The ability to communicate thoughts, emotions, ideas and attitudes is a critical factor in our management of the physical and social environment.  Communication Studies provides students with the opportunity to respond creatively to the implied challenges, through the development of their communicative awareness and abilities.

The fact that communication is a complex set of processes to which language is central, informs this programme of study.  The placing of language in this context emphasises the nature of language as a unique marker of personal, cultural and national identity, as well as a political relationship.  Language as a tool of international communication is also highlighted.

The syllabus integrates, enhances, deepens and broadens language skills and awareness already developed in the CSEC English A curriculum.  It focuses specifically on the development of advanced competencies in Standard English and at the same time, attempts to develop an appreciation of the linguistic diversity of the Caribbean and the implications of this diversity for social, cultural and economic transactions.  The Caribbean region comprises the small island states and mainland territories, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, and 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).  It includes also, Belize, Suriname, Guyana and Cayenne.

The syllabus emphasises the wider framework of communication principles, systems and processes within which language use has context, achieves coherence, and is enhanced.  The role of technology in the enhancement or retardation of communication is also considered important.

In summary, a teaching programme based on this syllabus must be characterised by the following:

• Consideration of all aspects of communication: linguistic and non-linguistic, so that the dynamics of any communicative act can be clarified;
• Provision of opportunities for student to be exposed to the dynamic range of communicative experience, and to appreciate how language functions as a n instrument of educational, social, personal and vocational development.  Particularly, it must provide opportunities for students to explore, in theory and practice, the use of register, code and style in relevant social contexts;
• Commitment to helping student understand the relationship between language, society and identity and to develop an awareness of its variety and diversity;
• Consideration of the impact of technological advances on communication, and the implications of this impact for language and society;
• The facilitation and enhancement of students’ ability to gather and process information using a variety of modes and strategies;
• The facilitation and enhancement of the students’ own critical, creative and aesthetic responses to, and production of, language.

The syllabus aims to:

• Develop and understanding of the nature of language and its various functions in social, aesthetic, work-related and other contexts;
• Develop an appreciation of speech and writing as mental and social processes;
• Enable students to use language registers accurately, appropriately and effectively in a range of contexts as specific above;
• Provide an understanding of the use of technology and its impact on communication;
• Develop an appreciation of the role of language in shaping Caribbean cultural identity;
• Develop an appreciation of communication as a complex process within a wide range of discourse contexts;
• Encourage students to use communication strategies appropriate to specific discourse contexts.

The syllabus comprises three Modules, each requiring at least 50 contact hours.

• Module 1: Gathering and Processing Information
• Module 2: Language and Community
• Module 3: Speaking and Writing