Adam, our guest blogger, encourages
us to think about the value of
helping students develop
oral language skills.
us to think about the value of
helping students develop
oral language skills.
Bridging English Ch. 4
Developing an Oral Foundation
Chapter 4 begins with what the authors describe as a
paradox: oral language development far
predates written, and yet little to no attention is paid to oral language in
secondary English classrooms. Any
pre-service teacher can attest to observing far more “silent” classrooms than rooms filled with
voices. The authors seek to utilize this
chapter to encourage active student speaking in the classroom.
This technologically driven age gives way to what the
authors describe as a “new urgency” for oral language classrooms. To quote language historian and acclaimed
journalist MacNeil, this culture is “increasingly drugged by pictures [on
television].” Facebook, Twitter and
other forms of text-based social media have somewhat endangered the use of
the spoken word. The authors describe
communications from high school students about the discomfort of “calling
someone on the telephone” as evidence of this decline in the spoken word.
Talking and listening are the basis for all language arts
classrooms. The authors present several
common excuses for why oral language is absent from secondary English
classrooms.
1.
These acts are natural and do not require
instructional help.
2.
Talking and listening are too “unwieldy” to
teach, and educators are not able to truly expand on these basic actions.
3.
Talking and listening are difficult to test.
4.
Drama, speech, and communication classrooms are
where oral language should be the focus.
5.
Teachers are already pressed for time without
adding another “teachable” avenue.
6.
Drama as a peripheral activity can enliven a
classroom, but it is too time consuming.
The authors identify these common excuses and present
several responses to each.
1.
Talking and listening are essential to meaning.
2.
These actions are the basic tools for all of
human communication.
3.
The development of these skills has a direct
relationship with the tested skills in modern English classrooms.
4.
Talking and listening allow for immediate
assessment of a student’s understanding and interest in the content matter.
5.
Dramatic activities present multiple
opportunities for growth when planned properly.
The key is to promote a balance between active oral language
and written language in the classroom.
Per the authors, “English educators are only beginning to formulate a
rationale, subject, and general instructional principles” for oral language
classrooms (p.92). The authors encourage
educators to allow at least a portion of time for oral language in the daily
classroom.
The talking and listening classroom is the basis for this
new form of secondary English classroom.
In order to promote the growth of a oral language-based English
classroom, the authors provide several activities.
Oral Language Activities
3 Categories of Oral Language Exercise Schema
Individual: Involve monologues or story-telling,
individual creativity, authentic voice, and singular syntax can develop.
Group: Work in collaboration extending from pairs to
small/large groups and eventually to the entire classroom. These activities are more elaborate,
involving large casts/costuming.
Partners increase the need for talking and listening as part of
presentation prep.
Control: Students speak from a script or improvise
from highly structured/guided instruction.
Below are some examples the authors promoted to engage
students in oral language arts.
VOICE LESSONS – 1st
Person Poems, students select one for an oral interpretation. Can be read from
text, recited from memory, or recorded for later playback. Student is placed in the role of narrator. The Canterbury Tales are one proposed
selection as the stories/poems should be brief.
Emphasis should be placed on active listening from audience for tone,
emphasis and volume.
HERO WORSHIP – Students read
speeches and other historical documents crafted by figures such as Abraham
Lincoln or Martin Luther King, Jr. Students
select “sound bytes” that capture the essence or theme of the moment. Students then arrange these by chronology,
emotional color, and theme.
EXAMPLE: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Life and
Influence
-
“Letter from Birmingham Jail”, April 1963
-
“I Have a Dream”, August 1963
-
Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1964
-
“I’ve been to the Mountaintop,” April 1968
night before his death
These activities are new ways in which we as educators can
engage our students in more oral-based learning activities.
The authors promote drama as an invaluable resource to not
only enliven a classroom, but also to engage student learning and creativity
through oral presentation. It gives our
students a chance to “live the literature” by donning the roles of protagonists
and antagonists in their selected text.
This chapter is littered with numerous examples of
activities and ideas promoted by the authors; this chapter is a valuable tool
for English classroom educators. I would
not have even begun to think about a more oral-based classroom prior to
engaging this chapter and the activities provided.
EVALUATION
One of the most fundamental elements of utilizing oral
language in the English classroom is evaluation. This enables educators and student audience
members to watch for and evaluate their peers on clarity, theme, tone,
emphasis, voice and audience engagement.
Typically, these evaluations are performed on a holistic or
analytical scale. Frazier (1997)
promoted a checklist based on outlining mental processes, contributions, and
negative behaviors. Placed into a
rubric, students are able to effectively evaluate their peers by simply placing
a mark on the checklist when each of these attributes is displayed.
FRAZIER’s Oral Language Rubric
Mental
Processes
|
Draws
Inferences/Conclusions
Uses
logic
Provides
new information
Analogies/Examples
|
Contributions
|
Involves
others
Makes
“I” Statements
Affirms
others
Seeks
clarification
Articulates
Effectively
Listens
Well/Responds appropriately
|
Negative
Behavior
|
Interrupts
Repeats/Wanders
Dominates
Attacks
others
Distracts
Daydreams
Silent
|
Oral language is the basis for all written communication, and yet this is often disregarded in favor of quite, text driven classroom instruction. We owe it to our students to promote instances of oral communication and expression. This chapter has provided a treasure-trove of activities and examples to enable us as educators to do just that.
What are your feelings on a “talkative” classroom versus a
“silent” classroom?
What do you see as an area of weakness with an oral language
classroom compared to your ideal classroom?
What activities/strategies, if any from this chapter, would
you be willing to incorporate into your lesson planning?
Bridging English, 5th ed. by Milner, Milner
& Mitchell
