Learning Language and Loving it

Session 1
Effective communication is: Interaction and Information

Interactions Information
- Listen - Good vocals
- On topic - Good understanding
- Turn taking - Good grammar
- Ask questions and answer - Good facials/body language
- Eye contact - Speech
- Get attention - Express thoughts clearly

Conversational Styles

There are 4 conversational styles:

Initiate Respond
1. Reluctant Less More
2. Own agenda More Less
3. Passive Limited Limited
4. Social Balance

It is important that you are aware of children who may have the reluctant conversational style as children
with the social conversational style can pull all of the attention away and then the quiet ones are forgotten.

Roles teachers take on during interactions with children:

1. Director
2. Entertainer
3. Time keeper
4. Too quiet
5. Helper
6. Cheerleader
7. Responsive partner – key role in fostering communication

A child’s conversational style and teacher’s role go hand in hand – the entertainer may struggle with a child
who has their own agenda – it takes 2 to talk.

Developing Language

There are 6 stages of language development

1. Discoverer – Birth to 8 months
2. Communicator – 8-13 months
3. First word user – 12-18 months
4. Combiner – 18-24 months
 5. Early sentence user – 2-3 years
6. Later sentence user – 3-5 years

How? Why? Understand

Discoverer Cry, look, reach, babble When spoken to, A few words
attention
Communicator Pointing, sounds Request objects, actions
A few simple words
First Word User 10-50 words Requests, protests,
People and object
greet, label names
Combiner Two-word sentences Short conversations Simple questions, points
to pictures
Early Sentence User 3-5 words sentence Why? Stories, 2 step directions,
imaginative concepts, simple stories
Later Sentence User More than 4word Plan, anticipate, report Follow stories well
sentences

Session 2/3
Child Takes the Lead
Observe – for child’s interest/what child is telling you
Wait – wait expectantly for child to initiate/get involved in activity
Listen – listen for child’s complete message

Be face to face – get right down to their level, even when reading a book

Follow the child’s lead:

- Comment
- Imitate
- Interpret
- Join in and play

Comment
- Don’t just question
- Just make a comment on what they are doing
- Respond with immediately
- Respond with warmth
- Wait to see if the child responds
- Reflects child’s interest
Imitate
- Follow their actions and noises
Interpret
Discoverer – give meaning to the message
Communicator – say it as they would if they could
First Word User – say it as if they could until they can say it by themselves

You can’t imitate, comment and interpret without observing!

Join in and play!

- Don’t dominate play
- Build on what they are focused on
Social – build on child’s interests, don’t dominate
Reluctant – build on interests, take focus off talking, make it fun!
Own agenda – start with interests, give reason to communicate and wait
Passive – turn chance action into a game. Create a reason to interact. Wait!

Give a Reason to Communicate and Wait

1. Wait and see what the child does
2. Avoid helper role
3. Place desired object out of reach
4. Introduce a hard to operate object
5. Offer things bit by bit
6. Do the unexpected
7. Offer choices
Give the child a reason to communicate. We need to generate conversation sometimes.

Routines
- Specific
- Same order
- Repeated

3 kinds of routines:
1. Daily routines
2. People games
3. Your own special routines

Spark
Start – start the same way each time (predictability)
Plan – plan your child’s turn (before high point, pause etc. depends on child’s stage of communication)
Adjust – adjust your routine to give your child a chance to take a turn
Repeat – repeat the same actions, sounds and words
Keep the end the same

Action plan for wheels on the bus

S - action – like driving the bus – hands on the wheels steering

- Say – “wheels on the bus”
P – when? End of each section e.g. action round and round. How? Same as the when.
A – wait expectantly before the high (which is the round and round part)
R – the wheels on the bus go…round and round
- Action – rolling action with arms
K – Hooray! Clap hands (…wait)

All teachers need to be doing it the same, to make it a good routine!

Keep Conversations Going

Stop conversations Continue conversation

 Questions – too simple or too complex
 Questions – test
 Questions – only match your interest
 Questions – pressure child
 Questions – match child’s language
 Questions – request unknown
information/stimulate
 Questions – child’s thinking and matches
child’s interest
 Questions and comments – show your
interest

Questions/Comments and Language Stage

Purpose
Discoverers Keep their attention
Communicators Cue non-verbal turns
First word users Cure turns and words
Combiners and sentence users Cue extended verbal turn taking
Example
Who? What? Where?
Yes/no? Who? What? Where?
Yes/no? Who? What? Where?
Yes/no? Who? What? Where?
When? Why? How? What if?

One handed approach – 4 comments, 1 question. Comment then wait × 4 then question.

