Oral Language Development

What is oral language?

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What is oral language? Oral language is the ability to speak and listen. The development of thinking and reading abilities is closely linked to the development of oral language. Through meaningful and fun interactions, students can develop the type of everyday communication skills that facilitate learning.

Why is it important? Research tells us that children who have strong oral language skills often have strong reading and writing skills. In contrast, children with oral language problems are at higher risk of reading and writing difficulties (Scarborough, 2001).

Oral language is at the base of literacy.

Sequence of Oral Language  Spoken language naturally comes before written language. This developmental pattern continues throughout school.  Initial literacy instructional priority should be given to developing oral proficiency, concurrently supplemented with print materials to support the development of English language skills.

Who needs oral language development?.

All Students! It’s not just English Language Learners that need to practice oral language development. Today’s society does not encourage oral language development. Various situations such as two-income households or one-parent families, soccer, baseball, or ballet practice, and family dynamics rarely allow family members to sit down and simply (and importantly) talk about the day’s happenings. Technology such as TV, video games, computers, personal listening devices and even DVD players in vehicles discourage oral conversations and language development.

How to develop oral language in the classroom?  Talk with Your Children  Get Close & Listen  Respond and Expand  Talk About What You Are Doing  Provide Prompts That Promote Oral Language  Wordless Picture Books  Singing  Conversation Stations

Talk with Your Children Talk! Talk! Talk! Teachers should talk or converse with their children whenever possible. Children often love to talk about their friends, families, or favorite activities. Try to develop “talking points.” Talking points are conversation starters that you can use with a child. Consider writing them on a set of note cards to keep with you whenever you want to promote conversation with a child. Make conversation a game by asking the child to “pick a card” to initiate a conversation.

Get Close & Listen When speaking with children it is important to get close. The child should be able to see your lips and facial expressions, hear your voice clearly, and make eye contact with you. Making sure that you “get close” helps ensure that the child keeps an interest in what you are saying. Make sure during conversation with the child that you are sending a clear message that you are listening. When a child speaks to you, make comments about what they are saying, nod your head, or add “Mm-hmm,” “Really?” or “Tell me more.”

Respond and Expand When a child says something to you, respond whenever possible. After you respond, try to expand the conversation. Add more context to the language even when a child’s response is a simple one. For example, if the child says, “I like apples,” You might say, “I like apples too. What kind of apples do you like?”

Talk About What You Are Doing Daily activities, such as cleaning up after stations or snack time, provide many opportunities for language development. Talk with children about what they are doing and what you are doing. This type of talking exposes children to language in general, involves them in learning conversation skills, and helps children acquire and use vocabulary that is important in their everyday lives.

Wordless Picture Books Wordless picture books provide lots of opportunities for developing oral language. As you introduce the book, use rich vocabulary and expand the story with many details as you explore the pictures. Once you have read the story several times, it can be placed in the Conversation Station and the students can retell the story to their classmates.

Examples of Wordless Picture Books  Good Dog Carl Series by Alexandra Day

Allen County Public Library  This site has many wordless picture book titles with a synopsis of each book. wordless.html

Singing  Singing with your class develops oral language, vocabulary and increases phonological awareness.  Be sure to provide printed posters or slides of the songs to develop the students’ concepts of print while you singing.

Conversation Stations

Conversation Station  Create a reusable sign that reads: “Lets talk about _______”  Gather props and books  Find a storybook that models conversational practices from The Balanced Literacy Diet

Question Sticks  Question sticks can be used in the Conversation Station to promote discussion of stories.  They can be used during Show and Tell so students can hear and discuss a variety of questions.

Mystery Bag Activity Clues 1. It is white. 2. It is cold. 3. It has stick arms. Question sticks make and take

Tell Stories Tell stories every day about things from the past or things that will happen. You can talk about something the class might do that day or about an upcoming event. During a story, use prompts to encourage storytelling like, “Tell me a story,” “What happened next?” and “When did that happen?”

Provide Prompts That Promote Oral Language Include microphones, old telephones, puppets, flannel boards, and even paper towel tubes in the play area. Pretending to be someone else encourages children to mimic the vocabulary, facial expressions, and body language that they see and hear from others. These types of prompts encourage oral language interactions. Make them available and encourage children to use them whenever possible.

Poetry Have a weekly poem that is read and discussed daily. Ensure it is large enough for students to see so that they can watch as you track while reading. Introduce it on Monday. Discuss rhythm, rhyming words, or other skills that are emphasized in the piece. Read the poem daily, inviting the students to “read along” with you. By the end of the week, students should be able say it with you. Be sure to use inflection when appropriate. These activities will also help build fluency in beginning readers.

How do students improve their oral language development? Practice! Practice! Practice! When asking students questions, instead of calling on one student at a time, allow time for guided conversations. Some activities to use to encourage this are:  Turn and tell a partner  Inner and outer circle  A talking line

Inner and Outer Circle Activity Directions: Number off 1 or 2. The ones will make a circle and face outward. The twos will make a circle facing the ones. As the music plays the ones will move clockwise, the twos counter clockwise. When the music stops, you will talk about the posted statement with the person you are facing. Ready?

In Summary… Oral language is the ability to __________. speak and listen Oral language is at the base of ______. literacy Share one oral language activity you can use in your classroom tomorrow. How do students improve oral language? Practice! Practice! Practice!

A Point to Ponder… If words aren’t in students’ oral working vocabulary, they won’t be comprehended if they are encountered in print.

Sources  Promoting Oral Language Development in Young Children by Audrey W. Prince, M.Ed.  Super Duper Publicationshttp:// guage_development.pdfhttp:// guage_development.pdf  The Balanced Literacy Diet  Allen County Public Library wordless.html