Receptive Language

Primary and Secondary Schools - Receptive Language

• Vocabulary/Concepts - Primary School

  What is meant by basic vocabulary
  
  

  Group/individual focus 

  
  

  Basic vocabulary:  assumptions are usually made that children start school with a basic vocabulary knowledge such as familiar people, animal names, body parts, household objects, some colours, some maths concepts such as 'big, 'more'.

  
  

  These assumptions are not always accurate, but any uncertainties may go unnoticed for some time.  There are no simple answers to this:
  

  • there is no fixed set of early basic vocabulary
  • how should teachers find out about any gaps?
  • how can time be spent on this work, when the curriculum will not wait and every day brings challenges of new vocabulary and concepts that must be learnt?
    

  Strategies to support word retrieval: in order to strengthen the meaningful links between words, and to give structure to vocabulary learning, children can be explicitly taught about:
  

  • functions: you eat with it (fork)
  • categories: it's furniture
  • opposites: this one's short, that one's long
  • features: it's thin; it's made of wood; you write with it
  • attributes and appearance: it's black and white
  • associations: it's a bit like a horse...
  • similarities and differences: it's like a horse,  but you don't ride it
  • homonyms: words that have the same form, but different meaning, such as 'bear'
  • synonyms: words that have very similar meanings, such as 'little' and 'small'
  • hierarchies and parts of whole, such as cup and handle, or flower and petal.
    

  Some children may respond well to phonological cueing as a means to retrieve words: 'It begins with s ...'; 'It has two beats (syllables)'.

  
  

  Other useful strategies for vocabulary learning:
  

  • Individual vocabulary book, in which words are written/drawn with their meanings, dictionary definitions or related ideas; this book can be like a Filofax or address book in size and format; although this can be linked to spelling, it is important that vocabulary is recorded within the relevant topic or curriculum area.
  • Icons: symbols or cartoon drawings can be used as visual shorthand to label, learn, reinforce key words or concepts; they should be particular to the child or class for note-taking, revision or written tasks.
  • Annotated diagrams: these may be recorded in individual vocabulary books, in a book on each table or on wall posters.
    

  Group/individual focus

  
  

  Some children may need:
  

  • to be taught very basic vocabulary; if necessary, through experience and using objects and pictures (but they will also need to learn some curricular vocabulary)
  • key ideas and vocabulary prioritised for all topics
  • a multi-sensory approach to vocabulary learning.
    

  Children with word-finding difficulties will need strategies that help them learn and retrieve vocabulary at will.  This will usually requires explicit teaching about:
  

  • functions
  • categories
  • associations
  • features
  • similarities/differences
  • the phonological characteristics of words

• Vocabulary/Concepts - Secondary School

  Vocabulary 
  Students may have a poor vocabulary for various reasons:

  • Limited life opportunities
  • Specific difficulties learning and remembering new words.
  • General learning difficulties
  • Problems accessing words stored in the memory.

  
  Strategies to improve Vocabulary development and word finding:

  Strategies to develop vocabulary:

  • Introduce a few new words at a time
  • Provide a list of new vocabulary so that the student knows which vocabulary he needs to learn, differentiated according to student’s individual need.
  • Explain the word in language that the student is able to understand and encourage the student to explain what the word means.
  • Use multi-sensory learning, for example:

  See it ( objects, real situations, photos etc.)

  Hear it

  Say it – say the word and put it in a sentence

  Read it

  Write it – again write the individual word and in a sentence

  • Use visual strategies, for example: Vocabulary maps
  • Reinforce the new words regularly over time.

  
  Strategies to support word retrieval: in order to strengthen the meaningful links between words, and to give structure to vocabulary learning, students can be explicitly taught about:

  • functions: you eat with it (fork)
  • categories: it's furniture
  • opposites: this one's short, that one's long
  • features: it's thin; it's made of wood; you write with it
  • attributes and appearance: it's black and white
  • associations: it's a bit like a horse...
  • similarities and differences: it's like a horse,  but you don't ride it
  • homonyms: words that have the same form, but different meaning, such as 'bear'
  • synonyms: words that have very similar meanings, such as 'little' and 'small'
  • hierarchies and parts of whole, such as cup and handle, or flower and petal.

  Some students may respond well to phonological cueing as a means to retrieve words: 'It begins with s ...'; 'It has two beats (syllables)'.

    Other useful strategies for vocabulary learning:
  
  
  

  • Individual vocabulary book, in which words are written/drawn with their meanings, dictionary definitions or related ideas; this book can be like a Filofax or address book in size and format; although this can be linked to spelling, it is important that vocabulary is recorded within the relevant topic or curriculum area.
  • Icons: symbols or cartoon drawings can be used as visual shorthand to label, learn, reinforce key words or concepts; they should be particular to the child or class for note-taking, revision or written tasks.
  • Annotated diagrams: these may be recorded in individual vocabulary books, in a book on each table or on wall posters.
    
