Key Skills Level 2 Communication Portfolio Guide

abcKeySkillsLevel2CommunicationPortfolioGuideThisguideistobeusedinconjunctionwithTheKeySkillsqualificationsstandardsandguidance(QCA04/1272).TheAdministrationHandbookforKeySkillsTheAQALogbookAvailablefrom©2007AQAanditslicensors.Allrightsreserved.TheAssessmentandQualificationsAlliance(AQA)isacompanylimitedbyguaranteeregisteredinEnglandandWales(companynumber3644723)andaregisteredcharity(registeredcharitynumber1073334).Registeredaddress:AQA,DevasStreet,ManchesterM156EX.DrMichaelCresswell,DirectorGeneral.AQAKeySkillsCommunicationLevel2PortfolioGuide20073Level2KeySkillsCommunicationContentsComponent2.1…………………………………………………………………6Component2.2………………………………………………………………..18Component2.3…………………………………………………………...……25AQAKeySkillsCommunicationLevel2PortfolioGuide20074Level2KeySkillsCommunicationPortfolioGuideInthefollowingguide,examplesaregiventoreflectthevarietyofwaysinwhichKeySkillsevidencecanbeproduced.Asaresult,theexamplesofsuitableworkgivenforeachcriterioninacomponentaredifferent;e.g.C2.2.1‘Selectandreadrelevantdocuments’,C2.2.2‘Identifyaccuratelythemainpoints,ideasandlinesofreasoning’andC2.3‘Summarisetheinformationtosuityourpurpose’areallillustratedwithdifferentactivities.Intheirownportfolios,candidatesmustevidenceeachcomponentholistically;e.g.alltheevidenceforC2.2.1,C2.2.2andC2.2.3mustbedrawnfromthesameactivity.Candidatesmay(butdonothaveto)linkevidencefordifferentcomponents,forexamplebysubmittingaleafletthataccompaniedtheirC2.1btalkasadocumentforC2.3orbymakingtheirC2.2.3outcomeafinishedwrittendocumentforassessmentatC2.3.Materialsubmittedasevidencefortwocomponentsmustmeetallthecriteriaforboth;e.g.aleafletincludedassupportingevidenceforthetalkwouldalsoneedtomeettheC2.3requirementsforaccuracyandorganisationifitwasintendedtobeC2.3.evidenceaswell.Overall,eachcandidate’sportfoliomustincludethefollowingevidence:C2.1aWitnessstatementforonediscussionactivitythatmeetsthecriteria.C2.1bWitnessstatementforonetalkthatmeetsthecriteria.Thecandidatemustincludesomeothersupportingevidenceforatleastoneofthesetwoactivities.C2.2Evidenceofoneactivityinvolvingtheselectionandreadingoftwodocuments(eachatleast500wordslong)whichcanbeusedtogethertoproduceacombinedsummary.C2.3Twocontrastingpiecesofwrittenwork.Allofthisevidencemustfullymeetthecomponentcriteria,asexplainedbelow.AQAKeySkillsCommunicationLevel2PortfolioGuide20075AtLevel2thereisanoverallportfoliorequirementto‘useatleastoneimageeithertoobtaininformationortoconveyinformationinyourdiscussion,yourtalkoroneofthedocumentsyouwrite,tohelptheaudience/readerunderstandthepointsyouaremaking.Thismeans:Candidatesmustuseimagesinthewaydescribedonp.27ofThekeyskillsqualificationsstandardsandguidance(QCA/04/1272),‘toaidunderstandingofthewrittenorspokentext’.Intheportfolioasawhole,theremustbeevidencethatatleastoneimagehasbeenusedeitheraspartofoneofthesourcedocumentsforC2.2orelsewheretoenhancethemeaningofthecandidate’sspeechorwriting.Candidatesareexpectedtoexploreandusenon-verbalmethodsofcommunicationinsupportoftexts.Thekeyskillsqualificationstandardsandguidance(QCA/04/1272)states(p.27)that‘atableoftextornumberswouldnotcountasanimage’andgivesawiderangeofexamplesincludingmodels,diagrams,graphsandcharts.Imagesusedtomeettheoverallportfoliorequirementmust:•beintegraltowrittenorspokentexts•conveysignificantinformation;i.e.theymustnotbemerelydecorativeoramusing.Candidatesmayofcourseusefurtherimagesofanykindaslongasthebasicrequirementhasbeenmet.AQAKeySkillsCommunicationLevel2PortfolioGuide20076Level2KeySkillsCommunicationPortfolioGuideComponent2.1Component2.1:Component2.1consistsofadiscussionactivity(C2.1a)andashorttalk(C2.1b).Bothactivitiesmustbefullyevidencedbyawitnessstatement,oneofwhichmustbesupportedbyfurtherevidencesuchasthecandidate’snotesoracopyofanimageusedbythecandidatetoclarifyexplanation.Candidatesareadvisedtoincludesupportingmaterialforbothactivities.Component2.1a:TakepartinagroupdiscussionCriterion2.1a.1:MakeclearandrelevantcontributionsinawaythatsuitsyourpurposeandsituationThismeans:Candidatesmustbeabletocontributemeaningfullytothediscussion.Itwilloften(thoughnotalways)beappropriateforcandidatestoprepareforadiscussionthroughbackgroundreading,makingnotesorthinkingaboutwhattheywanttosayonthesubject.Theyshouldbeabletocontributetheirideaswithclarity,adaptingwhattheysaytotheoverallpurposeofthediscussion.Thewayinwhichtheyexpresstheirideas,intermsofthevocabularytheyuse,theirtoneandthepacetheyadopt,shouldshowanawarenessofthenatureofthegroupandoftheformalityorinformalityofthecontextinwhichthediscussionistakingplace.Example:Groupdiscussionsareoftenpartoftheplanningstageforaprojectorassignmentinanysubjectarea.Theyprovidecandidateswiththeopportunitytopooltheirknowledgeandbenefitfromeachothers’ideas.WhenpreparinganessayforEnglishLiteratureGCSE,candidatesmayusethegroupdiscussionasanopportunitytosharetheirownknowledgeofthetextwithothersinordertoinformthenextstageoftheirresearch.AQAKeySkillsCommunicationLevel2PortfolioGuide20077Goodevidence.Inpreparinganessayonhowtheissueofgenderisaddressedi