1 ORAL LANGUAGE AND STUDENT LEARNING PRIMARY Language Support Program Hume Region

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ORAL LANGUAGE AND STUDENT LEARNING

PRIMARY

Language Support Program

Hume Region

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Oral Language & Student Learning: Primary

• Oral language is the medium through which teaching occurs and through which students actively engage in the learning process.

• We assume students are competent users of oral language. Not all students are.

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• Oral language underpins the ability to effectively communicate. It is the foundation upon which written language develops and it allows us to “make sense” of other important literacies.

• How much of the normal classroom activities and interactions involves the ability to listen and speak?

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• Oral language is a part of the vast majority of school interactions.

• Moore (1991) “The Talk Curriculum”– Language is what we teach, no matter what we teach– We learn to talk by talking. We learn to listen by

listening. The more we talk and listen to others talking, the better our ability to manipulate language. The better our ability to manipulate language, the better our ability to think and therefore to read and write for both of these are thinking activities.

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• “Communication helps to construct all learning and is central to the capacity to demonstrate and convey what one has learned in different contexts and to different people”

• Students need to learn that “..language and discourse differ in different disciplines…”

(VELS Interdisciplinary Learning Strand)

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Features of Oral Language Difficulties experienced by Primary Students

• Limited vocabulary knowledge

- We learn new words by comparing and contrasting

them with words we already know.

• Struggle to follow directions containing instructional concepts;– Do either the first picture or the second one;– If you have not finished the work then you have to do it at

home;– Before you start to write the story, spend some time

thinking of a plan;– Don’t go to your bag until I tell you.

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• Struggle to discern and use underlying text structure relationships in oral and written tasks– Comparison-contrast;– Cause-effect;– Problem-solution;– Main idea and supporting information.

• Limited ability to make inferences and predict information based on prior knowledge.

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• Limited understanding of figurative (non-literal) language

– Similes, metaphors and proverbs;– Common sayings;– Classroom directions;– Jokes and sarcasm.

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• Rarely seek clarification.

– Students are often unaware they do not know what to do or what they do not know;

– Students may be uncertain about the ways to seek clarification if they are not modeled.

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• Talk a lot but say little

– Student responses may be “verbal” but they provide limited content knowledge;

– The listener has to keep asking questions to gain the required information.

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• Provide information in a disorganised sequence.

– Information in essays may be inappropriately sequenced;

– Recounts or retells may be characterised by provision of the main information but the sequence is disorganised

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• Increased use of non-specific vocabulary (eg. stuff, thing, that one)

• Frequent use of shorter sentences with simple grammar with less use of longer and more complex sentence types. Increased occurrence of grammatical errors evident as sentence length increases.

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• Limited awareness of non-verbal communication cues (Body language / Facial expressions)

• May take longer to respond to questions and queries (3-5+ seconds).

• May butt-in and make comments at inappropriate times

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• Less ability to use their language to assist with task completion (self-talk : the ability to talk themselves through a task they find difficult.)

• Less ability to use their language to successfully problem –solve and resolve conflict.

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As you read through these characteristics of primary students with oral language difficulties, which students from your class popped into your mind?

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1 ORAL LANGUAGE AND STUDENT LEARNING PRIMARY Language Support Program Hume Region