Secondary English Teaching Speaking & ListeningPage 1 of 14
Unit - Teaching specific objectives
(All documents referenced in this document can be found on the Teaching Speaking and Listening DVD-ROM in the Resource library).
Teaching specific objectives
Purpose
The purpose of this unit is to help you to consider the aims of teaching speaking and listening, ways of supporting the teaching and learning of speaking and listening in the classroom and teaching aspects of speaking and listening.
Content
- What makes a good speaker and listener?
- Raising the profile and pupils' awareness of good speaking and listening
- Developing effective teaching of speaking and listening
- Modelling
- Modelling with video resources
- Using scripts to provide models
- Modelling using TV and other resources
- Questioning and prompting pupils
- Setting and developing ground rules
- Supporting ground rules
- Setting effective tasks (objective-led, clear purpose, audience and outcome, etc.)
- Assessment for learning (AfL)
- Understanding and using types of interactive talk
- IRF (Initiate Response Feedback)
- Dialogic talk
- Exploratory talk
* Understanding and using the range of speaking and listening contexts
- Whole-class
- Group work
- Group work using a socratic approach
- Pair work
- Individual
What Makes a Good Speaker and Listener?
Watch the video introduction.
Speaking and Listening video introduction (music fades) (03:13)
Activity
Watch the video clip and jot down in My notes the ways they work that you think make these pupils successful in terms of speaking and listening.
If possible, compare your notes with those of a colleague and agree a list of the successful ways these pupils work, such as building on what other pupils say or listening carefully.
Think about the pupils you work with and identify any who are particularly good at these ways of working.
Now watch the clip of teacher Robin Launder and the teacher assistant Keith Cocklin at School B discussing how they plan to work together to support pupil learning.
School B, Teacher and Teaching assistant (01:31)
Raising the Profile and Pupils' Awareness of Good Speaking and Listening
Watch the video clips showing Deputy Head & English Subject Leader from School B where they discuss the high profile of speaking and listening in the school and the interview with the Headteacher at School C talking about its importance.
Deputy Head and Subject leader, School B (02:02)
Head teacher - School C (01:24)
Traditionally, the profile of the typical classroom environment in English promotes reading and writing above speaking and listening. How could English teachers with your support raise the profile of speaking and listening in their classrooms?
Posters to exemplify speaking and listening
Many classrooms display posters exemplifying successful reading and writing work but fewer have equivalent resources for speaking and listening. These posters have been developed in order to show pupils what it means to be successful in speaking and listening work. Teachers may wish to print out these posters or adapt them to make A3 copies for classroom display.
Rules for talk poster
Rules for listening poster
Talking well poster
Talking better poster
It is useful to discuss with pupils the features of speaking and listening that are so vital in everyday life. The strong emphasis placed on speaking and listening in employer surveys is worth discussion.
Activity
- With a colleague, think of ways the posters might be used in your school. Could you work with colleagues or pupils to develop further posters or displays to promote speaking and listening?
- Discuss with a colleague further ways in which the context of the school might be used to promote and raise the profile of speaking and listening.
- Compare your list with these Ways to raise the profile of speaking and listening
Ways to raise the profile of speaking and listening
Developing Effective Teaching of Speaking and Listening
In this section strategies and techniques for effective teaching of speaking and listening are explored through addressing:
- The knowledge, skills and techniques
- Understanding the types of interactive talk
- Understanding the range of speaking and listening contexts
Modelling
As speaking and listening activities are so transient, it is more difficult to provide pupils with a clear sense of the range of different skills and techniques that make up the repertoire of someone confident and successful in speaking and listening. In writing, of course, it is relatively easy to provide pupils with a range of clear examples of what successful writing looks like through printed examples and shared teaching. The repertoire of reading skills can be modelled through shared teaching and examples provided through annotated texts pointing out the skills and techniques used to read different text types.
Providing models and examples in speaking and listening is a particular challenge, but can be very effective. These video clips show teachers modelling both good and bad examples of the particular skill or technique they want their pupils to try out and use.
Activity
Watch each of the video clips with a colleague and note (on My Notes) the ways the teachers model the activity required. You can also view the accompanying lesson plans.
In this clip from School B the teacher, Robin Launder, and teacher assistant, Keith Cocklin, work together to model what listeners should not do.
School B, Year 9 - Modelling (01:05)
Example Lesson Plan Year 9 School B
In this clip from School B the teacher, Robin Launder, demonstrates effective persuasive techniques in speaking.
School B, Year 10 - Modelling (00:39)
Example Lesson Plan Year 10 School B
In this clip from School C another teacher works with the class teacher, Fatma Miotti, to provide a model for discussing what makes an effective interview.
School C, Year 9 - Modelling (01:09)
Example Lesson Plan Year 9 School C
Compare notes with a colleague and discuss ways you could adapt these approaches with particular classes you are teaching.
