Communication & Language Rich

Learning Environments

Workshop for Inclusion Conference in Southampton

January 2015

Presented by:

Jan Stevens ELC/SLT

DIRECTED ACTIVITY

Feedback: How did that make you feel?Was the activity successful?

What made it difficult for you?How could things have been improved?

Agenda• Evidence Base

• Sharing the audit tools currently available in Southampton for Schools & Early Years staff

•What makes an effective language-rich learning environment?

• High quality interactions

Why Are You Here?

To enable you to create & maintain a Language Rich Learning Environment to be able to support ALL children in high quality universal provision

Communication Rich Learning Environment

Specialist

Targeted

Universal

Evidence BaseAround 10% of all children have SLCN which may be specific or complex & long-term (ICAN Talk Series Issue 2 2006)

Up to 50% of children from areas of social-economic depravation start school with transient language difficulties which may impact on their learning in school if not addressed (Bercow Review 2007)

Low income children lag behind their high income counterparts at school entry by 16 months in vocabulary. The gap in language is much larger than gaps in other cognitive skills (Waldfogel & Washbrook 2010)

After controlling for a range of other factors, children who had normal non-verbal skills but poor vocabulary at age 5, are at age 34 almost twice as likely to have mental health problems or to be unemployed than children who had normally developing language at 5 (Law et al 2010)

Does Your Learning Environment …??

1.Encourage independence?

2.Support children in planning & making choices?

3.Ensure that learning opportunities are relevant to the children because they occur in meaningful contexts?

4.Offer opportunities to children to interact or be alone?

5.Encourage a balance between action & calm, noise & quiet?

6.Celebrate through documentation & display, the learning that is taking place?

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THAT YOU CRITICALLY OBSERVED THE

ENVIRONMENT THAT THE CHILDREN SPEND TIME IN?

Elizabeth Jarman Communication Friendly Spaces

www.elizabethjarmanltd.co.uk

An APPROACH that can be used to benefit children in all key stages & to support transition into KS1 & KS 2

Considering impact of PHYSICAL & EMOTIONAL environment on communication skills

Audit ToolkitoCommunication Supporting Classrooms Observation Checklist (CSC)

oECaT Environmental Audits: Enabling Environment/ Learning & Development/ Positive Relationship

Communication Supporting Classrooms

This tool considers 3 parameters:

•Physical Environment

•Structured/Planned Language Learning Opportunities

•Adult Interaction Style

Physical SpaceTaken from: Communication Friendly Spaces – Elizabeth Jarman

Noise levels

Lighting

Colour

Clutter

Texture

ECaT Audit Tool: Enabling Environments

CSC Observation Tool: Language Learning Environment (Parameter 1)

Structured Language Learning Opportunities

Holistic approach: combination of individual/small group work/whole class reinforcement – importance of opportunities for GENERALISATION

Planning vocabulary: books/topics/themes/early words for EAL

Dialogic book sharing: strategy that turns story sharing into a language learning opportunity by planning vocabulary & open-ended questions

ECaT Audit Tool: Learning & Development & Positive Relationships

CSC Observation Tool: Language Learning Opportunities (Parameter 2)

Language Learning Interactions

How do adults in the setting talk with children?

Do all adults consistently use ALL Top Tips for Talking with ALL children?

Are adults able to adapt their own interaction style to suit the communication & language levels of individual children?

ECaT Audit Tool: Positive Relationships

CSC Observation Tool: Language Learning Interactions (Parameter 3)

High Quality Interactions

EPPE study recently found that a particular

kind of interaction was MORE FREQUENT

in the most effective school/settings

This was SUSTAINED SHARED THINKING

What is SST? “An episode in which two or more individuals ‘work together’

in an intellectual way to solve a problem, clarify a concept, evaluate activities, extend a narrative etc. Both parties must contribute to the thinking and it must develop and extend” (Siraj-Blatchford et al 2004)

To successfully engage in SST with a child, the practitioner requires a clear understanding of the child’s current development, their cultural heritage and achievements, their feelings, behaviours and responses to learning; they need to be able to recognise when they are thinking and sensitively extend periods of concentration and support perseverance

Thinking about Interactions

• Interactions can be verbal or non-verbal

•Meaningful interactions should be at least 4 turns

• Interactions can be well-supported by signs/gestures

•Good quality interactions depend on wide range of adult interaction styles/strategies

DVD CLIP ACTIVITY

Clip 1 : Preschool Sticking Activity

Clip 2 : Children’s Centre Block Play

Watch both clips & complete tally chart for adult interaction styles

observed

What do GOOD QUALITY adult/child interactions look like?

From Child’s perspective:

•Do children appear to be generally content, happy and enjoying themselves?

•Do children appear relaxed, able to ask for help and willing to initiate conversations with adults and children?

Top Tips for Adults• Adult uses child’s name to draw attention

• Adult gets down to child’s physical level

• Adult uses some natural gestures & signing

• Adult uses some real objects, photos, symbols to teach new words

• Adult uses slow pace during conversations

• Adult pauses expectantly & frequently during conversations

• Adult confirms understanding of child’s intentions

• Adult imitates what child says (more or less = recasting)

• Adult comments on what child is doing

• Adult extends on what child has said adding extra information

The Effects of Weaknesses in Oral Language

on Reading Comprehension Growth (Hirsch, 1996)

5 6 7 8 9 1011 12 13 14 1516

16

15

14

13

12

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10

9

8

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5

Readin

g A

ge

Level

Chronological Age

Low Oral Language in Kindergarten

High Oral Language in Kindergarten

5.2 years difference

How can you achieve high quality interactions

consistently??-oECaT Positive Relationships Audit:

looks principally at QUANTITY of meaningful adult/child interactionsoCommunication Supporting

Classrooms Checklist (3rd parameter): looks at QUALITY of adult interactions

Remember it’s the ADULTS who can make changes to their interaction styles not the children