COMMUNICATION STUDIES SYLLABUS

1 I CXC A2/U1/10 CARIBBEAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination CAPE COMMUNICATION STUDIES SYLLABUS Effective for examinations from May-June 2011 CXC A2/U1/10 Published by the Caribbean Examinations CouncilAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the author or publisher. Correspondence related to the SYLLABUS should be addressed to: The Pro-Registrar Caribbean Examinations Council Caenwood Centre 37 Arnold Road, Kingston 5, Jamaica Telephone Number: + 1 (876) 630-5200 Facsimile Number: + 1 (876) 967-4972 E-mail Address: Website: Copyright 2010 by Caribbean Examinations Council The Garrison, St Michael BB14038, Barbados CXC A2/U1/10 iii Contents RATIONALE.

2 1 AIMS .. 2 SKILLS AND ABILITIES TO BE ASSESSED .. 2 PRE-REQUISITES OF THE SYLLABUS .. 3 STRUCTURE OF THE SYLLABUS .. 3 APPROACHES TO TEACHING THE 3 MODULE 1: GATHERING AND PROCESSING INFORMATION .. 4 MODULE 2: LANGUAGE AND COMMUNI TY .. 11 MODULE 3: SPEAKING AND WRITING .. 21 OUTLINE OF ASSESSMENT .. 27 REGULATIONS FOR PRIVATE CANDIDATES .. 38 REGULATIONS FOR RE-SIT CANDIDATES .. 38 ASSESSMENT GRID .. 39 GLOSSARY .. 40 GLOSSARY OF BEHAVIOURAL VERBS USED IN THE COMMUNICATION STUDIES EXAMINATIONS .. 45 CXC A2/U1/10 iv This document CXC A2/U1/10 replaces CXC A2/U1/03 issued in 2003. Please note that the SYLLABUS has been revised and amendments are indicated by italics.

3 Revised 2003 Revised 2010 Please check the website for updates on CXC s syllabuses. CXC A2/U1/10 T Introduction he Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) is designed to provide certification of th e academic, vocational and technical achievement o f students in the C aribbean who, having completed a minimum of five years of secondary education, wish to further their STUDIES . The examinations address the skills and knowledge acquired by studen ts under a flexible and articulated system where subjects are organised in 1-Unit or 2-Unit c ourses with each Unit c ontaining three Modules.

4 Subjects examined under CAPE may be studied concu rrently or singly. The Caribbean Examinations Council offers three types of certification. The first is the award of a certificate showing each CAPE Unit completed. The second is the CAPE diploma, awarded to candidates who have satisfactorily completed at least six Units, including Caribbean STUDIES . The third is the CAPE Associate Degree, awarded for the satisfactory completion of a prescribed cluster of seven CAPE Units including Caribbean STUDIES and COMMUNICATION STUDIES . For the CAPE diploma and the CAPE Associate Degree, candidates must complete the cluster of required Units within a maximum period of five years.

5 Recognized educational institutions presenting candidates for CAPE Associate Degree in one of the nine categories must, on registering these candidates at the start of the qualifying year, have them confirm in the required form, the Associate Degree they wish to be awarded. Candidates will not be awarded any possible alternatives for which they did not apply. 3 CXC A2/U1/10 T COMMUNICATION STUDIES SYLLABUS RATIONALE he ability to co mmunicate thoughts, emotions, ideas and attitudes is a critical factor in the management of our physical and social environmen t. COMMUNICATION STUDIES builds students awareness of the centrality of language to the normal functioning of human beings and facilitates their ability to operate in the Caribbean linguistic environment and beyond.

6 It also provides students with the confidence to respond appropriately and creatively to the implied challenges of that environment through the dev elopment of their language awareness and communicative competencies. The fact that COMMUNICATION is a complex set of processes to which language is central informs this programme of study. The focus of language in this context emphasises its nature as both a marker of personal, cultural and national identity, and as an instrument of social and political interaction. Thus, the students will gain an informed sense of their own language heritage, in addition to a recognition of the cultural diversity of the Caribbean.

7 They will have attained the attributes of the Ideal Caribbean Person as outlined in The Caribbean Education Strategy (2000). The SYLLABUS integrates, enhances, deepens and broadens language skills and awareness already developed in the CSEC English A curriculum. It focuses primarily on the development of advanced competencies in Standard English, particularly Caribbean Standard At the same time, it attempts to develop an appreciation of the linguistic diversity of the Caribbean, which comprises the small island states, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, all the other islands in the Caribbean Sea (including the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, islands of the Francophone Caribbean and the islands of the Netherlands Antilles) and Belize, Suriname, Guyana and Cayenne.

8 In addition, it explores the implications of this diversity for social, cultural and economic transactions. Students will have acquired also skills of enquiry as defined in the UNESCO Pillars of Learning that will enable them to succeed in their academic careers and the world of work, and that will foster further the exploration and development of their Caribbean identities. The SYLLABUS emphasises the wider frame work of COMMUNICATION principles, systems and processes with in which language use has con text, achie ves coherence and is enhanced. The role of technology in the enhancement or retardation of COMMUNICATION is also considered important.

9 In su mmary, a teaching programme based on this SYLLABUS must be characterised by the following: 1. consideration of linguistic and non-linguistic COMMUNICATION , so that the dynamics of any communicative act can be clarified; 2. provision of opportunities for students to be exposed to the dynamic range of communicati ve experiences and to appreciate how language functions as an instrument of educational, social, personal, vocational and spiritual dev elopment. Particularly, it must provide opportunities for students to explore, in theory and practice, the use of register, code and style in relevant social contexts; 3. commitment to helping students understand the relationship between language, society and identity and to developing an awareness of language variety and diversity; See definition of Caribbean Standard English in the Glossary.

10 4 CXC A2/U1/10 _____ See definition of Caribbean Standard English in the Glossary. 4. consideration of the impact of technological advances on COMMUNICATION and the implications of this impact for language variety and society; 5. facilitation and enhancement of students ability to g ather and process information using a variety of modes and strategies; 6. facilitation and enhancement of students own critical, creative and aesthetic responses to, and production of, language. AI MS This SYLLABUS aims to: 1. dev elop an understanding of the nature of language and its various functions in social, aesthetic, work- related and other contexts; 2.