Understand the uses of objective and subjective language, and identify bias | Year 6 English

What students learn in AC9E6LA02

Students learn to understand the uses of objective and subjective language, and identify bias. They move from recognising the feature to explaining how it works in context, then applying it deliberately in their own reading, speaking, writing or multimodal creation.

Core idea: In English, choices in language, structure, literature and mode create meaning for a particular audience and purpose. A strong answer names the choice, gives evidence and explains the effect.

Success looks like

identify the relevant feature, strategy or text choice
use precise English metalanguage
support the answer with specific evidence
explain the effect in context
apply or revise the choice for a new audience and purpose

Key vocabulary

choice: a deliberate language, structure or text decision
evidence: a specific example that supports an explanation
purpose: what the text is designed to achieve

Use these terms only when they help explain the actual example. Avoid dropping metalanguage into an answer without showing the evidence.

Concept model and worked thinking

Use the evidence-to-effect routine

What to notice	How to test it	Evidence of mastery
understand the uses of objective and subjective language, and identify bias	understand the uses of objective and subjective language, and identify bias	student explains the effect or reason
second context	apply the same idea in a new text	student transfers the idea
check	explain the effect with evidence	student justifies with precise evidence

Name the feature, strategy or choice.
Quote, describe or point to the exact evidence.
Explain what the evidence does for meaning, clarity, representation, relationship or audience response.
Check the explanation against the purpose of the whole text or task.

Worked transfer

Take an unseen example linked to this outcome. First identify the relevant choice, then rewrite, annotate, compare or present it in a second context so the idea is not only memorised.

Teacher prompt: What changed, what stayed the same, and how do you know the new version still suits the audience and purpose?

Curriculum coverage and elaborations

Content description: understand the uses of objective and subjective language, and identify bias

Descriptor focus: understand the uses of objective and subjective language, and identify bias

Common misconceptions

Feature spotting only — Connect the choice to meaning, purpose and audience.
Vague effect language — Replace 'it makes it better' with a precise explanation.
Evidence omitted — Quote or describe a specific example.
No transfer — Apply the idea to a fresh text or created example.

Guided learning activities

1. Annotate a model example

Students highlight the exact words, sentence parts, text features, visual choices or spoken moves connected to the descriptor.

2. Compare two versions

Students compare a weaker and stronger version, then explain which choices improve meaning, clarity, credibility, cohesion or audience effect.

3. Create, justify and revise

Students create a short response or text using the focus skill, justify the key choice and revise one part after feedback.

Revision Notes

Exam routine: feature or strategy → evidence → effect → context → check.

Important questions

Identify the exact feature or strategy in understand the uses of objective and subjective language, and identify bias. Answer with precise evidence and a short explanation.
Point to the evidence that supports the answer. Answer with precise evidence and a short explanation.
Explain how the choice changes meaning, effect, clarity or audience response. Answer with precise evidence and a short explanation.
Apply the idea in a fresh sentence, text extract, discussion or multimodal example. Answer with precise evidence and a short explanation.
Revise one answer or created text using the success criteria. Answer with precise evidence and a short explanation.

Support, core and extend

Support: provide a short model, limited choices and sentence stems such as “The feature is …”, “The evidence is …”, and “This affects meaning by …”.
Core: use an unseen example and require evidence plus a context-specific explanation.
Extend: compare two texts, modes, audiences or drafts and evaluate which choices are most effective.

AC9E6LA02 Teacher Slides

Project the fixed branded slide deck one slide at a time. Use it with the same evidence-to-effect routine taught in this topic guide.

Open Classroom View

How to use this unit

Learn from the Topic Guide and fixed Teacher Slides, complete the Worksheet, use Practice for supported feedback, then take the Test when ready.

🎥 Optional Video Lesson

The SkillrHub lesson remains the primary learning resource. This optional video reinforces the explanation; you can complete the lesson and practice without watching.

Back to the lesson

Before you watch:

Pause after each worked example.
Try the examples yourself.
Return to the SkillrHub lesson before continuing.

