Oral Language: The Foundation for Word & Sentence Level Writing

MTSS Forum - 2017Gettysburg, PA • 10/17/17

David CokerUniversity of Delaware

Oral Language—it’s not just vocabulary anymore!Phonology

� Sounds in language and the rules for combining soundsSyntax

� How words are grouped into phrases, clauses, and sentences and how sentences are transformed

Morphology� How words are built out of meaningful units (i.e., roots and affixes)

Semantics (Vocabulary)� Word meanings

Pragmatics� How to use language to express your intent and to get things done in the world

What’s so important about oral

language anyway?

Let’s get theoretical!--Simple View of WritingText Generation Transcription

(Berninger et al., 1997; 2002)

Text Generation

eatIt is fun to eat oranges.

Language Skills, Word & Sentence Writing

Transcription

� Phonology� Morphology

Text Generation

� Vocabulary� Syntax� Pragmatics

Vocabulary

The Vocabulary Gap

� Some students begin school with smaller vocabularies:

�Low-income �English Language Learners�Urban schools

13 higher-SES children(professional)

23 middle/lower-SES children(working class)

6 welfare children

Age of child in monthsHart & Risley, 1995

The Problem Grows� 1st graders from affluent

neighborhoods know about twiceas many words as students from high poverty neighborhoods.

� High performing 3rd graders knew about as many words as the lowest-performing high school seniors

(Hart & Risley, 1999)

4th Grade Slump

� Students show early progress with word-level skills

� Problems emerge in upper elementary school understanding grade-level texts

(Chall, 1983)

Group TalkIn small groups, discuss the following questions:

• What kinds of words are the most difficult for your students?

• Where do they encounter their most challenging words (what kinds of books, situations or discussions)?

Academic Vocabulary1st Grade 3rd Grade 5th Grade

character summarize personification

machine organism ecosystem

addition decimal diameter

Academic Language� Academic language is everywhere--

� classroom and workplace, text, assessments

� Academic language includes words but also syntax

“Among the most commonly noted features of academic language are conciseness, achieved by avoiding redundancy; using a high density of information-bearing words, ensuring precision of expression; and relying on grammatical processes to compress complex ideas into few words.”

(Snow, 2010, p. 450)

Academic Language--Vocabulary• Vocabulary used across academic disciplines:

• Breadth – knowing the meanings of many words, including many words for the same, or related, concepts;

• Depth – knowing multiple meanings, both common and uncommon, for a given word

• Specific academic vocabulary—the words necessary to learn and talk about academic subjects (analyze, abstract, estimate, observe).

• Function of connectives (such as therefore and in contrast).

Syntax

Example of Oral LanguageP: it’s goin (.) thereT: yeah (.) yepP: obviously you’re goin to have to keep that there (2) keep the timber

because of the T: that was left by the last people that had the houseP: it’s a stereo unit (.) innitT: (Laughs) looks like it (.) yesP: I’ve seen some things (.) but eh (.) I see don’t see any problems there

(.) em (.) have you got taps & everything with it or are you putting these on

T: [yes (.) taps (.) That’s the main reason I’m having it replaced ( indecipherable utterance)

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:V5VKJdaZnQUJ:www.newi.ac.uk/englishresources/workunits/alevel/lang/jgplumber.pdf+conversation+transcript&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a

Example of Written Language

“So she pulled herself together and wiggled her bottom and sprang from the top step. But kitten only tumbled—bumping her nose and banging her ear and pinching her tail.”

(Kitten’s First Full Moon Henkes, 2004)

What Makes Written Language Hard?� Syntactically complex

� “So she pulled herself together and wiggled her bottom and sprang from the top step.”

� Explicit (vocabulary)� wiggled, sprang

� Context independent� Can’t ask for clarification

Why do students fail to acquire academic language?

• Lack of exposure to appropriate books & people who use academic language, and few opportunities to learn and use academic language

• Lack of systematic, explicit instruction and sufficient and supportive feedback.

(Scarcella, 2003)

Oral Sentence Instruction

Sentence Construction: We can do lots of work before even touching a pencil

� Teach sentence parts

� Use oral language to model good sentence construction

Teach Sentence Parts

� Direct instruction in subject & predicate

Sentence

Subject who or what

Predicate what the subject does or

is

Generate Sentences Using Sentence Parts

� To think of a good sentence I want to include the two parts:

1. Who or what is in this picture?� two cats

2. What is happening? What are the cats doing?

� cuddling in the sink� So my sentence is:

Two cats are cuddling in the sink.

Modeling Sentence Construction Out Loud

� Use engaging materials or topics� Interesting pictures�Books

� Make your process visible�Think Aloud!

Process for Generating Sentences Orally

Think Say It Aloud

Check & Fix

Say It Again

Modeling Sentence ConstructionTeacher Language:� When I write, I want to think about my

sentence first. Hmm ok. And then I want to say it out loud. So in this picture there is a horse, and it looks like he is laughing. My sentence could be, “A horse is laughing.”

� Does that make sense? I think it does.

� I’m going to say it again, “A horse is laughing.”

You model generating a sentence for your partner

Think Say It Aloud

Check & Fix

Say It Again

Now the other partner model generating a sentence

Think Say It Aloud

Check & Fix

Say It Again

Direct Vocabulary Instruction & Exposure to Academic Language

Principles of Vocabulary Instruction§ Teach high utility words that appear often across content areas and are key to

comprehension.

§ Present definitions and examples of use in context.

§ Provide multiple exposures to meaningful information about the word (Stahl & Nagy, 2006).

§ Teach word analysis and other word-learning skills.

§ Engage students in learning words through talking about, comparing, analyzing, and using target words.

(Rivera, Moughamian, & Francis, 2009)

Teach all the words?� Students are estimated to learn

around 3,000-4,000 words a year.

