Talking about Talk
- suem0114
- Oct 3, 2017
- 2 min read
In my previous post, I re-discovered the simple task of communicating through the ages through storytelling. There is a skill in this. Telling a joke is a skill and there are those in the world who can tell a joke well, and there are those who can't.
Reflecting on this, I recall that verbalising concepts and ideas as is valued as a means of collaboration and organising ideas. It is used as a form of assessment. Each syllabus has the expectation of effectively communicating ideas. It is a life skill and one which is integral in all areas of our curriculum. But what of those students who have ideas and cannot express them or explain their thinking ?
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"Speech, language and communication skills are fundamental to children’s learning, emotional and social development. Schools often respond to other pressures such as raising attainment in writing or maths, without recognising that supporting language and communication helps to give children the skills that underlie development in these other areas. " HeadTeacher Update 2013
Bayetto quotes Resnick & Snow (2009) who declare “…engaging in stimulating talk is the only way young children can expand their own language skills - learning words, putting sentences together, and practising the “rules” of talk” (p. 3)
A UK primary school which focused on building communication skills noticed the following after 2 years.
Improvements in children’s interaction and communication with each other.
Improvements in children’s vocabulary and use of language.
Improvements in children’s end of year speech and language assessments.
Children being more confident answering questions in class.
Reduced anxiety in children with communication difficulties leading to improved behaviour.
Improved identification of children’s speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
As I explore deeper, it becomes clear that with the increasing trend towards collaboration, the use of multimedia and self-directed learning, communication especially oracy is an important skill which needs to be developed.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
Edutopia cites a London school which embeds oracy into every lesson. Skills are explicitly taught then reinforced throughout every lesson, every day. The school assesses the students' skills using an oracy rubric.
1 .Accept that talking is ok in the classroom.
2. Create discussion guidelines with students.
3. Guide students to reach a shared agreement.
4. Have students peer-assess groups in terms of guidelines
5. Consider how to group students
6. Create discussion roles
7. Create talk tasks
8. Provide sentence starters
Modelling good communication skills in the classroom . educationgovuk 2012
With explicit analyses of sentences, guidelines and structured collaboration, development of receptive and expressive communication will lead to deeper comprehension in all subject areas. Students can clarify their ideas and express them to others, who may question and analyse their peers statements. Justification and/or identification of an error may be communicated clearly without offence given or taken, which is surely another valuable life skill.
Thoughts? Experiences? Please share on the forum.
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