Internal Assessment guidelines

THE PORTFOLIO

AS I promised, here is the information for the Internal Assessment (IA) The Portfolio.

Each of you will compile a portfolio on a theme selected, determined by you the student and this must be approved by your teacher. It is best for you to choose an area about which you can find current information as you will be required to create a topic for the expository section.

Below is a proposal of a possible way in which you could proceed in completing the Internal Assessment.

STRUCTURE OF THE PORTFOLIO

Firstly, write a General Introduction, in it you will do the following:

* State the theme

* Provide a rationale, that is, say why you are focusing on the selected theme

* Say how it relates to personal interest and possibly academic and work-related interests

* Briefly summarise how the theme is reflected in the three major headings/sections: Expository, Reflective and Analytical

Secondly, create your Reflective pieces. These are TWO samples of original work which together should not exceed 1,200 words and which must relate to the theme you selected. For this you ought to do the following:

* Write a rationale this may be one rationale per piece or one which refers to both pieces. Your teacher will decide. The rationale should detail:

the students inspiration (what motivated you to make the choice you have made)

the intended audience (for whom are you writing)

the situation (what is the context within which you are writing)

the purpose of the pieces (for what are writing; what do you aim to achieve, why are you writing the piece)

* Of the TWO pieces, at least ONE must include the use of Creole (Jamaican), that is, if you intend to use it for the Analytical Section of the Portfolio.

* Samples produced should cover TWO literary genres and may include one piece of oral work (on audio or video tape which should run for 35 minutes)

Thirdly, although the Expository Section is an Oral Presentation it is still considered to be a part of the Portfolio. In completing it, you should do the following:

* Design a topic (based on theme selected and this topic must be current)

* Research the topic, that is, you should select at least two pieces of related information on topic and identify the issues raised and the challenges faced/experienced (data collection/research methodology)

* Evaluate the effect of source, context (that is, the original and intended use of pieces) and channel (written or spoken) or medium (means through which it is spoken or written) on the reliability and
validity of information gathered. In other words, how does the effect (of source, context and medium or channel) affect the 'dependability and truthfulness' of information?

* Draw a conclusion (state the result of the research and you may give your personal stance on the topic)

Fourthly, complete your Portfolio by doing the Analytical Section. There is a word limit of 350. Do the following:

* Select ONE piece presented under the reflective section OR an appropriate piece, which is related to the theme, from another source

* Analyse all of the following in the chosen piece :

registers
dialectal variations
attitudes to language
communicative behaviours

Each of the sections is worth 20 marks. (See pages 3037 of the Communication Studies syllabus for the mark scheme). If you are going to be successful with in this course you must begin working immediately on the Portfolio