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[MUSIC] You're welcome to week three of our course, and this week we'll be looking at engaging with my students.

This lecture specifically will focus on language in the classroom. Have you thought about the type of social interactions that take place in a classroom? How would you describe the nature of social interactions in the classroom? Think about your own classroom, if you are already a teacher. If you are not a teacher, think about your situation as a student. What are some of the interactions? Think about the school. Can you look at the social interactions that take place in the school? What about your own country? Pause a moment, reflect, and write down your thoughts. Like all other social groupings, the classroom provides an opportunity for people of different cultures, different religions, tribes, social status, economic status, to interact with each other with a common purpose, and that purpose is to acquire knowledge and to learn. In a classroom, you can find teachers, you can find pupils, and in some cases, you can find support staff or supply staff who assist in the process of teaching. But at the centre of the interactions among these people is language. Language becomes critical: without language, the interactions wouldn't be meaningful. Now, what comes into your mind when we talk about language? Language many be described as a system of human vocal behavior through which ideas are expressed. It is a tool that gives order and organisation of what we think about, our thinking. At school language plays a crucial role in what goes on between the teacher and the pupils. Between pupils and pupils or learners and

learners. Between teachers and parents. Between parents and learners. Between learners and their teachers. And a whole lot of people within the school system. Language cuts across the curriculum. In terms of what lessons the teacher facilitates in the classroom. Without language, the meanings that would be assigned to the lessons would not be possible. And in Ghana, for example, Chief examiners reports have persistently indicated that student's core performance in subjects such as mathematics, science, social studies, vocational and technical education, are affected by language. Without language, children are not able to read and understand questions that are posed. So, we cannot escape the powerful influence of language in our social interactions in a classroom, and for that matter, the school. What do you think, in your own view, is the importance of language in our inter-social interactions? Let's look at some thoughts that we have on the slide. For instance, Frawley 1992 says this, and I quote, "Contents of human's semantic representation and the meanings we attach to a phenomenon are tied up with our everyday use of language." Forrester, 1996 also says "Linguistic meaning is entirely determined by the cultural context in which language occurs." Then Wittgenstein,1953, cited by Forrester, had this to say, "The limits of my world are the limits of my language." And I think that is where the teacher needs to reflect on the role that language plays in the whole business of facilitating learning in the classroom. Language, the very essence of our humanity, is also an important and most effective tool for socialisation. You go to a family, it is language that helps a newly born baby to associate himself or herself with the family. You go to church, the mosque, wherever you visit, it is language. So, within a classroom, it is also

language. Language skills are very important if learning can take place. Now, can we look at some language skills that are very relevant in our interaction in the classroom. The first one is listening. Allow me to explain this, if the person took home the language as presented, that's called listening. Listening plays a critical role, and therefore, in the classroom it is important that a teacher create opportunity for the learner to listen. It is important that the teacher himself or herself, listens to the learner, as well. Listening plays a critical role. Then we talk about reading. Reading also plays an important role. And, of course, in some contexts, and in my own context in Ghana, there is a joke to say that if you want to hide a piece of information from the typical African, put it into writing. Because reading is not part of our culture, we believe in oral tradition. But in a school situation, reading is very important. And so as a teacher you need to encourage your children, your learners to read and develop the skill of reading. Then the next one is speaking. Everybody speaks. And of course speaking becomes the first skill of language that any newborn baby acquires from the mother. And so the child who goes to the classroom comes in with some sort of skills in speaking. The responsibility of the teacher is to create opportunity for this child to sharpen the speaking skills. Then, writing. Writing is also very important. When you have listened, you've acquired knowledge through reading and you have spoken about the knowledge, it becomes necessary for you to put it on paper for purposes of future reference, and so writing becomes critical. But as teachers, you need to remember that listening and

reading skills leads to the acquisition of knowledge and understanding. So, if people would acquire knowledge and understanding, then listening and reading becomes critical. Speaking and writing skills help the children to demonstrate or review the knowledge and understanding they have acquired. So, take note - listening and reading helps in the acquisition of knowledge and understanding, speaking and writing demonstrates the understanding they have acquired in the terms of the knowledge. How do you develop language skills then? Listening - which is the first language skill that, as I said, every child acquires can be developed through a number of ways. One, through tape recorders, playing tape recorders for people to listen. Through radio sets, through story telling in the classroom, rhymes, television sets and even through singing songs. By playing these for people to listen they develop their listening skills. But in the classroom situation, whatever is played, whatever story is told, must be linked to the learning process. It might be relevant to whatever the teacher wants the children to learn. What about reading skills? As a teacher, you can help your students to develop reading skills through things like games, letters of the alphabet. And I remember my primary school days when my teacher would bring cardboard and list the all letters of the Alphabet, capitals and smalls. And then read out for me to repeat. And that, in a way, helped me to develop reading the letters of the alphabet. Pictures, picture description, could be a form of developing skills, and a jigsaw puzzle, could be a form of developing reading skills. There are many others you can think about. What about speaking? Speaking skills can also be developed through describing

people - creating a scene for pupils or learners to describe people, animals, places, objects - completing sentences and arranging events and ideas in logical order, and then guided oral composition. Through these things speaking skills can be developed and, of course, storytelling and rhymes are also key. In the same vein, you can help the child to develop writing skills also, by copying words and letters, by arranging events and ideas, like objects in mathematics, learning how to arrange triangles, rectangles, and label them, the human parts and label them, all these things are ways by which writing skills can be developed. Now, reflect on your own situation in the school, in your classroom. Reflect in your role as a teacher or as a student, one time a student. And ask yourself, how have you been able to support your students to develop their skills of listening, their skills of speaking, their skills of reading and their skills of writing. Will you at this moment pause and think about these tasks? Well, share your views on how a teacher's own example can either promote or inhibit children's language skills development in the classroom. What are your views about the use of indigenous language, that is the mother tongue, L1, and/or English as a second language in the primary school? This have been a source of debate, but think about it and share your views with your colleagues. Thank you, until we meet again. [MUSIC]

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