Basic Communication aims to develop the learner's ability to: manage their communication with others; express themselves through basic written language or the use of signs/symbols such as compic or other communication aids; attend to others; and engage with and respond to a range of materials and media
As learners become more confident, and as their communication skills become successful, they will move toward greater autonomy and independence.
This course is divided into five (5) Units:
UNIT 1 Effective communication
UNIT 2 Expressive communication and interaction with others
UNIT 3 Receives and conveys ideas, messages and feelings
UNIT 4 Essential words, symbols, signs and sounds
UNIT 5 Materials and media
Basic Communication is one of a suite of courses designed to provide basic skills to learners with high needs, many of whom have a learning difficulty or disability.
Some learners may need the full suite of courses for study in both Years 11 and 12, some may need it for only part of their course load, and other learners may need only some courses in Year 11 before moving to other programs for Year 12.
Basic Communication has a whole-of-life approach. It aims to offer better outcomes in all aspects of learners’ lives, and assist learners’ access to achievable pathways to further training and or employment outcomes.
This course caters for learners who require flexible and individualised programs.
Basic Communication aims to develop the learner’s ability to: manage their communication with others; express themselves through basic written language or the use of signs/symbols such as compic or other communication aids; attend to others; and engage with and respond to a range of materials and media.
As learners become more confident, and as their communication skills become successful, they will move toward greater autonomy and independence.
On successful completion of this course, learners will be able to:
All learners have a right to an education that meets their needs through full participation and engagement with learning. Teachers need to enhance the quality of all students’ learning through responsive and planned learning programs that optimise achievement using inclusive practices.
Learners should have access to appropriate resources such as professional support staff; or adult assistance, and equipment such as assistive technology or modified facilities, as required. The Disability Standards for Education, 2005 outline the obligations that educational providers must meet in supporting the needs of students with disability through reasonable adjustments.
Adjustments include a range of supports and accommodations including but not limited to: supportive learning environments, tailored delivery models, visual and organisational supports, multimodal learning and assessment opportunities, varying levels of prompting and adult assistance. In the instance of online, distance or flexible delivery, adjustments may be made to the courses by teachers to suit the individual student’s learning environment. This may involve adaptation of the course to reflect the resources readily available to the learner within their home or community.
This course has a complexity level preliminary to Level 1.
The course has a size value of 15.
Tasmanian Certificate of Education: The qualifications available have a level of complexity preliminary to that of Level 1. Achievement of the qualifications does not, therefore, contribute credit points towards meeting the participation and achievement standard of the Tasmanian Certificate of Education qualification.
Qualifications Certificate: The qualifications available can be listed on the Qualifications Certificate issued by TASC.
It is not intended that the five Units are delivered and assessed in isolation. Providers will design programs of study that best suit the learning needs of the learner. Providers may combine and/or concurrently deliver and assess all five Units.
It is envisaged that learning will take place in highly familiar contexts and environments, using concrete and immediate examples, and using limited and highly familiar vocabulary.
Learners can successfully complete this course using the assistance of learning aids and technological devices used by the visually impaired and the hearing impaired. Learners requiring speech communication assistance can use relevant learning aids and technical devices.
There are no additional resources required for the delivery of this course other than standard classroom materials and equipment.
NOTATION ON EVIDENCE OF LEARNING
Some of the criteria standard elements (see below) use the terms ‘identify’ or ‘describe’.
In the context of this preliminary level course, ‘identification’ might be done via methods such as:
‘Selecting’ might be done by methods such as: pointing; nodding; circling with a pen; or matching (e.g. picture with corresponding name card).
In the context of this preliminary level course, ‘describing’ might be done via methods such as:
Learners must complete all five (5) Units.
The time allocated to each Unit will correspond to the needs of individual learners.
Units may be delivered using a “theme” or “topic” based approach to suit learners’ interests. Examples of themes/topics could include (but are not restricted to):
UNIT 1 Effective Communication
Learning activities and assessment will address the following:
UNIT 2 Expressive Communication and Interaction with Others
Learning activities and assessment will address the following:
UNIT 3 Receives and Conveys Ideas, Messages and Feelings
Learning activities and assessment will address the following:
UNIT 4 Essential Words, Symbols, Signs and Sounds
The delivery of this unit must include some contextualisation to the central theme of “My Personal Safety”.
Learning activities and assessment will address the following:
UNIT 5 Materials and Media
Learning activities and assessment will address the following:
While there are no prescribed work requirements, providers will use a combination of work tasks (with practical components where possible) to assess the learner’s achievement of the learning outcomes.
