COMMUNICATION

STUDIES
The Exposition
Ms. Rajkumar.
 The exposition
■ There are 16 marks in total for the exposition. Discussion of issues - 5 marks
■ Evaluation of information - 4 marks
■ Organization - 3 marks Delivery - 4 marks
The exposition is the oral component of your portfolio.
■ It is worth a total of 16 marks.
■ It requires that you plan, prepare and practice a speech that you present to be examined.
■ The speech must have the same theme as the rest of your portfolio. You will have ten minutes in which to present.
■ Note that this is not an expository essay. Rather it is a discussion that presents:
• the issues raised - your research findings;
• the challenges experienced while conducting your research;
• how valid and reliable the information you gathered is, taking into account the effect of source, context and medium/channel.
■ Your exposition must be well organized.
■ It should have an introduction, a body in which your ideas are developed and a conclusion.
■ The organization of your exposition accounts for 3 of the 16 marks.
■ Bear in mind that you are allowed one cue card measuring 4 by 6 inches.
■ It can have relevant headings only, no additional information and will be checked by your teacher before you begin.
 The Exposition
A discussion of the issues raised
■ This means that you are to talk, in detail, about the information that you uncovered during your research.
■ It should include varying points of view and opposing positions relating to your topic.
■ This must be done with examples and evidence.
■ For example, if your topic is 'The phenomenon of world-stage police brutality and the spill-over effects on the
Caribbean', some possible issues being raised during your research could include the view that 'police brutality
in foreign countries is too far removed to have any real impact on the Caribbean' or that 'the Caribbean has had
its own issues with police brutality and so what is happening on the world stage is inconsequential' or that 'more
economically developed countries set a precedent for the rest of the world and so the prevalence and rise in
police brutality evident in the Caribbean today is a direct by-product of what is happening on the world stage'.
A discussion of the challenges experienced in exploring your topic
■ This means that you must outline some of the problems you faced and had to overcome while researching and
collecting data on your theme. The problems may be physical or non-physical.
■ For example, a physical challenge might have been constant disruption from outside elements during an
interview and a non-physical challenge might have been a difficulty finding data relevant to the Caribbean
situation.
■ These two requirements, a discussion of the issues raised and of the challenges experienced together account
for 5 of the 16 marks available.
 The Exposition
An evaluation of the information gathered
■ Here you are being asked to make a value judgement.
■ You need to determine whether the information you have gathered is accurate and true and whether
it can be accepted as .being sound, rational and incontestable.
■ You do this by presenting an evaluation of the sources, contexts and mediums/channels you used to
obtain data and whether they satisfy the criteria for being reliable and valid.
■ This evaluation accounts for 4 of the 16 marks available.
Planning and preparing for the exposition
Select your theme and topic
■ If you have not already done so, this is obviously your first step.
■ Do not forget that your theme and topic are distinct.
■ To help with the distinction, think general and specific, respectively. The theme is general, a broad
concept or idea, and the topic focuses on a specific aspect in relation to that theme.
 The Exposition
Example:
Theme: The use of drugs in sport
Topic: The impact of doping on athletics in Jamaica
Remember that your topic needs to be current and researchable.
To ensure that your topic is researchable ask yourself these questions:
• Does my topic have more than one variable, or element?
• Consider the topic in the example: the variables include the impact of doping and athletics in Jamaica.
(You may even consider athletics and Jamaica as separate variables.)
• Is there a question within the topic that requires an answer?
• The question can be directly stated or implied.
• Will I be able to collect data to answer the question related to my topic?
So, essentially your topic should be a question with at least two variables, which allows for data
collection that leads to answers to the question. It should not, therefore, have a moral or ethical premise.
 The Exposition
Identify data sources and evaluate them
• You will need to draw on Module 1 content as you will need to use your knowledge about evaluating
sources to guide you.
• Review the section on evaluating information in Chapter 2.
• Remember that in the exposition you will need to present an evaluation of your sources.
• Once you start your preliminary research and identify some primary and secondary sources, you will
want to determine if they may prove useful to you.
• With regard to books and articles (physical or electronic), the author, publication date and information
about where and by whom it was published are necessary in order to assess the usefulness of the source
for your research.
• Try to find information that will tell you about the author's credentials, institutional affiliation,
experience, area of expertise and other related published works.
 The Exposition
• The date of publication should also be taken into consideration as you need data that is up-to-date.
• Looking at who published a book or where an article was published will also help you determine the
reliability and validity of your data.
• You need to ensure that the sources you have selected are relevant, valid and credible.
• Make note of these sources and the details that you verified in your evaluation. You will need this for
the exposition.
Collect data
This will ensure that all your information is in one place and it will be easier to access and review.
