Specific Strategies to Support Oral Language for Curricular Learning
Most academic instruction relies on oral language, the primary medium through which teachers convey information, give instructions, and engage students in learning. When we consider that not every student will have the same level of oral language proficiency, classroom teachers need ways to support these differences without reducing the quality of the content. One way to supplement oral language instruction is to present it alongside visual information. The second is to organize content with graphic organizers. Finally, templates and word banks may help scaffold emerging oral language skills. If we want students to acquire new learning, we must be sure that limits in oral language do not stand in the way. At the same time, we need to keep building oral language proficiency for our students. The classroom, where students spend the bulk of their day, is the most impactful place to do this. Here are three ways to help support your students’ oral language needs without sacrificing content expectations.
Provide Visual Support
We all know the infamous quote, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. There is more to this equation, however. The impact of visual support will be determined by how much that visual accurately and effectively relates to the content you are teaching. For example, consider the many choices one could make when teaching a lesson on the water cycle.
While icons like this can be helpful in their quick representation of well-known concepts, this image will be of almost no help to students unfamiliar with the water cycle. These graphics assume that every student automatically knows that a white mass is a cloud, bumpy lines are waves, etc. Icons such as this, require a great deal of background knowledge and inferencing that interferes with the initial reason for the visual support.
This picture provides a clearer representation of the features involved in the water cycle, including the sun, clouds, water, and land. The limited context, however, reduces the level of support it offers.
An image like this offers students a detailed context with many opportunities to observe concepts and connect multiple features involved in the water cycle. A good visual provides anchors for unknown words such as evaporation, sublimation, condensation, precipitation, and infiltration with identifiable locations where these processes take place, examples of what they look like, and their impact on the overall concept of the water cycle. The linear style of this image helps students understand that the water cycle happens all over the earth at various stages. Pairing the sensory, non-verbal information from this image with verbal information from oral language instruction is a process known as Dual Coding.
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Organize Information
Graphic organizers are a familiar tool for many teachers, but their impact on supporting oral language may be less well-known. Concept maps (also referred to as semantic maps, mind maps, or webs) are powerful tools because they help students organize and connect ideas around a central concept. These organizers show relationships between words and ideas, helping students expand their understanding by seeing how these ideas relate to what they already know. Oral language comprehension relies heavily on the organization of sentence structure (syntax), word meaning, and connected language. Using a variety of graphic organizers consistently throughout the school year helps support patterns of thinking which are crucial for developing strong oral language skills.
Returning to our example about the water cycle, we know students need to understand different aspects of the three states of matter solid, liquid, and gas. The first organizer helps students connect the weather form with each state of matter, whereas the second organizer helps students understand the processes associated with each state of matter. The way the information is organized will support the curricular target. Example Here
A more complex map allows students to see how the different processes of the water cycle have things in common such as an action, agent, and an outcome. Providing the same format for all three processes allows students to compare and contrast each process, adding another layer of understanding. This format will also allow students to more efficiently assimilate new information. For example, the process of transpiration would fit alongside evaporation because the only difference is that the water comes from the leaves of plants instead of lake beds. Revisiting this organizational framework will be helpful when students are learning other processes such as erosion or photosynthesis, as the key features follow a similar pattern. Example Here
Scaffold Language with Templates and Word Banks
While teachers rely on oral language to teach, students also rely on their oral language skills to express what they know. A student with weak oral language skills may understand the content they are expected to learn but may not be able to explain it. Understandably, this is a wide-open opportunity for frustration and shutdown. We can avoid this situation by providing some of the language ahead of time so that students can focus on the academic content rather than worrying about how to structure their sentences. Having this support can build confidence and encourage participation. Templates, also known as sentence frames, are powerful instructional tools that support students in constructing complete and logical sentences, and engaging more fully in academic discussions and writing tasks. Examples of basic sentence frames include
"A ______ is a type of ______ that can ______."
"I think that ______ because ______."
"The main idea of the story is ______."
Along with using a graphic organizer for the water cycle, providing sentence frames encourages students to practice using more complex sentence structures, which can improve their overall writing and speaking skills. Students still must have command of the content, but instead of answering with single-word responses, a templated graphic organizer will allow students to contribute much more. When asked about the process of condensation, for example, if the student has learned the correct content, they will be able to explain that “condensation is a process within the water cycle that happens when water vapor is cooled down into the form of fog, mist, dew, or frost.” Sentence frames or language templates guide students in providing complete, well-structured responses which allows them to express their thoughts clearly and logically.
Oral Language Resources
Recognizing the significance of oral language helps create an inclusive and dynamic learning environment where every student can thrive. Learn more about it through our Oral Language Resource Hub.
Downloads: Graphic Organizers to Use in Your Classroom
Infographic: Six Ways to Support Oral Language Deficits
Infographic: Five Teacher Tips for Oral Language in the Classroom
Infographic: Five Key Components of the Science of Oral Language for Educators
