1-on-1 Mastery-Based IB English Language and Literature · Taipei

IB English Language and Literature, from reading to argument.

IB English Language and Literature rewards constructing argued textual analysis, not plot summary. Lessons build from the close-reading and essay-writing fluency students bring toward the formal analytical argument, comparative reasoning, and Individual Oral the IB Paper questions, and university coursework, will demand.

Audience
IB English Language and Literature HL and SL content, international school students
Format
1-on-1, 1 to 1.5 hours per lesson
Duration
Typically across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence
Begin
Complimentary consultation & assessment class

What Students Learn

Mastery-based IB English Language and Literature at the level your child's school actually requires.

IB English Language and Literature is for students working through the IB Diploma Programme who want to move past plot summary toward the argued textual analysis, comparative reasoning, and Individual Oral the IB assessment tests. The program covers the full IB English Language and Literature Subject Guide for HL and SL. Reasoning from literary works to claims about meaning, technique, and effect the IB assessment can validate. Working through the three areas of exploration the IB Subject Guide defines: Readers, Writers, and Texts; Time and Space; and Intertextuality. Tracing connections between literary works and the historical, cultural, and biographical contexts that shape them. Analyzing non-literary texts the IB assessment treats as equally important to literary works, including journalism, advertisements, speeches, and graphic narratives. Building comparative analysis across works, including the side-by-side reading the Paper 2 essay requires. Constructing the argued textual analysis Paper 1's guided commentary and the HL Essay each ask for. Designing and recording the Individual Oral the IB assessment requires. These are the surfaces the IB Paper 1, Paper 2, Individual Oral, and HL Essay test, and the foundation any university literature, humanities, journalism, law, or communications course will assume.

IB English Language and Literature is not advanced summarizing. The shift is from reading to argument. Students move from describing what a text says to constructing a defensible argument about how it makes meaning, supported by close attention to language and structure. A student who can summarize the plot of a poem is doing the comprehension work. A student who can identify how the poem's enjambment, diction, and metaphorical structure together produce a particular effect, argue for a reading of the poem grounded in those textual choices, and defend the reading against alternatives is doing the argument the IB assessment rewards across literary and non-literary texts. The program closes the gap between the two.

Lessons follow Harland's IB English Language and Literature curriculum, built to bring students to mastery of IB English Language and Literature content as defined by the IB Diploma Programme Subject Guide. The program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, with each unit closing in an assessment that mirrors IB Paper formats and includes the analytical work the Individual Oral and HL Essay require. SL students study four literary works alongside non-literary texts. HL students study six literary works alongside non-literary texts and complete the HL Essay as an additional assessment. Lessons calibrate to your child's individual gaps and the literary works their school program includes. If a student is working through poetry at school, the teacher works through it with the student, applying the unit's analytical structure to the questions their Paper 2 will eventually ask.

Progress shows up in places parents can see. Where your child once produced a plot summary in place of analysis, they now identify what a text's language and structural choices are doing and argue for a reading grounded in those choices. Where your child once treated non-literary texts as different from literature, they now read journalism, advertisements, and speeches with the same close-attention rigor. Where the Individual Oral once felt like an open-ended task, it now feels like a structured argument your child can plan, rehearse, and present against the IB rubric.

How We Teach It

IB English Language and Literature taught for understanding, with the score arriving as a consequence.

Harland's pedagogy is content-based learning. Argued textual analysis, comparative reasoning, and the analytical depth the IB Paper 1 and Paper 2 questions reward develop through the literary works, non-literary texts, and past papers your child is already working with. Assessments check whether the thinking holds up when the student moves to new material alone.

A student working through a literary work studied at school works on it with their teacher, building the reasoning that connects language choices, structural decisions, and historical context to the argued analysis Paper 2 requires. A student moving into non-literary texts works on it with their teacher, applying the unit's analytical structure to journalism, advertisements, or speeches, and the techniques the IB Paper 1 guided commentary tests. A student working through comparative analysis across two works works on it with their teacher, building the scaffolding that lets them identify shared themes, contrasting techniques, and the cross-work patterns the Paper 2 essay requires.

IB English Language and Literature students arrive with two layers under the surface. The score pressure is real. The May or November exam matters for university plans, particularly for students aiming at literature, humanities, journalism, law, communications, or any field that requires textual interpretation, and most students know it. But beneath the score pressure is a specific cognitive challenge that defines the IB English Language and Literature assessment. Plot summary is not the hard part. The hard part is reading a text, recognizing what its language and structural choices are doing, predicting how a reader would respond to those choices and why, and defending the reading with the argument the IB rubric expects. The 1-on-1 format gives teachers room to slow down where the close-reading ground is unfamiliar, and to keep the work rigorous without losing the student's engagement with literature itself. Skill and argument develop together. Neither moves far in isolation.

