Module 4.3 Teaching strategies: the Middle Years
Language difficulties in the Middle Years
At points of progression or transition between and within the stages of schooling (e.g. Year 5, Year 7), language difficulties may become more pronounced as students cope with increasingly complex curriculum content. Although they have learned informal, conversational language, students often have significant difficulty in a number of more ‘academic’ language areas. For example, a student may have difficulty making inferences, organising language or processing abstract language. Therefore, the ‘Resource 3.1 LSP oral language observation profile’ (Module 3.1) will not necessarily reflect the breadth of the student’s difficulties.
Many students with language difficulties, particularly those not previously identified, will have developed strategies for masking their language difficulties. They may avoid unwanted attention by blending into the background, be disruptive to avoid tasks, or enlist the help of other students or their parents. Even if they are noticed, their difficulties may not be properly recognised as language-based.
In secondary school, language difficulties are likely to impact adversely on the student’s relationships, academic achievement, ability to reason and problem-solve, and ability to plan and predict outcomes. A combination of these factors often means that this group of students is at significant risk of failing to finish school and also failing to achieve positive outcomes socially and occupationally.