ethnolects in a written form to highlight a character’s ethnic origins is a feature commonly used in Australian literature concerning multiculturalism and immigration. The novel ‘Down the Hume’ by Peter Polites is one well renowned contemporary novel studied today Australian schools, that features a written representation of a Lebanese-English ethnolect. Features such as the use of the slang lexemes such as ‘gronk’ and ‘wog’, commonly used by the Lebanese Australian community, as well as the Arabic loanword ‘habib’, and code-switching into Greek by Greek characters are used to express the diversity and personalities of the novels characters, allowing for greater discussion around the lives of some of Australia’s migrant communities. As such, the inclusion of the features of this variety are highly valued for educational and narrative purposes, exploring Australia’s diverse cultures.

Valued in the spoken form, ‘MyNonnaFina’

The Instagram account ‘MyNonnaFina’ is one contemporary Australian example of social media being used to portray ethnolects. The Italian-Australian English ethnolect used by ‘Nonna Fina’ contains many distinct features, such as not marking the plural in 'boyfriends give you ‘too much problem’ instead of ‘too many problems’ and frequent code switching into Italian. Nonna Fina’s ethnolect is highly celebrated on this account, which has a large following and largely positive comments, highlighting appreciation for ethnolects within Australia by some members of the community.

Lebanese accent criticised on social media.

Some ethnolects, however, are not always celebrated in Australia. Western Sydney TikToker Mahmoud Ismail is one social media personality who speaks with a Lebanese-Australian ethnolect, which he deliberately highlights in order to represent his ethnic identity. In a January 2025 Guardian news article Ismail spoke of criticism of his ethnolect, stating 'Some people hate my accent. Some people say I sound like I have three sausages in my mouth.’ A PhD linguistics student went on to further explain that ‘for some… it sounds like someone who is less intelligent, [it’s] associated with that kind of street identity’, and that this is reflected in the fact that the accent is rarely heard in the mainstream media, except as a parody.

Aboriginal English valued for communication NDIS video.

Australian government publications such as the publication of an NDIS information video in Aboriginal English in May 2026 reflect the pertinence of Aboriginal English in contemporary Australian society. The video included use of common Aboriginal English sentence structures, such as the incomplete form of the infinitive in the imperative ‘check make sure’, and the dropping of the verb ‘is’ in the interrogative ‘what this NDIS check for?’, along with nouns ‘deadly’ and ‘mob’. This use of Aboriginal Australian English allows for connection between members of Australia's Aboriginal communities and those outside of them without the sacrifice of cultural heritage, indicating its value even in more official contexts.

Aboriginal English not valued: Voice Recognition.

This is demonstrated through the neglect of Aboriginal English varieties in voice recognition technology development. Many AAE variety users have reported issues using such technologies, with one 25 year old stating that she ‘asked it to call one of my sisters, and it then started calling an old boss that I don’t talk to anymore.’ In December 2025, The Conversation reported on this issue, writing that ‘those training data sets tend to represent mainstream ways of speaking, marginalising non-standard varieties of English spoken in Australia’.

Aboriginal Australian English not valued: Hospital Signs.

A project in 2025 to bring inclusion to a regional Australian hospital involved the introduction of new Aboriginal English signage to various rooms in the building, displayed above English translations. For example, the emergency department was labelled with borrowings from an Aboriginal language ‘Badjul Burung’ with the translation ‘sick cave’. Social media reactions largely criticised these changes, with one user stating ‘we are an English-speaking country. All signs should be in English.’

Emma Donovan cover of ‘BIRDS OF A FEATHER’.

Code switching into the Noongar language. Commenters described the performance as ‘Powerful and beautiful’ and ‘deadly’.

Ethnolects valued phonological feature: Miguel Maestre.

‘The Living Room’ and ‘I’m a celebrity’ participant, ‘We all know and love Miguel’. ‘You never estop being a chef’ common feature adding ‘e' vowel before initial ‘s’ clusters.

Standard not valued: ‘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’’.