• You now need to utilize appropriate data collection tools to gather your information.
• You need to collect at least two pieces of related data on the selected topic.
• This means that you will need to find data from no fewer than two sources.
 The Exposition
Examine the content.
You want to ensure that the information is relevant to your topic and does not contain author biases.
The sources you select should also have content that can be verified and should either support other materials or provide
new information - this may even be an opposing viewpoint.
Scan the content and make notes as you go along.
• Once you are satisfied that the content is useful and fulfils the criteria for being valid and reliable, summarize the data and
be sure to identify your sources.
Note that these must be referenced in the bibliography. Do not plagiarize.
Make a note whether the sources are primary or secondary.
You should aim, where possible, to have at least one of each.
• Note that even when you have used questionnaires or interviews to collect data from primary sources, you still need to
review the data and summarize it.
• This is the information you are putting together for that part of your exposition that requires a discussion of the issues.
Remember your variables and find suitable literature that allows you to provide definitions for each of them.
• Make a note of all the challenges (physical or otherwise) you encounter as you go through the research process.
 The Exposition
Plan your speech
Remember that the exposition is an oral presentation and that it should take not more than 10 minutes.
There are two possible approaches to planning your speech.
You can either write your speech in its entirety or you can create an outline for it.
Your teacher may well require that you write out your speech.
Whether you write the entire speech or just an outline, you must ensure your speech:
• has the appropriate structure, that is, an introduction, a body and a conclusion;
• covers all the required areas.
Use the mark scheme in your syllabus when reviewing your speech to ensure that you have all the
requisite parts.
Below is a suggested outline. Naturally you can modify it according to personal style or the requirements
of your teacher.
 The Exposition
Introduction
Suggested time: 2 minutes.
• Begin with an interesting opening - something that will capture the attention of the examiner.
This may be a quote, a proverb, a line from a song, a joke, etc. Ensure that whatever you use is relevant to
your theme and what you will be presenting.
• State the topic.
• Define the variables.
• Discuss the background to and/or the historical development of the issues.
• Make mention of differing views on the topic.
* State your interest in the topic (your reasons and motivations for investigating the topic).
Give your thesis statement.
 The Exposition
Body paragraph 1
Suggested time: 2Vi minutes.
Discuss the issues.
• Identify each source by name and point of view on the issue.
Give a summary of the information gathered from your sources.
• Present information that both agrees and disagrees with your thesis statement.
Discuss the challenges you experienced in exploring the topic.
You need to show that you have an understanding of the impact of these challenges on the research process and/or the data collected.
Body paragraph 2
Suggested time: 2 minutes.
Evaluate the effect of Source 1.
• Explain how the source was useful in providing information on the topic.
• Explain why you believe the source is qualified to give relevant information on the issue, or not.
• Explain specifically why you believe information from this source is believable and reliable, or not.
Say how you believe the context within which the source operated might have affected the information it gives.
• Explain how the medium/channel by which the information was conveyed has affected the credibility of the message.
 The Exposition
Body paragraph 3
Suggested time: 2 minutes.
Evaluate the effect of Source 2 in the same way as above.
Conclusion
• Suggested time: IV2 minutes.
• Give a brief summary of your main points.
Give a brief statement of how you have benefited from the research process.
Make a final judgement as to whether the information you collected is valid, credible and reliable.
Make recommendations where necessary.
 The Exposition
Presenting your exposition
You need to speak for a maximum of 10 minutes with only one 4 by 6 inch cue card as a prompt.
The delivery of your speech accounts for 4 of the 16 marks available.
The examiner will determine your marks based on your audibility, fluency, eye contact, body language and paralinguistic
features such as timing and pitch.
To maximize your marks, you need to plan your speech and practice it. It is important that you know your presentation. This
does not mean that you should write it out and learn it word for word. It means that you should be so familiar with the
content that you are able to confidently convey your ideas.
Do not rush or speak too quickly. You should already know how long each section of your speech will take.
Your presentation should be done confidently and show a thorough interest and understanding of the topic chosen - beyond
the title of your presentation.
Keep your voice clear and audible at all times.
Remember that your body language should enhance your presentation, not detract from it.
Refrain from clearing your throat and using interjections such as 'hmm', 'like' and 'er'.
Exhibit good paralinguistic control - use relevant pauses; raise or lower your voice as need be for effect.
Maintain eye contact and remain calm and self-assured throughout to help convey confidence.
If you miss something or make a mistake, continue (pause briefly if you need to but try not to lose composure) and do not
allow yourself to be thrown off.
Remain pleasant throughout your presentation and end by thanking the examiner for listening.
 The reflection
The reflection section of your portfolio is worth 14 marks.
