Wendy Lee Professional Director

The Communication Trust, UK

IEFE, February, 2014

Key Strategies for Meeting the Speech, Language and Communication Needs of Learning Challenged Students in Mainstream Settings

www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk

Speech, Language and Communication Needs

SLCN

Why think about language and communication ..?

• Many children with SLCN are taught in mainstream schools

• There is a gap in teacher knowledge in identifying and supporting children with language and communication needs

Also

• Good practice for children with SLCN is good practice for all children

Prioritising communication

• Every lesson depends on language

• Therefore... • Communication is

everyone’s business…

• Yet it is much

misunderstood

Verbal communication; integration of 4 components

Speech

1. Speech sounds

Language

2. Words & meaning

3. Rules; grammar

Communication

4. The use of language

Important to remember understanding as well as talking

Receptive skills

Listening, attention, perception

Expressive skills ‘Talking’

Speech

Sounds; e.g. p,b,t,d,k,g, words, sentences,

narrative

Language in a social context – communication

Underpinned by desire, need and confidence to communicate

It’s a complicated process…

Understanding/comprehension Processing and integrating

Planning and organising to support

Expressive language

Speech, Language and Communication Needs...

• Difficulties can be with

– Speech – clarity and fluency of speech

– Talking – vocabulary, grammar and combining words and sentences for narrative

– Understanding – understanding words, sentences, narratives

– Functional and social use of language – using language and understanding verbal and non-verbal rules of communication

Some children don’t use spoken language

Factors relating to SLCN

Factors include:

Social disadvantage

Neurological; cerebral palsy,

brain injury

Structural; cleft palate

Developmental; Premature babies

Developmental delay

Genetic;

Down syndrome, Fragile X

Environmental;

Poor communication environment

Family history

Part of another condition;

Autism; ADHD; hearing impairment; learning

difficulties

Needs led…

• Although children might have different impairments, we are concerned with their communication needs…

• Where is their communication breaking down?

• How can we support them to access learning?

• How can we support the development of speech, language and communication?

The Scale

The Children...

The Way We Talk is a

film from The

Communication Trust

It shows seven children

with SLCN talk about

their life, experiences at

school and what is it like

to have a

communication difficulty

http://www.youtube.co

m/watch?v=Onqn_7xzp

2Q

The Impact

Direct links to literacy

– Between 50% and 90% of children with persistent SLCN go on to have reading difficulties

Learning

– children with primary language difficulty achieve lower academically; this gap is growing

Social skills

– children with language difficulties can often have difficulties with social interaction

Emotional skills

– Developing emotional intelligence is considered to be largely dependent on language skills

Behaviour

– behaving appropriately is often dependent on being able to think through problem situations, mediated through language

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

Readin

g A

ge L

evel

Chronological Age

Low Oral Language

in Kindergarten

High Oral

Language in

Kindergarten

5.2 years difference

The Effects Poor Language on Reading Comprehension

WHAT WORKS FOR CHILDREN WITH SLCN From the research evidence....

A whole community approach 1. Strong leadership – who care about SEN/SLCN; with this, anything

is possible

2. Early Identification – there remain huge challenges for teachers in effectively identifying SLCN, with continued misunderstanding of what it is

3. Impactful interventions – children with SLCN need support at all levels, in the classroom, in targeted group work and by specialists

4. Track and monitor progress – children with SLCN do less well at school than peers of similar ability; the setting and measuring of relevant, meaningful and functional outcomes should be at the heart of the system

5. Professional development – there needs to be a structured, systematic and ongoing approach to teacher professional development – this is very important

Strong leadership

Leaders

• School leaders are successful in improving pupil outcomes

• Our interventions work more effectively with support of school leaders

The full report (DCSF-RR108) can be accessed at

www.dcsf.gov.uk/research

Whole school approach

Specialist

support

Evidenced interventions; small groups

Communication supportive classrooms

Trained teachers

Early identification Know what you are looking for

• Speech • Language • Communication

Consider prevalence

• What would you expect in your school, class, students....

Know what to expect for their age

• Universally speaking

Look beneath the surface

• Behaviour • Literacy • Social / emotional • Self esteem

Impactful interventions

• Children with SLCN say...

The best people, they understand the nature of my condition...that is the most

important thing

Young person with specific language

impairment

Impactful interventions; a communication supportive environment Research has identified the following as important

Language learning environment ... The classroom context supports teaching and learning e.g. Labelling in

classrooms, quiet corners, visual support, sound and lighting

Language learning opportunities ... The what of learning e.g. Small group work

Language learning interactions ... The how of learning e.g. the ways in which staff talk with children

Tools developed to identify communication supportive classroom practice www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk

20

Visual timetables

Impactful Interventions; What works data base

What works data base At all levels

• Universal ; for all children

• Targeted; for some children; e.g. Supporting vocabulary development

• Specialist; delivered by specialists for children’s specific needs

For example

Think time

• Benefits for students:

– The length and correctness of their responses increase.

– Questions from students were more frequent

– "I don't know" and no answer responses decreases.

– Volunteered, appropriate answers by larger numbers of students greatly increases.

– Responses from less able students increases

– The scores of students on academic achievement tests tend to increase.

• Benefits for teachers;

– Questioning strategies tended to be more varied and flexible.

– Decreased quantity and increased quality and variety of questions.

– Asked additional questions that required more complex information processing and higher-level thinking

Components of language are supported

• Listening and understanding

• Vocabulary understanding and use

• Sentence construction; grammar

• Narrative skills

• Social interaction

For example; Support vocabulary and self awareness

Helping understand words

Visual Support in sentences

Support narrative structure

Track and monitor progress

We have developed tools to monitor and track progress in speech, language and communication

Professional development

“The ways in which teachers talk to children can influence learning, memory, understanding and the motivation to learn.”

(cambridge primary review)

The Speech, Language and Communication Framework (SLCF)

• An online self-audit tool outlines what you need to know and do in order to support children's communication.

• shows training to help

develop skills in the

areas needed.

www.talkingpoint.org.uk/slcf

See the website or Get in touch ...

wlee@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk

www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk