let’s collaborate! - · pdf filecreating language friendly classrooms: let’s...

Creating Language Friendly Classrooms:

Let’s collaborate!

Dr. Julia Starling

Speech-Language Pathologist

The University of Sydney

Lane Cove Speech Language Learning Centre

CHERI Conference

Sydney: September 2015

CHERI 2015: Julia Starling 1

Overview of presentation Part 1: Brief overview of the nature and impact of

language difficulties in children and adolescents.

Part 2: Inclusive supports through professional

collaborations:

Teachers’ oral and written language

Direct vocabulary instruction

…and some activities!


So…what is a Language Impairment?


Language impairment, language difficulty, language

disorder (DSM-V), language disability, SLI,

receptive/expressive language impairment/disorder,

language-based learning difficulty….

“A difficulty with the understanding and/or use of

language in both oral and written domains*, when this

impairment cannot be attributed to a primary cause such

as intellectual impairment, neurological damage or

sensory impairment such as hearing loss” (Leonard, 1991).

*Oral language: listening comprehension, verbal expression

Written language: reading comprehension, written expression


The lowdown

Affect between 7-16% school students (?)

Are life-long difficulties (e.g. Clegg, Hollis, Mawhood, & Rutter,

2005; Conti-Ramsden, Simkin, & Botting, 2006; Johnson et al, 1999; Whitehouse, Line, Watt, & Bishop, 2009)

Affect students in all subjects, at all grade levels (even Maths, Visual Arts and PE!)

Early oral language difficulties are highly correlated with later written language difficulties (e .g. Snow et al., 2013; Stothard, Snowling, Bishop, Chipchase, & Kaplan, 1998)


A complicated picture…

ADHD, language impairment (LI), dyslexia and learning

disabilities commonly comorbid (e.g. Barkley, 2001; Kadesjo &

Gillberg, 2001; Bruce et al, 2006 )

Overlap neuropsychiatric conditions and LI (Cohen et al,

2000); executive function problems and LI (Bruce et al, 2006)

Rapid processing abilities deficit underlying LI? (Bishop,

2000; Leonard, 1998)

Link between poor working memory and language

processing deficits (Gathercole & Baddeley, 2009), also core

issue of ADHD (Cohen et al., 2000 ) AND combined ADHD/

DCD (Norrelgen et al, 1999, Kirby 2011).


Typical profiles Early years:

-Delayed speech and language development: First words often at 2 years or later, slow to develop complex sentences

-Immature grammatical constructions: e.g. retain regularities longer than other children (Me goed/I went; mouses/mice)

-Restricted vocabulary: comprehension and production

-May have fine and gross motor control issues.


School age: signs and symptoms

Poor oral language impacts literacy skills

Problems with phonological awareness

Continuing grammatical difficulties

Poor vocabulary development

Slow rate of processing: oral and written language

Poor auditory working memory

May be experiencing pragmatic (social verbal) issues


Older children and adolescents

Impact of impaired language is persistent and pervasive

Later language developments: poor high order skills, literal interpretations, difficulty with analytical thinking and abstract language.

Academic: falling behind in increasingly demanding language environment; increasing demands on executive functioning; written language often becomes major issue (written expression and reading comprehension).

Psycho-social: Mental health problems, pragmatic issues continue (worse in adolescence?). Behaviours: withdrawal, acting out, distracting/easily distractible.


He has

difficulty

getting his

ideas across,

he seems to

get ‘stuck’

He can’t

seem to

understand

what he’s

being asked

to do/write

about

She just

doesn’t get

it!

She can say

what she

thinks but

can’t get it

down on

paper.

When she

explains

something

it’s very

confusing.

He talks a lot

but never

gets to the

point!

Typical

observations…


I don’t know

about things

but then I

can’t go and

read about it.

She says

words all the

time that I

don’t

understand

We have to

write two

pages but I

don’t get the

question.

History, it’s

too hard and

I don’t get

the meaning

of it!

The teachers

say stuff too

fast!

How THEY see

things…


It feels like

I’m drowning

in words….

Not listening, bored

Lazy

Forgetful

“Space cadet” like, withdrawn or…

The “Class Clown”

Not engaged with class activities

Overly talkative

Disruptive

Disorganised

Incomplete work

Misreading/misinterpreting assignment tasks

CHERI 2015: Julia Starling

Smoke screens: How they come to

teachers’ attention

12

Why do we need to support young people with

LI?

