Oral Language 5th/6th Classes

STRAND ONE : developing receptiveness to oral language

The child should be enabled to:
1) experience from the teacher a growing elaboration and sophistication in the use of vocabulary and sentence structure.

i) Teachers try to consciously use more sophisticated and elaborate language including more complex verbs and adjectives

2) listen to expressions, reactions, opinions and interpretations and retell or summarise them

3) listen to radio broadcasts and discuss what has been learned.

i) edited news broadcasts
ii) taped novels
iii) radio advertisements

4) follow detailed instructions or directions from others in order to test their accuracy

i) simple recipe
ii) instruction manual for a new game
iii) how to record a video using a timer
iv) c.f. strand two (1)

5) take part in games in which unseen objects are identified from descriptions given by other pupils

6) be continually aware of the importance of gesture, facial expression, audibility and clarity of enunciation in communicating with others

i) Say e.g.“Thank you very much!” five different ways: gratefully, sarcastically, angrily, obsequiously, dismissively.

7) use mime to convey ideas, reactions, emotions, desires and attitudes

i) Speech and Drama
ii) Improvisations
iii) Roleplay

8) interpret mood, attitude, emotion and atmosphere in video extracts, advertisements, paintings and photographs

i) tape soap opera; play an extract without sound; allow discussion about each character; discuss facial expressions, gestures, mood, inter-relationships; act out scene with imagined dialogue. Replay tape with sound

9) listen to or watch sound tapes, videos and films and discuss how sound effects enhance the content

10) Occasionally listen to authors reading and discussing their own work.

STRAND TWO : developing competence and confidence in using oral language
The child should be enabled to:
1) acquire the ability to give detailed instructions and directions

i) how to make a cup of tea
ii) give directions : how to get to the library / to Dundrum
iii) how to fix a puncture
iv) how to tidy your desk
v) how to save a file on the computer and other computer tasks
vi) relating instructions to others using ‘Chinese whispers’

2) converse freely and confidently on a range of topics.

i) talking about ambitions and
ii) reporting on project work. Topics can be chosen by teacher and/or children
iii) given a topic card and asked to prepare a one minute talk (singly/in pairs)
iv) Vox Pop one group prepare interview questions on e.g. new road,halting site, school being closed; Interviewees give opinions fluently and succinctly

3) give and take turns in an environment where tolerance for the views of others is fostered.

i) Thinking Time
ii) Circle Time
iii) Debates

4) practise and use improvisational drama to acquire a facility in performing more elaborate social functions

i) welcoming visitors
ii) showing them the work of the class
iii) making formal introductions
iv) proposing a vote of thanks
v) expressing sympathy
vi) making a complaint
vii) making a speech on the retirement of a teacher
viii) phone conversations
(a) phone to say you can’t play match on Saturday; Manager makes it difficult
(b) phone neighbour to say you can’t babysit

5) discuss the positive and negative effects of jargon, slang and cliché, and express examples of them in his/her own language e.g. The language that would be appropriate for

i) An Interview for a Job
ii) Asking for a loan from your Bank Manager

6) understand the functions and know the names of the parts of speech

noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, conjunction, preposition, article, interjection

7) learn about and name the basic properties of nouns and verbs

common, proper, gender, tense, person, number

8) become familiar with compound and complex sentences

i) If....
ii) Having eaten my dinner...........

9) explore the possibilities of language and sentence structure in expressing increasingly complex thoughts.

i) Thinking Time
ii) Mathematics
10) discuss the meaning, effect and diversity of local words and expressions

i) make a list of “Dublin” words
ii) make a list of “American” words
11) hear accents and dialects other than his/her own on tape and on video and discuss them.

i) “VOICES” CD ROM and Audio CD
12) use improvisational drama to learn how local idiom, accent and dialect can influence the effect of language in particular situations.

STRAND THREE Oral language: developing cognitive abilities through oral language

The child should be enabled to:

1) ·discuss issues of major concern

i) topical news items
ii) sports events

2) discuss ideas and concepts encountered in other areas of the curriculum

i) History and Geography
ii) Art
iii) Mathematics

3) use a discussion of the familiar as the basis of a more formal or objective grasp of a topic or concept

i) Civil War

4) use the basic key questions and checking questions as a means of extending knowledge

(a) Help children to formulate and articulate questions
(b) What did you not understand?

5) listen to a presentation on a particular topic, decide through discussion which are the most appropriate questions to ask, and then prioritise them

6) argue points of view from the perspective of agreement and disagreement through informal discussion and in the context of formal debates

7) justify and defend particular opinions or attitudes and try to persuade others to support a particular point of view e.g. through debates

8) respond to arguments presented by the teacher

i) Teacher as Devil’s Advocate with rigid views
(a) No need to have a driving licence
(b) It’s OK to smoke
(c) People should be allowed to litter

9) discuss the value, truth or relevance of popular ideas, causes and proverbs

10) explore and express conflicts of opinion through improvisational drama

i) Plans to build 500 new houses in a field children play in; Public meeting to discuss:- roleplay, different groups, chairperson

11) explore historical contexts through improvisational drama

STRAND FOUR: developing emotional and imaginative life through oral language

The child should be enabled to:
1) discuss with others his/her reactions to everyday experiences and to local, national and world events

2) discuss the concerns of other children

3) discuss ideas, concepts and images encountered in literature

4) discuss personal reading and writing

5) express individual responses to poems and literature and discuss different interpretations

6) discuss plays, films and television programmes

7) experience and enjoy playful aspects of language

i) experimenting with sequences of words
ii) discussing the origins and effects of unusual words
iii) hearing and reading aloud humorous literature
iv) telling riddles and jokes
v) playing word association games
vi) unusual names I.P.Freely