The format also lets teachers calibrate within the program's structure. A student fluent with literary terminology but uncomfortable with IB close-textual-analysis questions gets pushed toward the Paper 1-style scenarios the assessment will ask. What is this passage doing. How is it doing it. What additional context would change the reading. A student strong on close reading but weak on the comparative analysis Paper 2 requires gets work calibrated to the rubric's expectations. That means refining comparative argument structure, using textual evidence with precision, organizing analysis around shared themes or techniques, and writing against the criteria the IB assessment uses.

Literature has an oral dimension. The IB English Language and Literature Diploma Programme requires every student to complete the Individual Oral as Internal Assessment, worth around 20 percent of the final grade across HL and SL. The Individual Oral is a recorded oral commentary of around fifteen minutes in which the student analyzes one literary work and one non-literary body of work studied in the course, joined by a global issue the student identifies. Harland's 1-on-1 IB English Language and Literature program supports the Individual Oral through every stage. Teachers help students choose the texts and global issue that fit both the rubric criteria and the student's analytical strengths, develop the comparative argument, work through the close-reading evidence the rubric requires, and rehearse the oral against the IB assessment criteria. The recording happens at school under supervisor oversight, and the analytical preparation, text selection, and rehearsal happen at Harland.

Curriculum and Alignment

A structured curriculum keyed to the IB English Language and Literature Subject Guide.

IB English Language and Literature at Harland follows a structured curriculum keyed to the IB English Language and Literature Diploma Programme Subject Guide for HL and SL. A student who completes the program has demonstrated mastery of IB English Language and Literature content as the IB Subject Guide defines it.

Harland's IB English Language and Literature runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, with Individual Oral preparation integrated rather than appended. Most school IB English Language and Literature courses spread the same content across more class time, with Individual Oral work happening alongside or after class. 1-on-1 lessons don't lose time to group pacing or mixed-ability instruction, so the same core content fits in more substantive units. The time saved goes into the argument the IB Diploma assessment rewards.

Standards
IB English Language and Literature Diploma Programme Subject Guide (HL and SL), with the Individual Oral and HL Essay rubrics as the cross-cutting skill framework
Materials
Harland curriculum materials, the literary works and non-literary texts your child's school program covers, and past IB papers and Individual Oral exemplars integrated as ongoing input
Assessment
End-of-unit assessments aligned with IB Paper 1 (guided literary analysis), Paper 2 (comparative essay), the Individual Oral rubric, and the HL Essay rubric where applicable
Reporting
Skill-level tracking against Harland's internal rubrics, mapped to IB assessment criteria

Prerequisites and What Comes Next

Where IB English Language and Literature fits in your child's learning.

Before starting

IB English Language and Literature assumes prior coursework in English language and literature, typically built through pre-IB or MYP English, and the foundational close-reading, essay-writing, and analytical-vocabulary skills those courses develop. Students arriving from a different curriculum or with uneven foundations work through gaps in foundational analytical reading before or alongside IB English Language and Literature proper.

One thing to know about scope. The IB English Language and Literature Internal Assessment, the Individual Oral, is a recorded oral commentary worth around 20 percent of the final grade. IB schools provide the recording infrastructure and supervisor oversight per IB requirements. Harland's 1-on-1 tutoring focuses on the analytical preparation, text selection, and oral-argument development the IB assessment tests directly, not on the recording itself. The Individual Oral is recorded at school under supervisor oversight per IB requirements, and Harland's role is the planning, analytical, and rehearsal work that turns text choice into a strong oral commentary.

The consultation and assessment class establishes whether IB English Language and Literature is the right starting point and whether parallel work in foundational analytical reading or Academic English would help. Some students arrive needing both English-foundation reinforcement and IB-specific support, and the lesson plan covers what's most urgent first.

What comes after

Most students complete IB English Language and Literature across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, sitting either the May or November exam. Cadence varies by entry point and exam timing, with most students attending one to three sessions per week.

IB English Language and Literature does not have a direct successor course in the IB sequence. After the exam, the argument and analytical reading the course develops carries directly into university literature, humanities, journalism, law, communications, public policy, and any field that requires textual interpretation and argued analysis. Students choosing English as their Extended Essay subject work with their primary teacher across the research-question, methodology, and writing stages on the Extended Essay program.

The longer-term aim of IB English Language and Literature is to make itself unnecessary. The program brings students to mastery of IB English Language and Literature content. Students sit the May or November exam, submit their IA, and the program's role ends. A parent who's no longer worried about their child's IB English Language and Literature work is the point of all of it.

Common Questions

Common questions about IB English Language and Literature at Harland.

