Oral Language with Jannie van Hees

Facilitator: Jannie van Hees

Team based approach to addressing Learning Needs

Spoken texts
Major actions taken post introductory session- group sharing
Growing our learners’ vocabulary knowledge- extensive deep- how do we get in because
children depend on the environment they live? It’s about the environment they get it from!
Whats the environment like?
Words have power which gives our children meaning power

Talk accompany print

To achieve uptake, we want to do this:
In text = in context

Available- notice
Multiple encounters
Purposeful usage

What do you know about Oral Language?

Why does it matter and what does it offer?
A young child’s brain development

Rich social interaction
Responsive caregiver
Quality talk with child
Reading with talk support

Shapes the circuitry of a child’s brain

The role of talk

• More ideas shared
• More words used
• Greater quality words
• More to and fro talk with your child

Your child hearing and saying reading and talking about reading with you and other sets them up for

literacy and learning

Quantity vs. quality language

Optimising learning conditions- flourishing learning potential

In an optimal learning environment the teacher needs to:

Attention to and noticing
Effortful and purposeful engagement and interaction
ALL participating
Triggering the known to connect to the new
Stretching the learner’s current language repertoire
Multiple encounters
Context relevant
Facilitated through engaging mediating tools- persons, tasks, activities, sources

We have to push our students and be prepared to push them- setting high expectations!

In an optimal learning environment students need to:

• Focus and notice
• Put in the effort
• Take part (participate) fully
• Push myself to the edge
• Dig deep for what I already know
• Learn from others- notice and focus
• I share- others gain from me
• Think and talk; think and read
• Wondering and asking opens up possibilities to know

Alternative exchange in ‘classroom talk’ example

During teaching and learning- developing your effectiveness
Okay conversation versus gifting conversation- what does this look like?

Spoken language availability from other-than-conversation sources
Talking with your child is a conversation of words and minds. You share, your child shares.
You gift your words and ideas. Give your child space to say their ideas and thinking.
Be natural with your child.
More words gift more ideas. More words gift more words. Your child's ideas will grow.
Your child's words will grow. Talk with your child using more words.
Audio broadcasts, audio and visual- How do we make spoken language available to our children?