Academic difficulties (Conti-Ramsden, Durkin et al. 2009; Durkin et al., 2009; Snowling et al. 2001)

Overlap oral and written language difficulties (Smart, Prior et al., 2001; Stothard, Snowling et al., 1998)

Low self esteem (Jerome, Fujiki, Brinton & James, 2002)

Psycho-social and behavioural problems (Law et al. 2009; Clegg et al., 2005)

Conduct disorders (Ripley & Yuill, 2005; Beitchman et al., 2001)

Comorbidity with ADHD (Cohen et al., 2000)

Employment issues (Whitehouse et al., 2009)

At-risk for substance abuse (Beitchman et al., 2001; Snow, 2000)

Youth offender populations: 46% (Snow & Powell, 2011)


However…….

There are many barriers to providing effective support as children get older, including:

Reluctance

Stigma issues

Limited school/ community health/private options:

NSW, Northern Territories, ACT and Western Australia school-based speech pathology services are minimal to non-existent (NSW: NO provision).

Cost of private therapy

School-based: Complex timetables Many different teachers/subjects Transference problems: discontinuity between

therapy/classroom Missed classwork


Looking at things from a

different point of view…..

Creating ‘language-accessible’ classroom environments?

SLPs empower teachers in providing inclusive support to students with LI in their classes.

By facilitating changes to mainstream teachers’ oral and written instructional language.

Teachers ensure improved access to curricular instruction for their students with LI.

Students with LI become more engaged and empowered in the learning process, across subjects and grades.



The language-friendly classroom: What could it look like?

Reduced complexity of

teachers’ instructional language: oral and written

Written information that students can process mainly by themselves

Direct instruction of prioritised essential curricular vocabulary with descriptions that are relevant and use-able

Increased use of visual supports

Reduced speed of delivery/increased time for processing and production

Program developed and piloted at a Sydney secondary school (The University of Sydney and NSW Department of Education) leading to….

An RCT, with the aims of:

Evaluating the efficacy of a teacher training program.

Evaluating the sustainability of the ideas presented in the training program.

Evaluating the impact of the training program on the language abilities of secondary school students with language impairment. (Starling, Munro, Togher, & Arciuli, 2012)



Results: Teacher outcomes

When compared to teachers who had not received

the training (control group):

Trained teachers took up and used program

techniques in their classroom teaching practices

Ideas shared with teaching colleagues

Use sustained over a period of time


Student outcomes

Students whose teachers were using the modified language techniques in their regular teaching practices demonstrated significant improvements in

Written Expression

and

Listening Comprehension

The program as a manualised intervention



Quotes from teachers

“This isn’t rocket science, but its an important wake-up call!”

“Because (the students) can understand better, they can perform better”.

“They’re not so scared of big words as before the intervention.”

“They love to write, I just couldn’t believe it! It’s a Maths lesson and they actually enjoy writing about the specific terms and what they know!”

“The (program’s) brought back the awareness that some kids, behaviour-wise, may play up simply because they can’t do the work”.

“Some teachers have actually used (the ideas) with a different year group and found that they worked really well.”

“If I had this knowledge when I first started teaching I think I would have been a better teacher from the start….it’s taken me so many years to identify the fact that language is so important”.

Teachers’ oral instructional

language


Teachers talk…

explain instruct

discuss

question review

summarise explore

illustrate embellish

expand reason….


Why might students with LI be challenged?

Auditory processing problems

Attention inhibition problems

Slow RATE of auditory processing

Auditory fatigue/overload

Multi-modal learning

difficulties


Teachers’ 8 point oral language

checklist ① Balance: of oral and other forms of communication e.g.

visual aids, written texts, demonstrations, internet resources, hands-on learning….. e.g. Use a written or pictorial summary of the oral presentation; provide summary notes to students with significant auditory processing and related issues.

② Content: check complexity (vocabulary, sentence length, too many instructions at once, explicit vs. implicit language…). Beware of students’ literal interpretations!

③ Organisation and sequencing: make a plan for a well-sequenced introduction of ideas. Teachers may need to explain links, how ideas relate to each other; use visual aids e.g. concept maps, time lines…


4. Oral questioning: Ensure that all students can be involved in answering questions i.e. teachers may need to address slow rates of processing and responding.