The creative piece is worth 10 of the 14 marks available for this section.
The marks are awarded for:
creativity - this includes use of the genre and audience engagement as well as originality;
organization - as with all writing, the presence of a beginning, a middle and an end and good linkage between them and
with the theme;
expression - this includes appropriateness of register, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary and also careful proofreading.
You are required to write an original creative piece in a literary genre of your choice - a drama (a play or monologue), a
poem, a short story or diary entries.
There is a word limit of 800 words and the piece must relate to your theme and help to achieve your purpose.
Bear in mind that your creative piece should contain the features of that genre.
For example, if you are writing a play, it must contain the characters' names with their dialogue beside it, together with
stage directions and other features of a play.
Remember that the piece must contain two linguistic elements that you can analyze in the next section of your portfolio.
To accompany the creative piece, you must write a preface.
This has a word limit of 200 words and is worth 4 of the 14 marks allocated to the reflection.
 The preface
The preface is an introduction to the reflective piece. In it you should
explain:
• the purpose of the piece;
• the intended audience;
the context for presenting the piece.
You can present the three aspects in three paragraphs.
1. The purpose
• Introduce your theme and give some background information about the issues.
• You may also want to identify the genre and title of the piece.
• Explain the purpose for which the piece was written.
2. The intended audience
• Explain who you are writing for - who you want to read the piece that you have written.
Explain why you want to reach this particular audience. This should relate to achieving the purpose you have outlined in the
preceding paragraph.
You need to be specific - you are writing for policy-makers in the government or the parents of preteens or young athletes in
high schools, for example.
 The Preface
3. The context
• The mistake that many students tend to make is to explain the context as the setting of their creative
piece. This is not the context that is being referred to.
• In this paragraph you need to explain to the examiner where you would publish the piece so that the
intended audience have access to it.
For example, a magazine, an anthology, a newspaper, via a specific social media platform, on a
noticeboard, etc.
Once you have identified the context, be sure to say why this context is effective.
• Always remember to connect everything you say to your purpose. Naturally your reason for selecting a
particular context must be how effective it is in reaching your target audience.
 The Analysis
In this section you are required to present an analysis of your creative piece. You are expected to select any two of these four linguistic features:
• registers
• dialectal variation
• attitudes to language
• communicative behaviours and analyze their use in the piece.
This means you need to have included them in your creative piece.
• Do name the features you will discuss.
• Do not give a definition of the features.
• Do illustrate their use by providing examples of the two features being discussed.
• Do give a full explanation of why the feature was used and how they conveyed the theme.
• Do not analyze all four features.
For this analysis you are given a 350-word limit and are expected to follow the appropriate essay-writing structure. That is, there should be an
introduction, a body with appropriate and relevant transitions and a conclusion.
The analysis is worth 18 marks.
• 8 of the marks are awarded for the content.
• 5 of the marks are awarded for expression.
• 5 of the marks are awarded for organization.
 The Analysis
Structure of the analysis
You can present your analysis as four paragraphs.
Introduction
• Give a synopsis of the creative piece.
This is likely to include the genre, title, point of view and what the piece is about.
• Remember that your analysis should say how the theme is reflected in your writing.
Consequently, in the introduction be sure to introduce your theme by stating how it is reflected in your
creative piece.
• For example:
Throughout the play, it can be seen clearly how warped and evil the antagonists have become and the
terror they cause in the lives of people through mass killings, arson and rape simply because of their
involvement in lottery scamming.
 The Analysis
The last sentence in your introduction should indicate the two linguistic features that you will discuss.
Body paragraph 1: Linguistic feature 1
• Identify the linguistic feature that you will discuss in this paragraph. This must be the feature that was named
first in the introduction.
• Say which characters use the feature or different aspects of the feature, give examples and then explain why they
are used.
• For example:
Both casual and consultative registers are used in the piece. The casual register is used mostly between Maka Don
and JR One example is when JP enters the scene and Maka Don says, ‘Yes daag, si di real sheila come een ya
now’ and JP’s response was ‘Mmmhmm, so we di man dem a deal wid?’. The familiarity with which they speak
indicates that they are close friends, which justifies the use of this register. The consultative register is used
between Don Man Dread and JP This is illustrated when Don Man Dread says, ‘So tell me again why the drop
late’ and JP replies, ‘w-w-wi couldn’t find di location,
Sir.’ Don Man Dread’s tone and language clearly indicate that he is the one in charge and he uses that register to
emphasise 'his’posftion. JP’s register here is very different from the informal way he conversed with Maka Don
and is due to the formal relationship with his boss.
 The Analysis

Body paragraph 2: Linguistic feature 2