Co-Curricular Courses

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will immerse students in “voice off” and “eyes on” communication using signs and the linguistic principles that describe visual spatial communication. The course uses a functional-notional approach that focuses on the functions or  communicative purposes of people’s everyday interaction and functions that establish and maintain social relationships. The course introduces students to vocabulary associated with a topic and the grammatical structures needed for the communicative activities of each unit. Participants will be exposed to the sign language varieties used in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean and the cultural identities of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.

The course aims to develop basic communicative competency and will be taught with a blend of interactive elements of communicative language teaching, an emphasis on target language immersion and a focus on using visual-spatial grammar and the functional use of the language. It will assess both the receptive and productive skills of the participants through 100% coursework.

Course Aims

The primary aim of the course is to develop basic communicative competencies in a visual-spatial mode of communication and cultural awareness of users of the sign language varieties of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean. The course aims to introduce grammar and vocabulary in the context of information sharing about the interlocutors and the environment. The course will develop conversational strategies with everyday communication as the centrepiece of each lesson.

Lecturer

Dr Paulson Skerrit
School of Education

Email: paulson.skerrit@sta.uwi.edu
Tel/ext: (868)-662-2002 ext.83826