-Increase the ‘average’ time of moving on in 0.9/sec to 3-4 seconds

-Provide a 4-5 second ‘thinking time’: no student can put up their hand during this time

-Scaffold questions: ‘Hieroglyphic writing used …’

-Give a choice of two answers

-Prepare students for the questions e.g. ‘I’m going to talk about three different causes for the outbreak of WW1, then I’ll be asking questions about them’


5. Rate: Need to address a fast rate of speaking? If

indicated, work on pausing before moving on to the

next idea. Rapid talking may also be reflected in rapid

writing (on the board)

6. Volume: could be issues of being too loud (resulting in

vocal hygiene problems?) or too soft, contributing to

auditory processing difficulties. Work on vocal

projection if necessary.


7. Intonation: For some teachers working on increasing

pitch changes may be necessary, to add meaning and

interest to their oral deliveries. Adding stress to key

words/information also facilitates understanding.

8. General intelligibility: This may involve some or all of

the above (rate, volume, intonation), or a strong ‘first

language’ accent. Address through added emphasis,

adjusting rate, checking correct pronunciation of key

vocabulary, supplementing with visual aids.


Teachers’ written instructional

language


Teachers’ written language…

Hand outs

instructions

glossaries board/Smartboard

assignments texts

summaries worksheets

test and exam papers…..


Why might students with LI be challenged?

Poor general literacy, including reading accuracy, rate

and comprehension problems

Sentences and paragraphs too long and complex

‘Dense’ texts, few headings and graphic aids

Unfamiliar, complex vocabulary and terminology

Abstract, high order interpretation difficulties.

Assignment questions difficult to extract from lengthy

assignment sheets, and understand.


Teachers’ 5 point written language checklist Issue Strategy examples

Clarity of purpose -Use direct, unambiguous language

-Emphasise important instruction words

Use of visual aids -Brainstorm at planning stages using graphic

strategies e.g. mind maps, concept maps,

scaffolds…

-Link key terms with visual icons where

relevant

Text complexity -Use one idea per sentence

-Break up texts with headings, bold text, boxed

information

Accessibility of vocabulary -Explain meaning of instructional vocabulary

-Pre-teaching of key topic words

Clarity of instructions -Bold action words in instructions

-State the idea to be written about at the top of

the assignment sheet


Comprehension questions

If there are questions with the text, link each question with the paragraph where the answer might be. This could be done for example by numbering each question, and marking the margin of the text with the matching number.

Alternately, find key words in the questions that match the paragraph headings, this alerts the students to which paragraph to refer to, rather than reading their way through from the start of the text each time.

Another way to link questions and answers is to write questions in the margin of the text near the text that provides the answer (‘margin questions’).


‘Sometimes the

questions are

complicated and

the answers are

easy’ (Dr. Seuss)

Building vocabulary


Vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary….

Each new curricular topic for all subject areas involves the introduction of a set of vocabulary items and terminologies, which must be processed and retained in order to develop even the most rudimentary knowledge and application of that topic (Beck et al., 2002).

However…..

Meaning may be stated once, and supplied on a glossary sheet that is difficult to interpret.

Meanings often copied out verbatim from dictionaries, with no “real” understanding extracted.


Vocabulary is vital……. For a basic understanding of the curriculum content

For students’ own communicative competence: “Getting their message across” in written and verbal expression

For literacy: students are able to identify and write words if they are already in their oral vocabulary, and vice versa

For comprehension of instructions and explanations in class

For application in a range of oral and written texts



The Case for Direct Vocabulary Instruction

‘The 30 million word gap’ (Hart & Risley, 2005) : we can help close it by proactive intervention.

Students entering school with poor oral vocabulary skills continue to be at least 2 grades behind in their vocabulary knowledge, unless receiving direct enrichment.

Wide reading enhances vocabulary. However, most young people with language difficulty are NOT wide readers.

Learning differences often means that vocabulary has to be directly taught multi-modally, to help them get to the “rich word knowledge” level: robust word learning involves an interaction of perceptual, social and linguistic cues.

Direct vocabulary instruction works! National Reading Panel, 2000; Graves, 2000; Wilson, Nash& Earl, 2010; Anderson & Nagy, 1991…….

Vocabulary: often assumed knowledge

From one Year 7 Science lesson (mixed ability class):

Endangered Carnivore

Differentiated Herbivore

Extinct Variables

Solitary Dichotomous

Pelt

Feral Savanna

Adaptations


Take a word…..

