The effect of CXC on the curriculum in the Caribbean

Abstract

This paper analyses the views of Guyanese teachers on the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Spanish and French syllabuses and examinations, with a view to identifying the extent to which the CXC has made an impact on their curricula for teaching these foreign languages in secondary schools. It also seeks to explain the relationship between the CXC and the curricula that teachers have adopted by drawing on a conceptual framework based on current research findings regarding teacher thinking in general, and teacher receptivity to change in particular. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from a sample of educators consisting mainly of practising classroom teachers, but which also included persons who had served, or were serving, as teacher educators, CXC examiners, and subject panellists in the area of Modern Languages. Data analysis indicated that the CXC has clearly stimulated greater attention to the teaching of facts about the culture of Spanish- and French-speaking countries, as well as a more balanced approach to the teaching of the four skills--listening, speaking, reading, and writing