Unit 4 Oral Language Communication

Overview
Our exploration into children’s oral language and literacy development has highlighted
the social and cultural nature of language. We have established that literacy development
begins with oral language development (listening and speaking) which provides a
background for reading and writing. When we look closely at how children learn
language we realize that they engage in language learning situations throughout the day
as they take on everyday activities. This allows them to use language purposefully while
at the same time learn about language. However, when children enter primary school they
have fewer opportunities to learn about language in the natural way that they do during
earlier years. According to Fields, Groth, and Spangler (2004) schools present language
instruction as isolated fragments of knowledge about language, which is most
inappropriate. This leads us to seriously consider the oral language needs of the children
we teach.

Unit Objectives
Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:
1. Explain the oral language behaviours associated with different stages of oral
language development
2. Explain the implications for the literacy classroom of the oral language needs of
students
3. Describe the role of the teacher in meeting children’s oral communication needs
Readings
Honeyghan, Glasceta. (2000). Rhythm of the Caribbean: Connecting oral history and
literacy. Language Arts, 5. 406–413.

Hiebert, E & Raphael, T. (1998). Early Literacy Instruction. 77–92.

Otto, B. (2002). Language Development in Early Childhood. 11–18.

Session 4.1 Stages of Oral Language Development

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this session you will be able to:
1. Identify and describe the stages of children’s oral language development
2. Describe children’s oral language communication
3. Describe the oral language needs of children

A general understanding of oral language development helps us to arrive at a perspective

from which to view the developmental stage at which children are in terms of their
language achievement. It also provides us with a kind of benchmark against which to
measure children’s progress in acquiring language. It also helps us to identify gaps which
may exist and is instructive in the kinds of activities and support which we may offer.

View the language development chart developed by The Child Development Institute,
LLC (1998-2006) found at the web site below and do the activity which follows.
http://www.practicalparent.org.uk/lang.htm

Activity 4.1
Observe a child within the age groups specified on the chart and match the child’s
language behaviours with those specified.

Students’ Oral Language Needs

The oral communication abilities with which children arrive at school need to expand in
three specific ways if they are to achieve a high degree of academic success. First, they
must learn to communicate with different people in an unfamiliar setting. The attempt to
speak with others requires greater flexibility in the way children use language. They must
now speak with different people in order to have their needs met. This is not as difficult
in situations where the match between home language and school language is close.
Second, their home language goes through a process of refinement and is extended as
they adjust it to meet their communicative needs at school. For example, children might
find that familiar words are used to mean different things and they will also learn new
words. Third, children need to expand their oral communication abilities by becoming
more familiar with the language used in books, and develop an awareness of the
differences between oral language and book language (Clay, 1991).

If children are to expand their oral communication abilities in the ways suggested,
attempts at instruction must be sensitive to the needs of children that are associated with
the complexities of learning a second language. Some of these are the differences that
may exist between the phonology, syntax, and semantics systems of the home language
and that of the school language. We should also remind ourselves of the kinds of
conditions under which children acquired the language of their homes, a process that
occurred effortlessly. This reminder confirms the need to create language learning
environments that allow children to explore and learn the target language. Classroom talk
should bring children and language close together. In other words we should avoid
classroom language situations in which we talk at the children; instead we must talk with
them and create situations where they talk among themselves and with us. (Your
prescribed readings for this unit will ideas as to how this may be done).

As we focus on the oral language needs of the children we teach we must question our
attitude to their language. I am reminded of an incident that took place in a classroom
where the teacher and her students were engaged in a science experiment to classify
objects as sinkers and floaters. It was quite an interesting lesson, but what stood out for
me was the fact that the teacher tried so very hard to “correct” Jay’s language. She treated
as secondary the fact that he was really thinking at a high level when he suggested that it
could not be just the material from which the object was made that determined whether it
stayed afloat or sank. According to him, if a ship stayed afloat and parts of it is made
from metal there must be more to the fact that some objects sank and others floated than
just what they were made from. The teacher was just not comfortable with the boy’s use
of his home language, especially with outsiders observing what was taking place.