    Group/individual focus

  Some students may need:

  • to be taught very basic vocabulary; if necessary, through experience and using objects and pictures (but they will also need to learn some curricular vocabulary)
  • key ideas and vocabulary prioritised for all topics
  • a multi-sensory approach to vocabulary learning.

  Students with word-finding difficulties will need strategies that help them learn and retrieve vocabulary at will.  This will usually require explicit teaching about:

  • functions
  • categories
  • associations
  • features
  • similarities/differences
  • the phonological characteristics of words

• Being able to tell a story

  Teaching narrative:
  
  

  Many teachers already use story frames to develop narratives. 

  
  

  The telling or retelling of an event or experience is a skill required throughout the curriculum. Initially, children report a collection of unrelated events but gradually the organisation of information becomes clearer, with characters and settings established, events following a chronological order and with the plot showing clear indications of the motivation and goals of the characters.

  
  

  Children develop the sub-skills required for this over a period of time. These sub-skills include knowledge and use of grammar, vocabulary, world experience, the understanding of cause and effect and listener knowledge as well as an awareness of story structure. It is these skills which come into play when a 'good' story is told or written.

  
  

  Children with speech and language difficulties might produce narratives which are:
  

  • poorly organised
  • shorter and with simpler story lines
  • limited in terms of including cause and effect
  • limited in terms of settling any characters' motivation and goals.
    

  It should be noted that there may be a difference between children's abilities to use oral and written narrative because of the level of their literacy skills.

  
  

  To develop narrative skills there should be discussion of the elements of simple stories in terms of:
  

  • who is in the story
  • where it is located
  • when it is set
  • what is the problem
  • how the problem is resolved
    

  Short, simple stories, in which some of the information is gained from the pictures, can be used as a basis for the above.

  
  

  There are specific narrative development materials published that are useful resources for suitable stories.

• Sequencing

  Teaching children to sequence information
  
  

  Children can be helped to learn about sequencing information in the following ways:

  Using picture sequences the adult: -

  • sets the pictures out in the correct order, 
  • talks about each picture as it is placed,
  • then talks through the whole sequence, emphasising the order.
    

  Then following this the child can be encouraged to join in:

  1. Repeat the above sequence putting the pictures in order.
  2. Keep the pictures in the correct order.
  3. Start talking about the 'first' picture, or the 'last thing that happened'.
  4. Encourage the child to find these pictures.

  For some children, it would be sensible to undertake the above while telling a familiar story (The Three Bears), and gradually progress to an unknown story.

  Photographs of an event (a walk along the river) could be taken and used in a similar way. This could also be extended by seeing if children can start to recall which photo should be put down first.

  Similarly a set of photos could be taken during one activity such as cooking and then used on a later occasion to explain or reinforce the sequence of events.  In other words, set the relevant photos out as children:

  • wash their hands; put on aprons
  • get out items of equipment
  • perform actions: weighing/whisking/pouring
  • put the food in the oven
  • take it out
  • wash up
  • eat the food!
    

  When children have an understanding of what it means to sequence information, and also have understanding of the meaning of words such as 'first', 'last, 'next', 'second', 'third', it should be possible to ask them to order sequences themselves.

  Even then, consider carefully any materials that you use and your own reasons for this activity. Children need to learn about real sequences and about time ordering, rather than prescriptive story lines.

  Group/individual focus

  Some children may need to be taught how to sequence ideas and events.  Adults may need to talk through sequences many times before the child can order them by him/herself.  Visual props such as photos, scrap books, home/school diaries will be helpful in reminding the child about the order of events.

  Key words, such as 'first', 'then' and 'last' may need to be taught.

  Extra time can be spent thinking about events before they occur, and reflecting upon them afterwards.

  A group might practise retelling stories, first by relying on visual props, and then with reduced support.

  Children who have difficulty in understanding sequencing may also have difficulty in understanding time.  Temporal concepts such as 'before', 'after', 'yesterday', 'long ago' or broader historical concepts may need to be addressed specifically.

  Classroom management

  Normal class work offers many opportunities for teachers to point out different types of sequences, for example:

  • beginnings, middles, ends of stories or routines
  • overt story planning
  • scientific frameworks
  • causes and effects, as they arise throughout the day
  • recipes
    

  The analysis of text in the literacy hour, readily encourages looking at words such as 'first', 'next', 'then', 'last (of all'), 'because', 'after', 'before'.

