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Primary and Secondary Schools - Other

• Language and Self Regulatory Behaviour

  Information for teachers and other professionals
  
  

  Language is used by adults in a variety of ways to help children develop social awareness and contain their behaviour.  This can be done through:
  

  • instructions: 'Come one', 'Hold my hand'
  • praise ('well done'): to encourage the behaviour to be replaced
  • admonishments: 'Stop it', 'Leave it alone'
  • explanations: 'Try doing it this way'
    

  Children's behaviour can also be influenced by the development of their own language skills.  As children mature they begin to develop private speech.  This goes from vocalisations which accompany actions to the production of verbal plans which will guide the action.  When language becomes more internalised, behaviour is brought increasingly under the control of a child's self-guided speech, which becomes verbal thought.

  
  

  Through the use of language, behaviour becomes more rule-governed and under conscious control: children learn that, within a certain context, running will not be permitted.  They also become aware of the type of behaviour which will support future goals; for instance, delaying a response until the teacher has finished the question.  As children mature, self-regulation should play a greater part in their development.

  
  

  The presence of conscious control, together wtih self-guided speech, allows an individual as described by Barkley (1997) to:
  

  • plan how to respond to a situation in a flexible, adaptable way
  • take past experiences into account
  • separate feeling from actions, thereby reducing the possibility of impulsive actions

  Vygotsky (1962) has suggested the possible stages in the development of self-guided speech, which will enable self-regulatory behaviour.  These stages, together with the activities appropriate for their development, are shown in the accompanying table:

  
  

  STAGE ONE : Children begin to label objects and actions.                          

  
  

  Group practical activity such as colouring/sticking.

  
  

  Encourage vocalisaitions about the shared activity using the appropriate names for objects and processes.

  
  

  Conversation about preferred topics while engaged on simple tasks.

  
  

  STAGE TWO : Children begin to expand utterances into simple sequences.               

  
  

  Small group practical activity, including mathematics, science activities.

  
  

  Children:
  

  • describe what they are doing using appropriate verbs, nouns, adverbs, adjectives
  • answer simple cause and effect questions and task-relevant questions
  • recap and recall the sequence of actions and the outcomes
    

  Verbal commentary accompanies actions.

  
  

  STAGE THREE : Children able to use simple sequences and link ideas together. Beginning to predict consequences from initial actions.

  
  

  Small group activity.

  
  

  Facilitator encourages the use of language to plan:
  

  • the task
  • the equipment needed
  • the process/sequence
  • timing for the elements, outcomes, evaluations

  STAGE FOUR : Children able to problem solve, but do this out loud, especially when they find a task difficult.   

  
  

  Facilitator encourages children to think through problems.

  
  

  When asked, children should be able to use language to explain what was done and why.

  
  

  (adapted from Ripley et al. 2001)

  
  

  It is at Stage 3 that greater reliance can begin to be placed on verbal strategies to control behaviour.  Before this stage, asking questions such as 'Why did you do that?' would not be helpful.  This will be especially true if the child has limited understanding of:
  

  • a 'why' question
  • cause and effect
  • the language of feelings.
    

  It will be evident that, for a child with verbal processing difficulties, many language-bound rules will prove problematic.  Children with language problems can at times be described as impulsive, reactive, unable to follow the rules of the classroom.  Additional consideration may be required for these children to enable them to grasp key instructive words and to develop their self-guided speech.

• Language and Behaviour

  Language and behaviour: classroom strategies
  
  

  Notes on language and behaviour

  
  

  Generally, activities working on particular skills need to be short and frequently changed.

  
  

  Useful activities

  
  

  Use of role play:  use an actual situation that has arisen at home or at school; investigate the differences made by using another tone of voice or phrasing.

  
  

  Circle time: the adult may need to be more directive than usual and set the scene very carefully so that the child can participate - initially, this may need to be in a very small group of protective peers.

  
  

  Alternatively, to avoid children simply repeating what others say, they could be put in pairs and asked to report on each other's views.  This needs to be monitored carefully, however, so that the child with difficulties does not become over-dependent on friends.

  
  

  As the child gains in confidence, the group size and composition can be more challenging.

  
  

  Practising what they want to say: learning a 'script' for situations the child finds difficult can be achieved through role play, puppets, watching and talking about DVDs.

  
  

  Playing card games can teach turn taking and learning to cope with other people's idiosyncrasies, such as pace or an extra need for explanations.

   

  Musical and rhythm games can reinforce:
  

  • social listening;
  • involvement as part of a social group;
  • valuing individual contributions.

  Shared activities, such as creating a group picture.  For children with language difficulties, this may require 'fading technique' in order to teach them how to work and talk together.  For example, at first, three quarters of the picture may already be drawn.  Adult involvement may be needed to model how to ask questions/instruct others.

  
  

  These activities can also be reviewed - how did we do this task? What went well? What were we pleased with? What were we less pleased with? Does the adult need to 'reset the scene' next time, so that there is more group interaction?

  
  

  Group/individual focus

  
  

  Self-esteem/confidence to communicate.  Teachers can ensure that:
  

  • they are aware of any individual difficulties and differentiate tasks - or their own language - appropriately to fit the context
  • they can interpret the child's nonverbal messages
  • the chld has personal strategies for coping with misunderstandings: this might include learning to count to ten
  • the child has a way of letting others know when they need to say something, but are finding this difficult: this might be a concrete signal, such as putting out a red card; adults will need to be very alert and respond fast for this to be successful
    

  Issues of cause and effect

  
  

  For some children, adults may need to go over what happened several times.  Simpler language, and gesture, may be needed and the links between cause and effect made explicit.

  
  

  Classroom management

  
  

  Self-esteem/confidence to communicate.  Teachers can:
  

  • make sure the physical organisation of the classroom is clear without verbal explanation, for example, where you hang your coat
  • use visual clues whenever possible, such as photos to remind children of events;
  • make sure class rules are known to all
  • make sure that adults share and reinforce the same understanding and conventions
  • use 'plan, do, review' systems about the process of learning: how did we carry out this taks? What helped us to learn from each other?
  • ensure there is a class ethos of self-advocacy: what do I do if I don't understand?
  • allow for class discussion of emotions: identifying aspects of happiness/sadness
  • make sure the class have strategies for responding when a child says or does something unusual.