Talking for a Purpose

What we do

School Based Support

Click here to find out when our next Talking for a Purpose training is

This strategy is designed to support pupils at KS3 who, though they have a working command of both social and academic language, are not fulfilling their academic potential because they either lack confidence or are not practised in using talking and listening as vehicles for learning. For example, they are not skilled at asking higher level questions, or negotiating meaning through the use of language. The intervention is designed for a group of 3-5 children who work with an adult for a period of 30 minutes, twice a week for 8 weeks. It aims to support pupils in extending their language skills in a non-threatening learning environment.

Children's ability to speak and to listen is fundamental to their language development, learning in school, and to social development. Most children come into school with some ability to hold a conversation, persuade argue and entertain others. School provides new contexts for talk that demand new and greater oral skills. However, simply providing contexts for talk is not sufficient to ensure development of speaking and listening. As with reading and writing, direct teaching of the skills involved is important. Once learned, these skills can be reinforced in other contexts and practised throughout the curriculum. For example, when children have been taught about some of the key components of a group discussion (such as pooling ideas, challenging suggestions, developing others' ideas); they can draw on these in other problem-solving activities. In this way, talk underpins learning and thinking.

Language is an integral part of most learning and oral language in particular has a key role in classroom teaching and learning. Children's creativity, understanding and imagination can be engaged and fostered by discussion and interaction. In their daily lives, children use speaking and listening to solve problems, speculate, share ideas, make decisions and reflect on what is important. Most social relationships depend on talk and in the classroom children's confidence and attitudes to learning are greatly affected by friendships and interaction that support them.

As James Britton (1983) so eloquently put it, "Reading and writing float on a sea of talk". Put simply, talk, or oracy, is the foundation of literacy.

Why set up a Talking for a Purpose intervention?
There are benefits for everyone involved in Talking for a Purpose.

For the child:

They acquire the skills required to engage in purposeful talk
They acquire responsive listening skills
They learn how to take part in appropriate collaboration
They become more confident
It has a positive effect in the classroom

For the Partner:

They understand why talk is important for learning
They understand the different types of talk for learning and teaching
They understand the key elements of active listening
They increase their levels of confidence and self-esteem
It is enjoyable

What does the school have to do?
It is vital that one person has responsibility for co-ordinating Talking for a Purpose in your school, often this is the Literacy Co-ordinator. This will help with communications and resolution of any issues. The following points will need to be considered:

Who will be your Talking for a Purpose Partners?
You could use your TAs or volunteers from the local community, or parents.
How will you select the children?
This strategy is designed to support pupils at KS3 who are not fulfilling their academic potential because they either lack confidence or are not practised in using talking and listening as vehicles for learning.
How long will the partnerships last?
This is an eight week programme consisting of two thirty minute sessions a week. The Partners will need to meet with the children before the programme starts to introduce themselves and explain the ground rules and the key strategies to be used.
When and where will Talking for a Purpose take place?
Typically Talking for a Purpose happens during normal teaching time but it does not have to. It may be helpful for Partners and children to meet for a short time before school or during the lunch break. Talking for a Purpose can take place in any location where it is possible to sit at a table with a small group of pupils, where they can be comfortable and relatively undisturbed.
What happens each week?
The pupils work in small, carefully chosen groups with a TA or adult volunteers for two half-hour sessions per week, over eight weeks, working on key activities. These activities are designed to be cross-curricular and each is focused on a specific way of using talk to learn.
What resources are needed?
Partners who receive the training are taught how to employ the eight key activities and four extension activities using the resources in their training file. These are the basic tools and can be used with any curriculum area. The Partners will also have time during their training to produce their own resources, using the examples as templates.
What kind of planning and record keeping will take place?
The Partners are given time and support during their training to plan their eight week programme, including pupil details, a learning focus for each session, activities to be used and resources required. The Partners will complete a profile for each pupil and record their evaluation of each child's progress.

If you would like to find out more about how you can access training for Talking for a Purpose Partners, please contact Carla Eyre:

by email: carla@rowa.org.uk

or by phone: 01629 536794

NEXT TALKING FOR A PURPOSE TRAINING

Venue: Aldercar Community Language College
Dates: 3rd, 10th and 17thFebruary 2011
Times: 9.30 am to 12.30 pm
Costs: £125 per person or £500 for 6 people
(Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire County Schools: £110 per person or £400 for 6 people)

To book a place on this training session, please contact Carla (T: 01629 536794 or E: carla@rowa.org.uk)