Modelling with Video Resources
Using video examples with pupils can give them a very clear idea of the approach to speaking and listening activities you are expecting them to adopt in their own work. Sharing video examples made in the school is perhaps the most effective way of achieving this and many schools have used video cameras to provide such models.
Activity
Watch the following video clips with a colleague and think about:
- how you could follow up the showing of the video to support any of the pupils featured in the clips;
- how you could support the teacher and particular pupils in a class where the clips could be shown.
School B, Year 10 - Modelling (00:33)
School B, Year 10 - Group Work (01:48)
School B, Year 9 - Group Work (01:18)
Using Scripts to Provide Models
Another way to facilitate modelling and the use of video clips is to use scripts of the talk. All of the video clips on this resource are accompanied by a script. You could try any of them but the following examples may be particularly useful in work with a class. The following examples are scripts taken from the video clips in the previous section. The scripts give a clear sense of part of the classroom activity and will enable you to focus very precisely on aspects of the work seen on the video. Projecting the script on a whiteboard will help to focus the discussion.
School B, Year 10 - Group Work video script
School B, Year 10 - Exploratory Talk video script
School A, Year 7 - Dialogic talk video script
Activity
- If you have used or viewed one of the accompanying video clips, consider how you could work with a teacher to use one of the scripts to support any of the pupils featured in the clips.
- How could you support the teacher and particular pupils in a class where the clips are shown?
Modelling Using TV and Other Resources
A powerful resource that can be useful when working with pupils is to take examples from television and other video resources. Fatma Miotti at School C uses video resources developed by a commercial company to model effective interview techniques as part of the lesson.
Activity
View the video clip and note how the teacher makes use of this example to support her teaching.
School C, Year 9 - Modelling (00:58
In the following video clip, Robin Launder from School B describes a resource from broadcast TV that could be useful in teaching.
School B, Teacher - Modelling (00:27)
Questioning and Prompting Pupils
At the heart of effective whole-class discussion is the way in which the teacher questions and prompts pupils to extend their thinking and also identify pupils' learning and understanding.
The video materials provide useful examples of effective questioning.
Activity
View the video clips which illustrate effective questioning and prompting
School B, Year 10 - Questioning and Prompting Pupils (00:24)
School A, Year 7 - Questioning and Prompting Pupils (01:04)
School A, Year 10 - Questioning and Prompting Pupils (01:46)
Read the Questioning observation sheet and view the video examples again and use the sheet to identify elements of effective questioning noting down pupils' responses and your comments.
Example Lesson Plan Year 7, School A
Example Lesson Plan Year 10, School A
Example Lesson Plan Year 10, School B
Using the Questioning observation sheet consider which of the effective questioning techniques you could use when working with individual or groups of pupils.
Questioning observation sheet
Peer observations
You may find it helpful to arrange peer observations with a colleague. You could observe each other leading a group or guided session and note the types of questioning used and evaluate the effectiveness of each on the observation sheet. You could then compare notes and plan sequences of questions together using the Literal and Higher Order Questioning sheet.
Further resources
Many teachers have found the materials available on questioning in Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School, DfES 0430-2004, Unit 7 Questioning valuable in helping them to focus on the way they use questions in the classroom. If developing more effective questioning is an area that you feel you would like to explore further then the activities in Unit 7 will prove particularly helpful.
Setting and Developing Ground Rules
Neil Mercer defines 'ground rules' as 'the conventions which language users employ to carry on particular kinds of conversations' (Mercer 2000). Teachers sometimes assume that pupils will know how to operate in different talk contexts such as small group discussions or interviews, but it is usually best to assume that they don't and to explain and devise a set of ground rules for particular speaking and listening contexts and activities.
Activities
1 Working with a partner, look at the Golden rules for talk and Golden rules for listening.
- Agree on the six that you think are the essential ground rules, three for talking and three for listening.
- Put your rules in order of importance.
- You may wish to design your own customised poster for use in your school.
Below are examples of posters displaying ground rules for talk and listening in the classroom.
Rules for talk poster
Rules for listening poster
2 With a colleague discuss how you or teachers could use one of these posters with one of the classes you support.
Supporting ground rules
Support from the teaching assistant will be of great advantage in establishing ground rules as part of classroom practice.
Activity
1 Look at the video examples clips where the teachers review the ground rules for effective speaking and listening, and jot down how that may have helped pupils in the rest of the lesson. Then view the longer version of the lessons to test your views.
School A, Year 7 - Setting and Developing Ground Rules (02:14)
Example Lesson Plan Year 7, School A
School A, Year 10 - Setting and Developing Ground Rules (00:46)
Example Lesson Plan Year 10, School A
School B, Year 9 - Setting and Developing Ground Rules (00:43)
Example Lesson Plan Year 9, School B
2 With a colleague, discuss ways in which you could support a teacher in establishing the ground rules for certain speaking and listening activities (e.g. a debate or interviewing a guest to the school).