Recommended: Analysing an Author’s Purpose

Khan Academy — Consider how an author’s purpose and opinions can shape an apparently informative text.

As you watch: Which language choices reveal a judgement rather than a checkable fact?

Load video player Loads YouTube in this lesson. See the video notice below.

Try it: Write two descriptions of the same school lunch: one objective and one subjective. Identify how your vocabulary changes the reader’s impression.

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Curriculum equivalents: Victoria, NSW and international

Curriculum equivalents for The uses of objective and subjective language, and identify bias

Mapped skill: understand the uses of objective and subjective language, and identify bias

These references identify matching or closely related learning. Curriculum sequence, terminology and depth vary, so teachers should use the mapped skill and lesson difficulty to confirm suitability.

Region	Curriculum framework	Closest level or code
Australia	Australian Curriculum v9.0	AC9E6LA02 · Year 6
Victoria	Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0 — English	VC2E6LA02 · Level 6
New South Wales	NSW English K–10 Syllabus (2022)	EN3-RECOM-01 · Stage 3
United States (USA)	Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts	Grade 6
Canada (Ontario)	Ontario Curriculum — English	Grade 6
United Kingdom (England)	National Curriculum in England — English	Year 7, Key Stage 3
India	NCERT / CBSE — English	Class 6

Australian Curriculum v9.0 is the canonical source for this SkillrHub lesson. Victoria and NSW entries name the closest published state codes or outcomes; international entries are planning references rather than claims of identical curricula.

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Topic reference: AC9E6LA02 — AC9E6LA02: Understand the uses of objective and subjective language, and identify bias

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Official curriculum references

Related Year 6 English topics

Worked example and reasoning checks

Separate information from the writer's judgement

Identify objective and subjective language and notice how selection can create bias.

Worked example

Compare ‘The trial involved 24 students’ with ‘Only 24 students bothered to take part’. What evaluation has been added?

Both statements refer to 24 students taking part.
‘Only’ presents the number as disappointingly small. ‘Bothered’ suggests a judgement about people's effort or attitude.
The first uses a more neutral description. Whether 24 is adequate still depends on the investigation, not on the tone alone.

Watch for this mistake: Neutral-sounding language is not proof that a claim is true. Check the evidence and also ask what information has been left out.

Try it, then explain

Replace the evaluative language in ‘The dreadful queue lasted 18 minutes’ with a neutral description.
Hint
Retain the measurable information.
Answer and explanation
The queue lasted 18 minutes.
A report includes only praise for a new canteen menu and ignores recorded complaints. How could that create bias?
Hint
Consider which perspectives readers can see.
Answer and explanation
Selecting only positive views can make support seem more universal than the evidence warrants.

Learn: objective, subjective and biased language

Objective language presents information that can be checked. It uses precise measurements, attributed evidence and neutral wording. Subjective language communicates a judgement, feeling or personal interpretation. Subjective language is not automatically wrong; it becomes misleading when a viewpoint is presented as if it were an uncontested fact.

How bias is created

Loaded words: praising or attacking through connotation.
Selection: including evidence that supports one side while omitting relevant alternatives.
Framing: choosing a headline, image or order that guides interpretation.
Attribution: naming whose view is being reported—or hiding that source.

Worked example

Biased version: “The brilliant plan finally fixes the council's foolish mistake.” The checkable event is that a plan was introduced. “Brilliant” and “foolish” are evaluations. A more objective version is: “The council introduced a plan to address the earlier decision.”

Underline claims that can be verified.
Circle words carrying approval or disapproval.
Ask whose evidence is included and whose is missing.
Explain the likely effect on the reader.
Rewrite neutrally or attribute the opinion.

Common trap: A sentence containing numbers is not automatically objective. Check who collected the data, how the group was selected and whether the wording exaggerates what the evidence shows.

Mastery check: Can you separate fact from judgement, identify a specific source of bias, quote the evidence and explain how a neutral revision changes the effect?