Work tasks could include (for example):
Criterion-based assessment is a form of outcomes assessment that identifies the extent of learner achievement at an appropriate end-point of study. Although assessment – as part of the learning program – is continuous, much of it is formative, and is done to help learners identify what they need to do to attain the maximum benefit from their study of the course. Therefore, assessment for summative reporting to TASC will focus on what both teacher and learner understand to reflect end-point achievement.
The standard of achievement each learner attains on each criterion is recorded as a rating of ‘C’ (satisfactory standard) according to the outcomes specified in the standards section of the course document.
A ‘t’ notation must be used where a learner demonstrates any achievement against a criterion less than the standard specified for the ‘C’ rating. The ‘t’ notation is not described in course standards.
A ‘z’ notation is to be used where a learner provides no evidence of achievement at all.
Providers offering this course must participate in quality assurance processes specified by TASC to ensure provider validity and comparability of standards across all awards. To learn more, see TASC's quality assurance processes and assessment information.
Internal assessment of all criteria will be made by the provider. Assessment processes must gather evidence that clearly shows the match between individual learner performance, the standards of the course and the learner’s award. Providers will report the learner’s rating for each criterion to TASC.
The following process will be facilitated by TASC to ensure there is:
Process – Each provider is responsible for ensuring the integrity and validity of their assessment results against the requirements of the course, including standards, and for maintaining records and documentation that will demonstrate the integrity, accuracy and validity of the award decisions they make each year.
Where TASC identifies sufficient potential for concern about the integrity or validity of a provider’s award decisions it will undertake an investigation. After such an investigation is completed, TASC may take action under Section 33 of the Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification Act 2003, as it considers appropriate, including but not limited to:
The assessment for Basic Communication will be based on whether the learner can:
The learner will:
| Rating C |
|---|
| engage in discussion with individuals, pairs and small groups of familiar people |
| greet and farewell people in a way that supports the relationship |
| take turns in groups conversations |
| express their point of view in a way that is acceptable to others |
| show they understand the meaning of what is said by others |
| use basic technology to facilitate communication |
| pay attention to another speaker. |
The learner will:
| Rating C |
|---|
| respond appropriately* to gestures and body language of a speaker (e.g. stops talking if the speaker moves away) |
| appropriately interpret directions from a speaker |
| appropriately* express their own ideas |
| relay personal experiences |
| convey messages with simple content |
| appropriately* express how they feel about issues and everyday situations. |
* ‘Appropriately’ in the context of this criterion means communication suitable or proper to the social situation (a peer, a group of peers, in public, to a person in a position of responsibility, to a stranger), and to social norms and mores.
The learner will:
| Rating C |
|---|
| recognise and respond to cues and signals (e.g. sirens, bells, telephone ringing, lights and signs) |
| recognise the orientation of words on a page – from left to right and top to bottom |
| use a variety of simple strategies to gain and convey meaning using text |
| respond appropriately* to signs |
| respond appropriately* to sounds |
| recognise personally relevant words and symbols. |
‘Appropriately’ in the context of this criterion means that the response is suitable or proper to the stimulus (e.g. not walking when the sign says ‘Don’t Walk’, follows a given drill when an alarm sounds).
The learner will:
| Rating C |
|---|
| use a range of materials (e.g. picture dictionaries, dictionaries, atlas, road maps, magazines) |
| identify different forms of media and their use (e.g. television, films, DVDs, CDROMs) |
| select media for personal interest (e.g. television, videos, e-games) |
| respond to a small sample of media in a way that demonstrates a basic understanding of the message (knowledge or emotion) |
| recognise essential information from a given limited range of sources (e.g. what is it about, who is involved?). |
Basic Communication (with the award of):
SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT (SA)
PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT (PA)
The minimum requirements for an award in Basic Communication are as follows:
SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT (SA)
4 ‘C’ ratings (‘Satisfactory Standard’)
PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT (PA)
3 ‘C’ ratings (‘Satisfactory Standard’)
The Department of Education’s Curriculum Services will develop and regularly revise the curriculum. This evaluation will be informed by the experience of the course’s implementation, delivery and assessment.
In addition, stakeholders may request Curriculum Services to review a particular aspect of an accredited course.
Requests for amendments to an accredited course will be forwarded by Curriculum Services to the Office of TASC for formal consideration.
Such requests for amendment will be considered in terms of the likely improvements to the outcomes for learners, possible consequences for delivery and assessment of the course, and alignment with Australian Curriculum materials.
A course is formally analysed prior to the expiry of its accreditation as part of the process to develop specifications to guide the development of any replacement course.
Version 1 – Accredited on 2 April 2014 for use in 2015 to 2018. This course replaces Basic Communication (PRE012110) that expired on 31 December 2014.
Version 1.a – Minor amendments to course content and criteria standards. 21 December 2017.