Transcript Document

Building Oral Language
Susan Dold, Ed. D
[email protected]
The Importance of Oral Language
Children arrive in kindergarten with
huge discrepancies in oral language
development . . . and the gap between
language-advanced and languagedelayed children grows throughout the
elementary school years.
Biemiller (2001)
What is Language?
The American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association (ASHA) defines language as “ . . . A
code made up of rules that include what words
mean, how to make words, how to put them
together, and what word combinations are best in
what situations. Speech is the oral form of
language.”
www.asha.org/public/speech/development
Findings from Research
During elementary school, at any given time,
a child’s maximum level of reading
comprehension is determined by the
child’s level of listening comprehension.
Biemiller, 2001
Some Facts
• Limited oral language negatively affects
reading comprehension.
• Many of our children have limited oral
language.
• On standardized tests, this shows up as
vocabulary problems.
Early Language Experiences: Quantitative Differences
Words
heard per
hour
Words heard
in a 100-hour
week
Words heard
in a 5,200hour year
Words
heard in 4
years
Professional
Family
Child
2,153
215,000
11 million
45 million
Working Class
Family
Child
1,251
125,000
6 million
26 million
Welfare Family
Child
616
62,000
3 million
13 million
- Hart & Risley (1995)
Early Language Experiences: Qualitative Differences
Words
heard per
hour
Affirmatives
per hour
Prohibitions
per hour
Professional
family child
2,153
32
5
Working class
child
1,251
12
7
Welfare child
616
5
11
-Hart & Risley (1995)
Cumulative Language Experiences
30 Million Word Difference
Number of words heard (millions)
50 –
Children from:
45 –
40 –
35 –
30 –
25 –
20 –
15 –
10 –
5–
Professional Families
Working Class Families
Welfare Families
1
2
3
4
5 Age of child (years)
The Simple View of Reading
2 domains
Decoding
(word recognition)
X
Language
Comprehension
=
Reading
Comp.
Vocabulary
Phonics
Text Comprehension
Phonological &
Phoneme Awareness
Fluency
5 Components
Gough and Turner,
1986
Language-Rich Experiences
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Extended conversations
Telling/retelling stories and events
Discourse and discussion
Modeling of new and unusual words
Discussion of word meanings
Examples in Action
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“Building up” language
“Breaking down” language
Sentence expansion
Cohesive ties
Dialogic reading
“Building Up” Language
• Big
– Synonyms: huge, enormous, gigantic
• Snow
– Related words: slush, drift, accumulate
• Move
– Words in the same group (whole body actions):
run, leap, dance, crawl, stroll, wiggle
• Car
– Categorical relations: vehicle, car, Ford
Example
“Line up at the door.”
Building up…
• Line up next to the library entrance.
• Line up next to the library portal.
• Line up beside the door.
• Line up adjacent to the door.
Another Example
• I wore my warm coat because it is cold today.
• Since it is cold, I wore my warm coat today.
• It is cold today; therefore, I wore my warm
coat.
• It is cold today; as a result, I wore my warm
coat.
• Others?
“Breaking Down” Language
Think alouds
•Talk about what you see
•Talk about what you feel and hear
•Talk about actions
•Talk about emotions
•Talk about the future
•Talk about the past
Expand Sentences
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Child: I saw a dog.
Coach: What color was the dog?
Child: brown
Coach: I saw a brown dog. Repeat after me:
Child: I saw a brown dog.
Coach: What kind of dog was it?
Child: boy
Coach: I saw a brown male dog. ETC…
Model Cohesive Ties
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I need a break because…
I need a break although…
I need a break since…
I need a break after…
I need a break therefore…
I need a break, however…
What is Dialogic Reading?
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A reading practice
Using picture books
Adults ask questions, children answer
Adults expand on the questions
Dialogic Reading
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Point out vocabulary words
Ask “what” questions
Expand on what students say
Ask open-ended questions
PEER
Step
How do you do it?
How does it help?
P = Prompt the child
Ask a question about the
book; prompt, if necessary
Focuses attention, engages
the child, builds vocabulary
E = Evaluate what the child
says
Affirm correct responses,
add information for clarity
Constructive feedback
E = Expand on what the
child says
Add a few words to the
child’s response, gently
provide correct answer, if
necessary
Encourages the child to say
more, builds vocabulary
R = Repeat
Ask the child to repeat the
expanded or correct
response
Encourages the child to use
language
Let’s try it!
CROWD
• Look at your Dialogic Reading handout.
• Select a picture book and work with a group.
• In your group, develop one or two prompts
using CROWD.
• Be prepared to share.
Teaching Vocabulary Directly
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Model
Routines
Using context
With Fry words and phrases
Dictionary
Vocabulary Routine
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Say the word and teach its pronunciation.
Have the class repeat it.
Read the word and say its definition.
Have the class repeat the definition.
Write the word and have the child write it.
Add a gesture to the definition and repeat the
definition sentence using the gesture.
• Pair students and have them teach the word to each
other.
• Have them come back to the whole group and repeat it
one more time.
Vocabulary in Context
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Teach words in meaning clusters.
Use graphic organizers.
Ask questions about words in context.
Have students “prove it” by locating evidence.
Use Context: Be a Word Detective
• Yesterday I saw a bright blue blogute sitting in
the bush in my backyard.
• “Blogute” is a nonsense word, but use the
context of the sentence to guess at its
meaning. Be prepared to support your guess
with evidence.
Vocabulary and Fry Words
Fry phrases:
•Circle the wagons
•Toward morning
•The ship hit the waves
•Watch the river
Dictionary Use
• DO use the dictionary to confirm the meaning
of a word.
• DON’T give a student a list of words to look
up, define, spell, etc.
In Conclusion
• Oral language is crucial to reading
achievement.
• Encourage the use of new and different
words.
• Make word learning fun.