� If teachers taught them all, it would mean teaching about 20 words per day!

Not all words are equal� Tier 1—Most basic words. Table, baby, run

� Tier 2—High frequency for mature language users. Span a range of domains. Coincidence, absurd, fortunate

� Tier 3—Low frequency, limited to a single domain. Isotope, refinery, lathe

(Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)

Word Explanations

Dictionary definitions don’t cut it� Space constraints make for a peculiar style

def·i·ni·tion: n1. A statement conveying fundamental

character. 2. A statement of the meaning of a word,

phrase, or term, as in a dictionary entry.

Student-friendly explanations

� Characterize the word & how it’s used� Think about typical

use

� Explain it in everyday language

covert

Definition: kept from sight; secret; hidden

Explanation:describes something that is done in a hidden or secret way

disrupt

Definition:break up; split

Explanation:to cause difficulties that stop something from continuing easily or peacefully

Context for Vocabulary Instruction—Read Alouds� Adults use the physical context

to teach words to children.

� Classroom context is limited, but books provide limitless context for new words.

ALA Award Books

Books for Vocabulary Instruction

Ideal� Academic language� Create shared context� Integrate with comprehension

or content-area instruction

Encouraging Student Talk During Read-Alouds

� Allows for students to engage with the vocabulary and the story.

� Shown to boost vocabulary and reading comprehension.

(Brabham & Lynch-Brown, 2002; Dickinson & Smith, 1994)

Using Strategies during Read-Alouds to Encourage Student Talk

� Use open-ended questions—“how.. Why…?”

� Extend students’ responses to model academic language

Open-ended Questions during Read-Alouds

� Teachers can draw on the story to pose open-ended questions to the class.

Example from Where the Wild Things Are

“Why do you think Max wanted to leave home and live with the wild things?”

Open-Ended Question + Expansion + Extension� Teacher poses an open-ended question.

� Student responds with an incomplete answer.

� Teacher can expand in an effort provide a model of more complex syntax.

� Teach can then extend the question to elicit more relevant talk.

Open-Ended Questions + Expansion + Extension

Teacher: Why do you think Max wanted to leave home and live with the wild things?

Students: Mad.

Teacher: Right, Max was mad. [expansion].

Teacher: Why was Max mad? [extension].

An Example…

Now Some Open-Ended Questions…

“Why do you think the panda’s umbrella would be a nuisance?”

OR

“How do you think Karl, Michael and Addy felt about finding a panda in the backyard?”

Partner Talk—You Try It

You and your partner each take half of the next section from Zen Shorts and use the planning sheet to identify a good place for open-ended questions. Model it with your partner to practice expanding and extending a brief response.

Teaching Words and Read Alouds� During read-alouds, use your questions to make the process

interactive.

� Explain any difficult words as you read, and

� Focus on target vocabulary words after the read-aloud

(Walpole & McKenna, 2009)

Vocabulary Work After the Read Aloud

1. Have children repeat the word after you.2. Describe how it was used in the story.3. Provide an explanation of the word’s meaning.4. Offer 2 additional examples of the word.5. Involve the students in additional examples.6. Have students say the word again.

(Walpole & McKenna, 2009)

Sample Script1. One word we’re going to focus on is nuisance.

What’s the word? “__________”

2. In the story, Stillwater came to get his umbrella before it became a nuisance in the children’s backyard.

3. A nuisance is something that bothers you.

4. So when I’m trying to read, my brother’s loud radio is a nuisance. And sometimes I think it’s a nuisance when I have to wash my hands before dinner.

5. Can someone use our word? One thing that is a real nuisance for me is when ______.

6. What word are we talking about?

Partner Talk

� Working together, you and your partner make scripts for a post read-aloud vocabulary discussion of 2 more words from Zen Shorts.

Conclusions� Oral language is the foundation for sentence writing

� Many students need support building oral language� Two types of oral language are particularly important for sentence writing

� Academic vocabulary � Complex Syntax

� Teachers can help strengthen academic language through oral activities and exposure� Sentence generation� Read alouds

Questions & ConcernsIf you think of something later, my contact info is:

David CokerAssociate ProfessorUniversity of Delawaredcoker@udel.edu

References Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life. New York: The Guilford Press.Berninger, V. W., Abbott, R. D., Abbott, S. P., Graham, S., & Richards, T. (2002). Writing and Reading: Connections

Between Language by Hand and Language by Eye. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35(1), 39–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/002221940203500104

Berninger, V. W., Vaughan, K. B., Abbott, R. D., Abbott, S. P., Rogan, L. W., Brooks, A., … Graham, S. (1997). Treatment of handwriting problems in beginning writers: Transfer from handwriting to composition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(4), 652–666.

Brabham, E. G., & Lynch-Brown, C. (2002). Effects of teachers' reading aloud styles on vocabulary acquisition and comprehension of students in the early elementary grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 465-473.

Chall, J. (1983). Stages of reading development. New York: McGraw-Hill. Dickinson, D. K., & Smith, M. W. (1994). Long-term effects of preschool teachers' book readings on low-income

children's vocabulary and story comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 29(2), 104-122 Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children.

Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (1999). The social world of children learning to talk. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.Rivera, M. O., Moughamian, A.C. & Francis, D.J. (2009). Language development for English language learners.

Center on Instruction. http://www.centeroninstruction.orgScarcella, R. (2003). Academic English: A conceptual framework. UC Linguistic Minority Research Institute

Technical Report #2003-1. http://lmri.ucsb.edu.Snow, C. E. (2010). Academic language and the challenge of reading for learning about science, Science, 328, 450-

452. Walpole S., McKenna M. C. (2009). How to plan differentiated reading instruction: Resources for grades K-3. New

York, NY: Guilford Press.