  Adults frequently remodel or help to shape children's personal experiences.  Methods and reasons for doing this should be made explicit: 'Let's put that in the right order - you went swimming and then went to Michelle's for tea?'

• Understanding

  ... developing comprehension skills
  
  

  Some schools use a 'traffic light' system.  The child can use colour-coding, placing stickers by their work, for example:

  
  

   
  

   

  Helpful strategies might include the use of:
  

  • visual clues: a set of pictures to remind children what they have to do or visual timetables to show the expected sequence of activities;
  • mental pictures: try to see what is happening as I speak, or in this story; does it help to close your eyes?
  • use of note-taking.
    

  Children should be encouraged to monitor their own understanding, and to start to distinguish between what they have or have not understood.  If they can identify the cause of any breakdown, this helps the speaker to clarify their meaning.  For example,
  

  • 'I don't know what a patella is'
  • 'I couldn't hear what you said - the lawnmover was going past'
  • 'I think I would understand that if you said it a simpler way'.
    

  Barrier games can help to pinpoint misunderstanding:
  

  • Set a screen between adult and child
  • Each of you has the same material, whether objects/pictures/maps
  • Adjust the material to the interest and age level of the child
  • Take turns to give instructions or make comments about the material
  • Adjust the instructions by making them simple or complex
  • Take the screen away and compare the results
    

  This encourages good listening and precise talking.  It also allows you to comment on the process of listening, for example, by saying 'You listened really well then; there are two wizards but I said the 'wizard with long ears' and you chose the right one because you were listening so well'.

  
  

  Group/individual focus

  
  

  Some children may need:
  

  • extra focus on words and their meaning and/or basic grammar
  • reinforcememnt of key concepts/vocabulary/content/ideas
  • to repeat an activity in a different way
  • to listen to shorter stories or texts and respond; to practise comprehension work
  • to learn to monitor their own understanding and develop strategies to highlight breakdown of communication to others.
    

  Classroom management

  
  

  Teachers can help by talking explicitly with the class about:
  

  • the focus and content of lessons
  • the key words
  • the relationship between ideas and events
  • the relationship between old and new information
  • the nature of any connections or associations
  • task analysis: the sequence of steps to be followed for success.
    

  Recapping and revision techniques will be useful to most children.  Lines or argument can be presented visually by notation on the board or by using mindmapping, spidergrams, quick sketches.  Adults should be aware of their own use of language:
  

  • clarity and length of instructions
  • the pace of the lesson
  • complexity of spoken or written language.  Modification may be needed for individual/groups of children
  • further explanation
  • instructions broken down into smaller steps and in the order you want them to be followed
  • pace may need to be adjusted
  • some children may need extra time to process what they have heard or to prepare an answer
  • outcomes may need to be differentiated in terms of the amount an individual child is expected to retain and understand; this should relate to the key focus of the lesson
  • vocabulary and ideas may need to be simplified or introduced with more time for assimilations.

  
  

  Understanding

  ... developing comprehension skills
  
  

  Some schools use a 'traffic light' system.  The child can use colour-coding, placing stickers by their work, for example:

  
  

   
  

   

  Helpful strategies might include the use of:
  

  • visual clues: a set of pictures to remind children what they have to do or visual timetables to show the expected sequence of activities;
  • mental pictures: try to see what is happening as I speak, or in this story; does it help to close your eyes?
  • use of note-taking.
    

  Children should be encouraged to monitor their own understanding, and to start to distinguish between what they have or have not understood.  If they can identify the cause of any breakdown, this helps the speaker to clarify their meaning.  For example,
  

  • 'I don't know what a patella is'
  • 'I couldn't hear what you said - the lawnmover was going past'
  • 'I think I would understand that if you said it a simpler way'.
    

  Barrier games can help to pinpoint misunderstanding:
  

  • Set a screen between adult and child
  • Each of you has the same material, whether objects/pictures/maps
  • Adjust the material to the interest and age level of the child
  • Take turns to give instructions or make comments about the material
  • Adjust the instructions by making them simple or complex
  • Take the screen away and compare the results
    

  This encourages good listening and precise talking.  It also allows you to comment on the process of listening, for example, by saying 'You listened really well then; there are two wizards but I said the 'wizard with long ears' and you chose the right one because you were listening so well'.

  
  

  Group/individual focus

  
  

  Some children may need:
  

  • extra focus on words and their meaning and/or basic grammar
  • reinforcememnt of key concepts/vocabulary/content/ideas
  • to repeat an activity in a different way
  • to listen to shorter stories or texts and respond; to practise comprehension work
  • to learn to monitor their own understanding and develop strategies to highlight breakdown of communication to others.
    

