Essay On Importance Of Oral Language

'A large part of the child’s language experience is verbal and it is through oral language activity that much of his/her learning takes place, both in and out of school. The potential of oral language activity as a learning and teaching medium is acknowledged in the key role it is given throughout the curriculum.' ( DES english curriculm.)
The importance of oral language in a child's learning is stated clearly in the national literacy curriculum, however, I believe it is often under utilized. By carrying out this assessment and lesson I realised that I have never given a whole oral language lesson in learning support. I always explain vocabulary in a piece of reading or add to the children's vocabulary when preparing to write a story, but I have never sat down to plan a full oral language lesson for learning support children. When teaching a class, I would have taught oral language lessons weekly, however, in learning support time is short and is focused around reading and writing and the vocabulary needed to understand a piece of reading or produce a piece of writing at a high standard. Oral language is the foundation literacy is based on. If a child cannot say the words, the child will not be able to use or understand them. Through

Both psychologists believe that children should participate in collaborative learning and the joint construction of knowledge. I agree with them that a teacher needs to model and scaffold their learning until they can become proficient and operate independently. For this to happen effectively, I believe that oral language lessons should be planned carefully and not only taught when the need arises to further the children's vocabulary. The children must also be taught the pragmatics of language, as it cannot be assumed that they have learned this automatically through observation or parental