Geoarchaeological

Potentially difficult to

Say…

Spell…

Read…

Comprehend….

Write….


Vocabulary in context….

Do you know these words?

determination

requirement

adjustment

creditable

attribute

decreasing

acquisition


So, no problem understanding this then?

“In effect, the determination waives the requirement for an

adjustment note for a decreasing adjustment relating to a

creditable acquisition purchased with a corporate card in

order to attribute, to a tax period, an adjustment to an

input tax credit previously attributed on the acquisition,

provided that…………….”

Based on: Richard Lavoie’s presentations on understanding learning

disabilities: How Difficult Can This Be? The FAT City workshop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIaNxmG9JOQ


CHERI 2015: Julia Starling

Language and Maths?? Definitely……..

43

Same or Different?

If Billy is 13 years old, how old will he be in 29 years?

A car is traveling at 84 km an hour. If it maintains a consistent speed, how far does it travel in 30 minutes?

Find the sum of 27 and 15.

Mandy and Sally want to buy 8 bags of lollies for a party. Each bag costs $5.25. They have $50 to spend. Is this sufficient money? Do they need more or less?

Find the product of 2 and 21.

31 + 11 =


Overlap literacy/numeracy

High language content and reading needed for Maths competency. Inconsistencies in ‘Maths ability’ are confusing, can do very well (algebra, trigonometry…) then ‘suddenly’ drop in grades.

Life skills: employment, earnings, taxes, medications…..

Word/story problems, language ability needed to “convert” to a numerical calculation.

“ The greatest number of people visit Snapper Island in September. The least number of people visit Snapper Island in February. Describe the difference in climate conditions between these two months. In your answer calculate and include the difference in:

o The maximum temperature

o The amount of rain

o The number of rainy days” (from Year 7 Numeracy test)


Information literacy

Finding the right information requires using the right words

for the search.

a) In your biography of Germaine Greer write about the hurdles she

faced in her life.

b) Year 6 student with LI : “I couldn‘t find anything on the United

Nations!”


Internet sites: variability of information/accessibility issues.

Helpful hints:

-Assist with synonym brainstorming

-Add ‘for kids’ to search words

-Google Advance for search, select ‘Show only basic results’ under reading level

-Use ‘Simple English Wikipedia’

-https://rewordify.com

-Herring’s PLUS model: steps for information literacy

http://farrer.csu.edu.au/PLUS/index.html


http://farrer.csu.edu.au/PLUS/index.html


Word knowledge: What does it mean to

“know “ a word? 1. No knowledge: Never seen/heard it before. (MAHOUT,

DOORING)

2. Very general sense of connotation/meaning: Feel you know it but can’t really explain what it means. (PHLOEM)

3. Context-bound knowledge: We have “learnt” a word in a single context. (AVATAR)

4. “Knowing” a word but not being able to recall it readily enough to use in a range of situations. (CONCATENATE)

5. “Robust” knowledge. (POWER)

(Beck, McKeown & Omanson 1987)


Robust word knowledge

We can define the word in a generalised way

Not dependent on context (decontextualised)

We can apply it in appropriate situations, with precision

Breadth and depth: knowledge of multiple meanings,

metaphorical use, range of derivations

Availability is “strong” i.e. ready retrieval, with well-

mapped semantic connections and clear phonological

specifications (i.e. We can READ it, SAY it, SPELL it, we

know what it MEANS and we can USE it appropriately in

a range of contexts!)


Direct Vocabulary Instruction Beck, McKeown & Kucan (2013): Bringing Words to Life

Tier 1 The most everyday,basic and familiar words in our vocabulary, that rarely need direct instruction.

Examples: clock, baby, happy, walk, face, sky….

Tier 2 Words that are of high utility for language users, but that often need to be directly taught. They are of high frequency use and are

found across a variety of domains. Examples: coincidence, absurd,

industrious, fortunate, cultural…..

Words across disciplines: evaluate, predict, inference, assess….

Tier 3 Words that are of low frequency use, or that apply to specific domains. May be essential to learning a topic.

Examples: isotope, lathe, peninsula, metamorphosis…..


Essential vocabulary

Rich knowledge of Tier 2/3 words can have a high impact on verbal functioning (oral and written)

Decision points for prioritising:

“Must know”: Essential to the learning of a topic or concept. Words should be directly and systematically taught.