  Classroom management

  
  

  Teachers can help by talking explicitly with the class about:
  

  • the focus and content of lessons
  • the key words
  • the relationship between ideas and events
  • the relationship between old and new information
  • the nature of any connections or associations
  • task analysis: the sequence of steps to be followed for success.
    

  Recapping and revision techniques will be useful to most children.  Lines or argument can be presented visually by notation on the board or by using mindmapping, spidergrams, quick sketches.  Adults should be aware of their own use of language:
  

  • clarity and length of instructions
  • the pace of the lesson
  • complexity of spoken or written language.  Modification may be needed for individual/groups of children
  • further explanation
  • instructions broken down into smaller steps and in the order you want them to be followed
  • pace may need to be adjusted
  • some children may need extra time to process what they have heard or to prepare an answer
  • outcomes may need to be differentiated in terms of the amount an individual child is expected to retain and understand; this should relate to the key focus of the lesson
  • vocabulary and ideas may need to be simplified or introduced with more time for assimilations.

• Verbal Reasoning

  Verbal reasoning
  
  To be able to reason and problem solve requires a combination of advanced language and thinking skills.  The ability to move beyond the basic cause and effect stage of understanding and predicting sequences and solving problems, happens in normal development between the age of four and a half to six years.
  
  It is possible to introduce this complex skill area once children have progressed with their language development to a stage where they can:

  • understand two key word instructions
  • understand and use basic past tense
  • relate items which go together e.g. knife and fork
  • relate items together in category sets e.g. things we can eat
  • recognise and explain similarities and differences between items 
  • answer What? Who? & Where? questions
  • describe a scene in a picture

   

  Once these pre-requisite skills are in place you can go on to introduce other language and thinking skills which allow a child to develop verbal reasoning.  
  
  It is important to introduce each skill area in the order listed as earlier skills are needed to achieve success at the next level.

  Skill Area	Resources
  Following longer spoken instructions and directions Think about the level at which the child can understand spoken language and about their auditory memory ability.	Listening Skills Key Stage 1, An Apple for the Teacher Publication 1994 Leap into Listening, Super Duper School Co. Workbooks. Say and Do Workbooks 1 and 2. Super Duper School Co. P.E. Lessons
  Sequencing Understanding a logical sequence helps a child learn to predict the next step.  Learning how to link events in a sequence using the appropriate language involves answering the question ‘What happens next?	Introducing the language of sequence i.e. words such as ‘first, and then, next, at the end, last, before, after’ LDA Sequential Thinking Sets LDA ‘And Then’ Pack Story Telling – making up stories with picture cue cards. Creating a title to summarise your story. Reading a book together and then recalling and retelling the story Taking photographs of a child carrying out an activity and then using them to retell the sequence of what they did. Role playing a familiar sequence, either acting it out together or using play people or other toys to act out the events. News Time – supporting children to recall and retell an event to the class. Reading for Meaning, Learning Materials Ltd -  sections on sequencing
  Prediction A child is only able to predict if they can remember a logical sequence.  It helps if they have some life experience of the sequence of events.	Remembering what happens next in a familiar story Working out what may happen next from knowledge of cause and effect, routine and previous experience Using pictures/photographs to make a visual time line to help the child gain independence to predict, plan & organise themselves for future events
  Putting yourself in someone else's role (understanding others) This skill requires the child to make decisions about how someone may think and feel in a given situation.  This area of development is particularly difficult for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.	Taking on the role of a character in a story sequence which may have been practised at Level 2.  Start with events which are within the child’s own experience so they are better able to know how the person may think and feel. Work on emotional vocabulary may be needed e.g. ‘Socially Speaking’ activities, LDA.
  Comparing items: making and explaining links between things.	Semantic Links Levels 1 and 4.  Possibly do these sorts of categorisation games with objects before using pictures. Odd One Out games 'Guess Who’ Game
  Justifying your prediction:Learning to answer Why? questions.	Why-because worksheets, Black Sheep Press Verbal Reasoning Activities, Great Ideas for Teaching Inc. (Winslow Press) What’s Wrong pictures e.g. Colorcards
  Problem solving:     Thinking about different options and how they may change an outcome. Trying out different options and deciding which one is most sensible.	Think it-Say it, Communication Skill Builders (available through Winslow Press) What would you do?, LDA Silly or Sensible game What’s Wrong pictures e.g. Colorcards
  Inferencing: Learning to answer How? questions.	Looking and Thinking, Learning Materials Ltd.  Books 1-3 Reading for Meaning, Learning Materials Ltd.  Books 1-4 sections on Orientation and Deduction especially useful Reading and Thinking, Learning Materials Ltd.  Books 1-5 (a reading comprehension programme.  Earlier levels have multiple choice answers) Picture Q’s Books 3 & 4, Learning Materials Ltd

   

   

   

• The role of memory in language development

  ..the role of memory in language development
  
  

  At a general level, memory processing tends to involve the way we take in, store and retrieve information.  This means that we need to consider how best to present information and how to maximise opportunities to ensure meaningful links are made to aid later retrieval of information.  These considerations and opportunities can be planned within general classroom management and teaching.

