Speech, language and communication

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Speech, language and communication
Areas of need set out in the SEN code of practice
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Learning outcomes

• You will understand the
• elements of language
• importance of monitoring speech, language and
  communication development, and
• foundations of effective communication in the
  classroom.

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Learning outcomes (continued)

• You will be able to
• differentiate lesson preparation for pupils with
  SLCN
• differentiate your questioning in class
• model good communication, and
• support the development of storytelling in the
  classroom.

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Learning outcome
Activity 1

• You will understand the key terms used in the
  discussion of communication.

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Expressive and receptive communication

• Where pupils with SEN use alternative forms of
  communication, such as sign rather than oral
  language, use the terms expressive and receptive
  communication rather than speaking and
  listening.

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Role of language and communication

• The development of language and communication is
  fundamental to written literacy and behavioural,
  emotional and social development.

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Why do we need to know about language development?

• To understand the stage pupils have reached in
  their learning
• To plan the next steps
• To identify barriers to learning that pupils with
  atypical language development may face.

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Learning outcomes
Activity 2

• You will
• know the three elements of language, and
• understand their importance in removing barriers
  for pupils with SLCN.

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Elements of communication

• Form grammar
• Content vocabulary
• Use pragmatics knowing how to use language,
  for example, the rules of conversation, such as
  taking turns.

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Stages of development

• Research has established patterns of development
  for each of the three elements
• They are generally hierarchical, ie. you need to
  have reached one point in development to be able
  to move on to another
• The three elements work together to allow a pupil
  to be a successful communicator
• Pupils move through developmental stages in many
  different ways.

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About P scales

• P scales are best-fit performance descriptions
  used to assess pupils who have not yet reached
  national curriculum levels
• There are eight P levels before national
  curriculum level 1
• P scales are not a curriculum
• P scales support target-setting in schools
• They are not developmental patterns as such, but
  use the knowledge we have to set out leveled
  performance criteria.

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P7 listening (receptive communication)

• Pupils listen, attend to and follow stories for
  short stretches of time
• They follow requests and instructions with four
  key words, signs or symbols. For example, Get
  the big book about dinosaurs from the library
• They attend and respond to questions from adults
  and their peers about experiences, events and
  stories. For example, Where has the boy gone?

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Possible answers

• Form/grammar
• Content/vocabulary

follow requests with four key
words understand the question form in Where
has the boy gone? Get big book from
or library Where has the boy gone?
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Possible answers (continued)

• Use/pragmatics

listen and attend to and follow stories for
short stretches of time attend and respond to
questions from adults and their peers about
experiences, events and stories.
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Learning outcomes
Activity 3

• You will
• understand the basics of developing a
  communicative environment in the classroom, and
• acquire some core skills of teacher communication.

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Language in context

• Language does not occur in a vacuum, but
• develops in a socio-cultural context
• is influenced by the cognitive skills pupils
  bring with them
• develops gradually, and
• develops at varying rates.

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Language in context (continued)

• Language development is an interaction between
  the environment and the pupils cognitive
  skills.

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Three areas

• Responding to speech errors
• Choosing the right question
• Praising appropriately.

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Scenario

• A year 1 class went to the park yesterday
• The trip was a great success
• Pupils appreciated the wildlife on the lake,
  including the ducks and moorhens
• Pupils liked the many dogs being walked and the
  squirrels that seemed to be everywhere. They drew
  some of the flowers and animals
• Imagine the teacher is taking the pupils through
  the experience using discussion and by looking
  at their artwork.

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Learning outcomes
Activity 4

• You will understand
• the principles of differentiation for pupils with
  SLCN, and
• possible strategies to support these pupils.

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Learning outcomes
Activity 5

• You will understand
• the essential components of story and its
  importance for the education of pupils with SLCN
• the relationship between narrative and story, and
• how narrative and story develop in childhood.

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Learning outcomes (continued)
Activity 5

• You will be able to
• distinguish between types of narrative
• identify key features of narrative in childrens
  talk, and
• use strategies to encourage narrative and story
  skills in pupils with SLCN.

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Thinking about the concepts

• Ability to narrate is strongly associated with
  achievement in reading, writing and socialisation
• Narratives are the broad category of talk within
  which stories nestle
• All stories are narratives but not all narratives
  are stories.

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Narrative definitions

• Narrative has been defined as
• a chronological recapitulation of successive
  events
• mental schemes that represent a logical sequence
  of purposeful episodes that are temporally and
  causally connected
• an organiser of human experience our thoughts
  about the world take the form of stories that are
  told and retold, and discourse that enables us to
  make sense of our experience, making the past
  present.

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Summary of the points on narrative and story

• In this session we have
• identified different types of narrative
• identified all the skills involved in narrative,
  and
• identified strategies for intervention which will
  support pupils with SLCN.

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Learning outcomes
Activity 6

• You will
• reflect on the key learning points from the
  session, and
• select areas you wish to develop after the
  session.