COMMUNICATION STUDIES

OVERVIEW
Year 2021-2022
Grade 13
 COMMUNICATION STUDIES
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. It also provides students with the confidence to respond appropriately
and creatively to the implied challenges of that environment through the development of their
language awareness and communicative competencies.

This syllabus consists of three Modules.

• Module 1 - Gathering and Processing Information
• Module 2 - Language and Community
• Module 3 - Speaking and Writing
 OUTLINE OF ASSESSMENT
EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT- 80%
Written Papers - 4 hours
• Paper 01- 30% (1 hour 30 minutes )
Forty-five compulsory, multiple-choice items.

• Paper 02- 50% (2 hours 30 minutes)

Three compulsory questions requiring more depth of understanding than questions in Paper 01.

• SCHOOL-BASED ASSESSMENT 20%

A portfolio on a theme selected by the candidate and approved by the teacher.
 ASSESSMENT DETAILS
Paper 01 (1 hour 30 minutes – 30% of Total Assessment)
Number of Questions
This paper consists of forty-five (45) compulsory multiple-choice items based on the syllabus.
There are fifteen (15) items on each Module.

• Paper 02 (2 hours 30 minutes – 50% of Total Assessment)

Number of Questions
This paper consists of three compulsory questions, one on each of the Modules in the syllabus.
• Questions 1 and 2 require the candidate to respond in the form of an essay.
• Question 3 requires the candidate to select an appropriate presentation.
 ASSESSMENT DETAILS CONT’D
SBA PORTFOLIO

Each candidate will compile a portfolio on a theme selected, determined by the candidate and
approved by the teacher. The portfolio should be internally coherent and be organised under four
sections as follows:

1. General Introduction (12 marks)

This section should be no more than 200 words. It should relate to the other three sections,

identifying the theme selected and the purpose of selecting it and showing how it relates to the

candidate’s academic, work-related and personal interests.

 ASSESSMENT DETAILS CONT’D
2. Exposition (16 marks)

This section of the portfolio will be orally presented and examined. The duration should be no more

than 10 minutes per candidate. Topics chosen in this section should be current. A candidate should

collect at least two pieces of related information on the selected topic.

A candidate’s presentation should be well organised and effectively delivered, and should feature:

i. a discussion of the issues raised and the challenges experienced in exploring the selected topic;
 ASSESSMENT DETAILS CONT’D
ii. an evaluation of the effect of source, context and medium (or channel) on the reliability and validity
of information gathered.

3. Reflection (14 marks)

A candidate will create ONE sample of original work which should not exceed
800 words. The sample created should cover ONE literary genre. Please note
that the sample created must relate to the theme selected.

For this sample, candidates should write a preface of no more than 200 words, specifying:
• (a) the purpose;
• (b) the intended audience;
• (c) the context.
 ASSESSMENT DETAILS CONT’D
4. Analysis (18 marks)

The analysis in this section should not exceed 350 words. Candidates must analyse the sample
created under Reflection. The analysis should address any TWO of the following:

(a) registers;
(b) dialectal variation;
(c) attitudes to language;
(d) communicative behaviours.
 RECOMMENDED TEXT
McDermott, H. CAPE Communication Studies. Port of Spain: Caribbean Educational
Publishers, 2008

Thornes, N. Communication Studies for CAPE. Oxford University Press, 2015