If we think about it, the teacher’s many attempts to get Jay to say it “right” showed her
attitude to his home language. What do we mean when we say we should accept the
students’ home language? What we should do is allow the students to explore ideas and
concepts using the language that best allows them to do so. This should happen as we
provide opportunities for them to learn the target language. Again we should remind
ourselves that learning a language takes time. Not just that, but the language learning
environment must be supportive of the language learner. Remember that children are able
to process complex ideas in their home language. The closeness between home language
and the standard language sometimes create difficulties where the children may not
recognize the differences and focus on the similarities.

In the Jamaican language situation, to a large extent both the Creole and the Standard
Jamaican English share the same vocabulary. This creates a problem for some children
when they are required to produce the plural forms of nouns since Creole treats plural
differently than SJE treats it. Imagine that for years these children have been indicating
plural forms of the noun by using markers such as dem or a number as in: The boy dem or
The two boy or The two boy dem and upon entering school they are now expected to mark
the same plural with the morpheme s. If this is not done with sensitivity to the nature of
language development the process of developing competence in the target language
might be problematic for children. I am sure that there are several other examples that can
be cited from the different territories and invite you to share some of these examples.
Activity 4.2
Describe the relationship between Creole and Standard English in your
country. Based on your understanding of this relationship discuss the
oral language needs of the students in your literacy classroom.

Supporting Oral Communication

One way of supporting children’s oral communication is providing opportunities for them
to talk. They need to be physically and mentally active as they acquire knowledge.
According to May (1998), when children are engaged physically and mentally they get
the opportunity to reinvent their knowledge, or to reinvent their version of it. Put another
way we must provide classroom experiences that allow children to engage in real life
learning situations. Out of these situations they create their knowledge of the world.
Importantly they need support as they construct knowledge from the activities that
teachers carefully plan for them.

You may recall that Vygotsky and Brunner spoke about the important role that
environment plays in language and learning. Children will talk when they have what to
talk about. They will talk about their feelings, about what they are doing, share their
understanding, and ask questions to get clarification. It is the scaffolding that we provide
that helps them to move to the next level. If we deny them the opportunity to interact in a
supportive environment we miss the opportunity to understand what they might be
struggling with or what they might have achieved, as can be seen in the following
scenario.

Mrs. Miles has a morning sharing session where her basic school students
volunteer to share an incident from the weekend. In one such session, one boy
told that he visited his grandmother on the weekend and that her dog tasted him.
She asked him to show how the dog tasted him, which he did. The class had a
 discussion in which they tried to understand what happened. The teacher tried to
explain that the dog perhaps licked him. Some of the children scoffed at the idea
because to them “lick” meant “hit”. The most important thing was that Mrs. Miles
got an insight into how language was being used by her students and was able to
plan activities to support language growth among them.

Another way to support oral communication is to teach listening skills. Oral language has
two distinct sides: listening, or understanding oral language, and speaking or producing
oral language. The ability to listen and understand is generally considered to be the
foundation of speaking. Listening is often referred to as the forgotten language skill
because many of us as teachers neglect it.

Listening differs from hearing which is a physiological process that does not require
interpretation. Unlike hearing, listening requires us to select appropriate meanings and
organize ideas according to their relationships. Listening also demands that we evaluate,
accept or reject, internalize, and in some instances, simply appreciate the ideas that are
expressed. It is no wonder that listening is thought of as the foundation of all language
growth. Children produce their early speech by listening to the language sounds in their
environment. We can encourage listening by having children:
• Listen to stories read, and/or told
• Establish a purpose for listening
• Direct their attention to the speaker
• Note cues as to what is important
• Follow directions
• Recall details
• Retell stories
• Sequence events
End of unit reflection
Write a reflective journal entry that sums up your understanding of unit 4.