English

ISB, enriched by its cultural diversity, offers the unique opportunity to approach literacy from a wide range of perspectives. Our English department urges students to understand their place in the world, developing lifelong skills in thinking and learning through reading, writing, listening and speaking in a variety of situations, for a variety of purposes.

The Literate Person ...

• Is competent in using language powerfully and gracefully for a variety of personal and social purposes;
• Makes language choices appropriate to situation, audience, and purpose and is comfortable with a range of language styles, from informal and personal to standard and formal English;
• Uses language constructively and effectively to make meaning and to synthesize knowledge;
• Is competent and confident in understanding and responding thoughtfully and critically to language produced by others in speech, print, media, and for factual or imaginative communication;
• Is flexible, creative, and reflective in presenting and responding to ideas, feelings, and knowledge;
• Responds to literature as a way of critically knowing, a way of developing personally, and as a way of broadening experience;
• Is curious about, and sensitive to, language and resists simplifying its complexities;
• Is increasingly familiar with, and knowledgeable about the cultural context in which a literary work is written and read.