  
  

  A child's ability to store and retrieve facts can be aided through careful organisation of the material being taught, including the amount the child is expected to process.  If verbal material is chunked and then ordered, categorised, as well as summarised, a child will be helped to:  
  

  • identify and pick up on the main points
  • make clear associations between facts and concepts
  • establish key words being used to describe and identify these facts
  • realise what they need to know for future reference.
    

  It is also helpful to incorporate visual and kinaesthetic strategies in teaching situations.  A 'see, listen, say, touch and do' approach can help provide a child with the concrete basis necessary to make clear associations/links between facts, old and new.  This can be undertaken through play or examination of objects/pictures.  It is also well known how visual images, together with stories that personalise facts, can assist in the process of information-linking. More information is retained when it has been expanded or discussed through dramatised action, gesture and animated voice. 

  
  

  The other level involved with the memorisation of information is the executive learning level. This is where learners are:
  

  • self-questioning and self-directing;
  • planning how to go about a piece of work and monitoring progress;
  • regulating their thinking processes.
    

  The use of active learning strategies can lead to the development of necessary thinking and memory planning processes.  The 'first/then' approach, for instance, can support the early stages of logical thought, whilst assisting the future recall of sequential-based information.

  
  

  A child's attempts at sequential recall can be further maximised through the use of rehearsal and 'trace alive'  techniques.  With trace alive this can involve:
  

  • remembering more spoken language through movement, such as counting each event or key fact on the fingers or by signing;
  • visualising a sequence like a video in your head;
  • quiet vocalisation/chanting of a sequence of information.

  A more in-depth approach to the retention of key facts and words can be achieved by games which reinforce curriculum work.  This would include the use of lotto and pair games to help emphasise the characteristics of words, thereby strengthening the links between those words within the memory system.  Also, use can be made of fetching/shopping games within numeracy lessons to aid association and sequential recall of information.

  
  

  With any type of learning, it is important to discuss with children what makes it easy or difficult.  From this, a better recognition can develop of the relevance of some strategies for planning and memorisation.  At times, direct instruction may be needed with regard to the use of strategies.  With mind maps, children often require practice and guidance in how items are linked, with main features emphasised through bold images/symbols.  Such instruction and discussion will aid the storing and retrieval of verbal items.

  
  

  One of the important factors with memory is the way it is connected to other learning processes, such as listening and attention.  Thus, work on memory could also involve work on listening and attention, as well as consideration  of general receptive skills.

  
  

  (Bristow et al. 1999)

  
  

  (Ripley et al, 2001)

• Supporting Memory Skills

  How to support memory skills in the classroom
  
  

  Group/individual focus

  
  

  Teach:
  

  • mind map connections between concept and its most important features
  • retrieval of word through bold images/symbols of main features/use of icons
  • recall for an event or activity through recreating personal and environmental context
  • first/then approaches to maximise sequential recall.
    

  Activities to enhance children's ability to store and retrieve facts:
  

  • reduce memory load by using answer cards: adult asks questions and child holds up appropriate answer card
  • support ordering, reordering, categorising, summarising by the use of notes taken on post-its which can be physically moved and grouped
  • use a work station to cut out distractions
  • give a limited number of alternative answers for child to choose.
    

  Classroom management

  
  

  Supporting memory by the way information is given:
  

  • discuss how to learn: what makes it easy, what makes it difficult; help children develop different types of strategies that work for them
  • simulations: dramatised action and dialogue to portray particular situations/events
  • use photographs to prompt memories of events and visits
  • use animated voice and gesture in addition to visual prompts
  • refer to visual displays in classrooms when talking about a topic
  • touch, point, pick up the object you are talking about
  • make links with previous experience/knowledge by:
    • asking children to write/draw/brainstorm with a partner, 'all you know about...' as an opening activity
    • making these links explicit
    • explaining how they fit into the overall topics.
  • make the relevance of what they are learning expliclit
  • build in plenty of opportunities to re-visit, practise and rehearse new skills and concepts
  • praise the correct pars of a given answer and explain how this leads to the full answer.