“Should know”: Highly significant, although not essential, to understanding the topic or concept.

“Could know”: Interesting and stimulating, though not necessary for a basic understanding of a topic.

e.g. “communism”: interesting or essential?

Marzano’s six steps to teaching vocabulary

1. Selecting and introducing words

2. Descriptions in students own words

3. Visual representations

4. Regular exposure

5. Discussion of words amongst students

6. The play step!

http://www.marzanoresearch.com/vocabulary


http://www.marzanoresearch.com/vocabulary


10 Key Words!

**Realistic direct instructional contribution that will make a difference: 400 words a year (10/week)

High frequency and essential Tier 2/3 words Across subjects/topics/grades

Secondary Schools in LINCS Program study

-Teachers across disciplines

-Prioritised up to 10 essential words (“Must Knows”)

when planning each new topic.

-Embedded these words in all teaching

-Engaged students in interactions with these words.


Alternatives to “Look it up in the dictionary!” Why?

Because students with language and literacy difficulties have problems using dictionaries They have poor alphabetic skills

They have poor reading ability

The definitions used in dictionaries (and in glossaries*) are often incomprehensible to them, so they are no better off anyway! Warning: students may learn these definitions by rote, however have no understanding of what the word really means.

(Exceptions include the Collins Cobuild series: Learner’s Dictionary )

+/- 70% English words have at least 2

meanings (Bromley, 2007).



Glossary check…..

Fenchial: A Fenchial person is a person of Fenchial descent who identifies as a Fenchial person and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives.


Glossary: History Years 7-10 Syllabus, NSW

Board of Studies

Aboriginal: An Aboriginal person is a person of Aboriginal descent who identifies as an Aboriginal person and is accepted as such by the indigenous community in which he or she lives.

Year 7 student with LI: The original people of a country such as Australian Aborigines, American Indians and Canadian Inuits.


2 alternatives

1. Morphological breakdown: root words, prefixes,

suffixes.

Meanings of 60% of multi-syllabic words can be worked out by analysing word parts (Bromley 2007)

Prefixes: pre-, un-, dis-, semi, extra- (re-, dis-, un-, and im- account for 50% of words with prefixes)

Root words: history, circle, culture…..

Suffixes: -able, -ing, -ly, -ar, -ism….. (-s/-es, -ed, -ing account for 60% of words with suffixes)

e.g.: pre-history-ic -> prehistoric

Semi-circle-ar -> semicircular

Multi–culture–al –ism -> multiculturalism

Un-de-cipher-able -> undecipherable

Antidisestablishmentarianismist??!!


2. Using context

Assist students in using context clues:

Definitions (The tundra is a vast, open area of land)

Synonyms/antonyms ( His impeccable uniform was

so perfect that…)

Examples given for a group word (The felines included

lions, tigers, cheetahs…)

Cause and effect (We lingered so long that we missed the bus)

General context (He was very patriotic and couldn’t be more proud

of his country)

Working out word meanings

The Wolf (excerpt)

Wolves have been driven from most of their

original homelands, but some still hunt in the

forests of the north and over the frozen Arctic

plains. The tundra is a vast open land that

stretches around the Arctic Ocean at the top of

the world. Here the wolf tracks the caribou, and in

some areas is almost entirely dependent upon

this antlered nomad.


Useful information

RALLI campaign: www.youtube.com/user/RALLIcampaign

Prof. Rosemary Tannock, Senior Scientist at Hospital for Sick Children,

Toronto: www.sickkids.ca/Research/Tannock-Lab/

Starling, J., Munro, N., Togher, L., & Arciuli, J. (2011a). Recognising

language impairment in secondary school student populations. Australian

Journal of Learning Difficulties, 16, 145-158.

Speech Pathology Australia: speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

Senate Inquiry into speech pathology services in Australia 2014:

Submissions 55 and 56

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Commun

ity_Affairs/Speech_Pathology/Submissions


http://www.youtube.com/user/RALLIcampaign



Thank you! And may your time spent with young people with

language impairment be inspiring, fascinating, challenging, thought-

provoking, stimulating, informational…… and full of wonderful words!

Julia Starling

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.linksresources.com.au

With thanks to the

wordsmiths at Holy Spirit

College, Lakemba. CHERI 2015: Julia Starling 63

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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