Who is IB English Language and Literature at Harland for? +
IB English Language and Literature at Harland is for high school students working through the IB Diploma Programme. Most of our students fall into one of two patterns. Some are taking IB English Language and Literature at school and come to us for support alongside the school program, building the argued analysis and the close-reading depth the IB assessment tests differently from typical English coursework. Some are preparing for the May or November exam in an intensive run-up, working through past papers, IA refinement, and targeted weakness review in the weeks or months before the assessment. Students whose situation falls outside these two patterns, including students transitioning curricula mid-DP, students at schools without strong IB programs, or students who need a more flexible curriculum than the standard IB English Language and Literature program provides, work with us through Harland's Academic Coaching framework, where the curriculum is calibrated to the individual situation rather than the IB Subject Guide alone.
My child can summarize what a text means but struggles with the formal textual analysis Paper 1 and Paper 2 require. Can the program help with that kind of thinking? +
This is a familiar situation. The IB English Language and Literature assessment tests a kind of thinking that the textbook doesn't always practice directly. Reading a text and recognizing what its language and structural choices are doing. Predicting how a reader would respond to those choices and why. Constructing arguments grounded in close-reading evidence, with the argument the IB rubric rewards. We work directly on these skills, slowing down on the close-textual-analysis work the Paper 1 questions require, on the comparative argument the Paper 2 essay tests, and on the rubric criteria that distinguish a strong response from a vague one. Most students who come to us strong on plot summary but struggling on the formal-analysis prompts close that gap by working through the rubric explicitly, with sample questions and practice under time constraint.
What does the IB English Language and Literature program cover? +
The program follows the IB English Language and Literature Diploma Programme Subject Guide for HL and SL. Content covers the three areas of exploration the IB Subject Guide defines: Readers, Writers, and Texts; Time and Space; and Intertextuality. SL students study four literary works alongside non-literary texts; HL students study six literary works alongside non-literary texts and complete the HL Essay as an additional assessment. The program prepares students for IB Paper 1, the guided literary analysis of unseen non-literary texts, and Paper 2, the comparative essay on literary works studied. The Individual Oral, worth around 20 percent of the final grade, is supported through every stage from text selection to rehearsal. The HL Essay, worth around 20 percent of the HL final grade, is supported through topic selection, drafting, and final submission. Harland's program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, calibrated to the framework your child's specific course route requires.
How long is each lesson and how often does my child attend? +
Lessons are 1-on-1 sessions of 1 to 1.5 hours, in person at our head office in Da'an or online. Most students attend one to three lessons per week. Harland's IB English Language and Literature program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence. At one or two lessons per week alongside a school IB course, the program runs through the DP cycle and concludes with the May or November exam. At three lessons per week, the program covers the same content at faster pace. For students preparing in an intensive run-up to the exam, the cadence increases as the test approaches, typically two to four months at higher frequency. The Student Coordinator helps you choose the cadence that fits.
How are lessons scheduled, and what if we need to reschedule? +
Lessons happen on a fixed weekly slot reserved with your child's primary teacher. This protects the teacher's time and keeps a consistent rhythm for your child. If you need to reschedule, give us at least 24 hours of notice and we'll find another time when your teacher is available. Many families add classes during summer or winter vacation, either to accelerate progress or to make up for a slower term. Once a unit has started, it should be completed within a defined window. The Student Coordinator walks through the details when you enroll.
Can my child begin IB English Language and Literature over the summer? +
Yes. Summer enrollment is available across Harland's IB Diploma programs, with two patterns. Students preparing for the upcoming May or November exam in an intensive run-up sometimes begin or accelerate in summer at higher cadence (typically two to three sessions per week), particularly when their school IB course pacing has fallen behind, when their Internal Assessment is at draft stage, or when the run-up to the exam needs concentrated time. Students preparing for an exam sitting further out (i.e., entering or partway through the 2-year DP) often use summer for a head-start block, working through current-year content or building the prerequisite foundation before the next school year begins. The Student Coordinator helps you choose the right summer pattern based on which exam sitting your child is preparing for and where their IA work currently stands.
How do you measure progress? +
Progress is measured through unit assessments aligned with the IB English Language and Literature Subject Guide. Harland's IB English Language and Literature program is organized into ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence. Each unit closes with an assessment that mirrors IB Paper formats, including the guided literary analysis of Paper 1, the comparative essay of Paper 2, and the Internal Assessment rubric, and measures conceptual understanding, close-reading attention, comparative analysis, and the argument that connects textual evidence to defensible claims across the unit's content. Parents receive updates after every lesson and formal progress reports when each unit ends. Skill-level tracking uses Harland's internal rubrics, which map to IB assessment criteria. Where helpful, the Student Coordinator translates this into the expectations of your child's school.
How do we begin? +
Every Harland relationship begins with a consultation, followed by a 1-on-1 assessment class. The consultation is about your goals and your child's situation. The assessment class is about how your child works in the subject. Together they tell us where to start and what kind of teacher will fit best.

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