Session 4
Encouraging Interactions in Group Situations
SSCAN – “You can if you SSCAN”
S – small groups are best
S – set up an appropriate activity
C – carefully observe each individual level of involvement
A – adapt our response to each individuals needs
N – now keep it going

Small groups are best

- No more than 4 is good!
Challenges to small groups
1. Number of teachers
2. Environment
3. Timing and pace of activity/routine
4. Role the teacher plays
How to group the children
Think about:
- Conversational style
- Language stage
- Social skills
- Friendships
- Interests
- Behaviour

Set up appropriate activity

Think about:
- Something of interest to all the children
- Match each child’s abilities
- Do not involve too many materials (less = more)
- Offer opportunities for interaction
- Face to face
- Reason to communicate

Carefully observe each child’s level of involvement

1. Interest
2. Level of involvement
Initiations and responding > interactions
Taking part in activities and handling materials > participation
Showing interest in activity, listening and watching > attending

You will need to adapt your response to each child’s needs. You want them to go from just showing
interest (attending) to initiating and responding (interaction). It’s like a participating ladder!

What about the child who dominates?

1. Strategic grouping
2. Positioning (put them next to you)
3. Cue more appropriate turns and gestures
- Eye contact
- Verbal cues – “it’s time to give someone else a turn”

Session 5
Provide Information that promotes Language Learning
Make your language easy to understand (4 s’s)
- Say less and stress
- Go slow and show

- Match your language to the child’s interest

- “Adjust the way your talk” is important
- Make your language easy to understand in social routines
- Label things in the child’s world
- Use labels to let children know what’s going on
- Highlight the label
- Use a variety of labels
- Use specific names for objects
- Us “fun” words when possible (whee, bluhh!)

Use a variety of labels

- Name of objects
- Location of words
- Action words
- How words
- Describing words (end in “ly”

To imitate or expand?
 Imitate Expand
Discoverer First word user
Communicator Early sentence user
First word user Late sentence user

Note: expand according to language stage

Extend the Topic

- Inform (compare/describe, talk about the past)
- Explain
- Pretend/imagine
- Project (walk in others shoes)
- Talk about the future
- Talk about feelings and opinions

Make sure you continue to:

- Use comments
- Use questions
- Consider child’s language stage
- Build on child’s interest
- Give the child turns in the conversation

Second Language Learning:

Simultaneous Bilingualism
This is when a child younger than the age of 3, learns 2 languages at the same time.
There are three stages of language learning, for children who learn 2 languages before the age of 3:
1. Child mixes languages
2. Child separates languages
3. Child uses mainly one language
Sequential Bilingualism
This is when a child learns a second language after the age of 3.
There are 5 stages of second language learning in sequential bilingualism:
1. Learn their home language
2. Non-verbal period (up to 7 months)
3. Telegraphic speech (memorized phrases)
4. Productive language use (code switching)
5. Competent language user (correct grammar, pronunciation etc.)
Strategies for second language learners
- Make your input easy to understand
- Promote use of first language at home and school
- Make them feel comfortable

Note: (hanen.org/articles has good articles related to this)

Session 6
Let Language Lead the Way
You need:
- Language skills
- Previous experience
- Background knowledge
- Familiarity with books/stories
To be able to:
- Predict
- Reach conclusions
- Anticipate
- Figure out word meaning

Key Language Experiences for Literacy

1. Exposure to varied vocab
2. Opportunities for extended conversations
3. Environments that support literacy
- Awareness of print
- Positive attitude toward print
- Language of books

Note: hanen on youtube is a good resource.

Session 7
Foster Peer Interactions

Challenges of Peer Interaction

Interaction with Adults Interaction with Peers
Accommodating Focus on own interests
Easy to interact with Need negotiation and collaboration
Support interests Difficult to keep going
Focus on language input Often unsuccessful
Often successful Need good language skills

Social skills
Shared understanding if:
- Ownership
- Turn taking
- Sharing

Observing peers at play

Type of Play:
- Functional
- Constructive
- Pretend
- Games with Rules

Social skills
No social interaction
- Unoccupied
- Onlooker
- Solitary play
Minimal social interaction
- Parallel-constructive play (children play independently but alongside one another)
A lot of social interactions
- Associative group play
- Cooperative group play

Support Peer Interactions

Set up the environment to encourage interactions
 1. Make the best use of the space
2. Encourage a variety of groupings
3. Provide appropriate materials and activities
Encourage variety pf groupings
- Pairs
- Casual groups
- Cooperative groups
Provide materials and activities that promote peer interactions
1. Provide large pieces of equipment
2. Encourage outdoor group activities
3. Provide an appropriate amount of toys
4. Set up for face to face interactions
5. Provide toys for all developmental levels
6. Provide duplicate toys
7. Adapt play activities (bring solitary child closer to their peers by placing their favourite toys
near the peers, create reasons for interactions)

More ways to support peer interactions

1. Limit teacher-child interactions
2. Step in, set up and fade out
3. Set up small group and stay to play
4. Make suggestions to keep interaction going
5. Direct convo away
6. Praise child’s profile

How to direct conversations away

- Tell a child what to say (“tell paul”…)
- Give suggestions (“show paul that”…)
- Give a hint or indirect suggestion (“I bet paul would love to see that”….)

Some steps on what to do when concerned about a child:

1. Observe child and record your findings then discuss with colleagues
2. Compare your findings with expected age norms
3. Find strategies you can use that are appropriate to help the child develop
4. Discuss findings/concerns with parents/caregivers
5. Plan and set goals
6. Refer to learning support – write in the referral which strategies you have implemented