Student Learning

English Developmental Continuum P–10 – Speaking & Listening

English Continuum Home | Reading | Speaking & Listening | Writing

Communicating orally (Ability to learn oral language): scaffolding learning from 3.25

 

Indicators of Progress

  • Students plan and organise the subject matter for spoken texts and prepare the background information on the topic so that they take account of its context, purpose and audience.
  • Students adopt an appropriate verbal style, including word choice, to suit a chosen text and the needs of a specified audience.
  • Students decide how they will adjust pace, volume, pitch and pronunciation to enhance meaning when speaking.
  • Students rehearse their performance and modify it appropriately.
  • Students say how they identify the main idea and supporting details in spoken texts such as plays, advertisements or speeches.

 

Teaching Strategies

Before speaking and listening: Getting your knowledge ready

The learning and teaching approach for speaking and listening is illustrated for students responding to the story Danny the Champion of the World.

Develop a speaking and listening plan

The teacher says: You are going to listen to the story about Danny the Champion of the World and then talk about what new things you learnt. What might you do to help you talk about what you have learnt?

Students talk about their speaking and listening plans to get themselves ready for the listening and speaking activity. The following questions can prompt them to say what they will do to listen effectively.

What will help you to get started with the listening?

I will put together what I already know about the story.

What will you do to help you keep track of what you hear while you are listening?

 

I can:

  • put myself into a listening state or into a speaking and listening state
  • make a picture of what I hear
  • note down key words I hear
  • draw an ideas network while listening
  • say over to myself what I hear
  • tell myself what the story says
  • guess what the story might say
  • ask questions to clarify what I hear
  • summarise what I hear periodically.

Identify questions the text answers

Students are told that in the chapters they are about to listen to problems or issues will develop. They suggest the types of questions the text might answer. For example, they suggest possible answers to the questions presented.

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During speaking and listening: Tuning in to ideas

The learning and teaching approach for speaking and listening is illustrated for students responding to the story Danny the Champion of the World.

Learn to stay on the topic

Students create their own conversation. They give special attention to what they will do to stay on the topic, for example, they decide the overall ideas they want to communicate and keep reminding themselves of them. For parts that involve only Danny, the conversation could be Danny thinking aloud.

Students practise using appropriate voice, pausing patterns and intonation while talking in order to convey their intention and maintain the listeners’ interest. For the sentence: Although some rich people had lots of food, there were many people living nearby who had little food and their families were starving, they practise stressing particular words and phrases such as although, many people, little food, starving.

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After speaking and listening: Consolidate and review

The learning and teaching approach for speaking and listening is illustrated for students responding to the story Danny the Champion of the World.

Reflect on values of speaking and listening

Students are encouraged to reflect on how sharing ideas with others and listening to what others think, helped them. They collate a group list of values for speaking and listening.

Speaking and listening helped me to:

  • know more about my peers
  • make other people feel good
  • make other people laugh
  • learn new things
  • feel sad or scared
  • share enjoyable experiences
  • help people know what to do.

Students gradually add to this list as they identify other ways in which speaking and listening helped them. Teachers use this list to help students understand how speaking and listening effectively can solve problems and resolve issues.

Modify speaking and listening plans

Students modify their speaking and listening plans for specific purposes. For example, they plan how they will:

  • participate in a debate. They identify the key ideas and points of view raised by other speakers and alternative points
  • present a report including how they will:
    • sequence the main and subordinate ideas and the questions they will answer,
    • cater for what listeners already know about the topic.
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