Setting Effective Tasks
As speaking and listening is hard for pupils to 'pin down' it is important that the tasks teachers set are as clear and supportive for the pupils as possible. They should have:
- clear objectives
- distinct purpose
- defined time limits
- an identified audience
- clear outcome
Activity
Have a look at the video examples to illustrate the clear setting of tasks (you can also view the accompanying lesson plans). Look at the bullet list above and note which elements are present and which could have been helpfully included for pupils.
School A, Year 10 - Setting Effective Tasks (00:32)
Example Lesson Plan Year 10, School A
School B, Year 10 - Setting Effective Tasks (01:03)
Example Lesson Plan Year 10, School B
School C, Year 9 - Setting Effective Tasks (01:05)
Example Lesson Plan Year 9, School C
With a colleague think about one pupil you support in English who often finds he/she doesn't understand what to do, and consider ways in which you could support the teacher to make the setting of tasks as effective as possible for that particular pupil.
Plan and try out more effective ways of supporting and guiding pupils with the tasks their teacher has set.
Assessment for learning
Assessment for learning is as essential with speaking and listening as it is with reading and writing. It is important that any assessment which teachers make of pupils' speaking or listening skills and understandings are not only recorded but are used to inform their planning for developing pupils' learning in future lessons.
Activity
With a colleague have a look at the following video clips.
School B, Year 10 - Planning assessment opportunities (01:36)
School C, Year 9 - Planning assessment opportunities (01:10)
School A, Year 7 - Planning assessment opportunities (02:43)
With your colleague, identify what the particular pupils have learned and decide on their next steps for learning.
Now watch the same video clips with commentaries and compare your findings with theirs.
School B, Year 10 - Planning assessment opportunities with commentary (01:36)
School C, Year 9 - Planning assessment opportunities with commentary (01:10)
School A, Year 7 - Planning assessment opportunities with commentary (02:43)
How could you support the teacher or pupils to identify that learning has taken place?
Understanding and Using Types of Interactive Talk
In this section you will have the opportunity to consider the relative value of three main types of interactive talk in the classroom:
* Initiate Response Feedback
* Dialogic
* Exploratory
IRF (Initiate Response Feedback)
The IRF (Initiate (teacher) Response (pupil) Feedback (teacher)) pattern of pupil-teacher interaction is very common in classrooms. The purpose is mainly to 'test' pupils' understanding. The types of interaction you as teaching assistant have with individual or groups of pupils is likely to follow the same pattern. This method can limit pupil thinking and learning but it doesn't have to.
Activities
1 Have a look at these video clips which give examples of IRF interaction and identify ways in which the teachers enable the pupils to follow up or elaborate their initial response.
School B, Year 10 - IRF (00:24)
School A, Year 10 - IRF (01:46)
School A, Year 7 - IRF (01:04
2 Now look at the clips and compare your responses with the commentary.
School B, Year 10 - IRF with commentary (00:24)
School A, Year 10 - IRF with commentary (01:46)
School A, Year 7 - IRF with commentary (01:04)
Example Lesson Plan Year 7 School A
Example Lesson Plan Year 10 School A
Example Lesson Plan Year 10 School B
3 One way to make IRF interaction more effective for pupil involvement and learning, is to plan to prompt and question pupils after their initial response, and also to encourage them to ask their own questions. Identify a lesson where you are likely to have this sort of IRF exchange and identify opportunities to include follow-up questions and prompts. You might like also to look at Questioning and Prompting Pupils in this unit.
Dialogic Talk
The benefits
Dialogic teaching and talk can give pupils the opportunity to extend their talk and their thinking, so that talk becomes, as Robin Alexander (2003) says, a 'purposeful and productive dialogue where questions, answers, feedback (and feedforward) progressively build into coherent and expanding chains of enquiry and understanding'. The Socratic discussion employed at School C is organised so that the pupils in the outer group observe and evaluate the contributions of those holding the discussion in the central group. They feedback their observations at the end of the discussion, thus helping to improve their understanding of dialogic talk and discussion and that of those in the central group. In both there are clear links with assessment for learning.
Dialogic talk is still a relative rarity in schools in this country but its use is developing.
Activity
Have a look at these video clips from School A where the teacher and pupils are engaged in dialogic talk and note down some of the differences between this type of talk and the examples you viewed for IRF. Note the seating arrangements for the class.
School A, Year 7 - Dialogic talk (01:14)
School A, Year 10 - Dialogic talk (00:43)
Look at the Features of dialogic talk which identifies five principles which bring together the essential features of dialogic teaching, and then look at the same video clips again and identify some of those features.