Today methods of teaching in primary schools have become much more sophisticated. The main reasons of this tendency are recognition of significance of the learning process and vital role of teachers in it, importance of both pupil and teacher assessment and better understanding of the profession of teacher itself. Educationalists should be given their due for moving beyond traditional theory of teaching in primary school and developing successful approaches of self evaluation, subject expertise and discussions of future improvements of learning process in primary schools.
The New National Curriculum plays a significant role in setting curriculum guidelines for education, and helping teachers integrate their theory of teaching with the new curriculum requirements. One of the issues described in many publications on teaching in primary schools is how reading or writing skills can be improved through usage of listening and speaking skills and this issue is the subject of this paper, which aims to analyze connection between these aspects of learning.
One of the primary targets of the New National Curriculum are speaking and listening, as well as the focus on writing and reading skills of pupils. Both speaking and listening were defined in the New National Curriculum as practices with the following requirements:
- Pupils should be taught the grammatical constructions which are characteristic of spoken standard English.
- Pupils should be taught about how language varies between standard and dialect forms and between spoken and written forms.
- Pupils should take up and sustain different roles, adapting them to suit the situation, including chair, scribe and spokesperson. All these requirements should be integrated into both processes of listening and speaking in English schemes of primary schools’ work.
Scaffolding is a technique whereby teacher sets the desired learning framework, gradually passing responsibility of performing the task or activity to the pupils. The goal of this technique is to enhance learner’s development and provide them with necessary support structures in order to move to the next stage or level of learning process. The success of this process depends on teacher’s skills of implementing it accurately and effectively, which involves two essential strategies. (Ashcroft, 1995).
As an example, here is situation when teacher has to explain to primary school pupils a new topic: in the first strategy, teacher, supposing that pupils do not have any knowledge about introduced topic, should present a part of the story comparing it with something they definitely understand; in the second strategy, teacher by asking relevant question is receiving partially accurate answers and trying to reach clear understanding of the issue on the basis of pupils’ responses. However, in both cases there should be active interaction and discussion with primary school pupils involved.
To understand the connection between effect of speaking and listening on reading and writing the process of how children learn to read and write should be clearly understood. Listening is the process of receiving certain data, which is the first stage of understanding which is significantly supporting the process of speaking – next stage on the way to enhancing writing and reading skills. (Lewis, 1995).
One of the main targets of speaking, especially for young learners, is to understand new information, however this does not only involve their understanding of teacher’s idea, but applying new information through own experience, own words and thus creating something which is meaningful for them.
Involving primary school pupils into discussion usually means that the topic has been clearly understood and pupils are prepared to apply their knowledge for much more complicated processes of reading and writing.
So, this is how listening and speaking enhance reading and writing skills of pupils in the primary school, which is also described in the book “Improving Literacy in the Primary School” by Chamberlin: “A person is literate when he has acquired the essential knowledge and skills which enable him to engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning in his group and community, and whose attainments in reading, writing and arithmetic make it possible for him to continue to use these skills towards his own and the community’s development”. (1998, p.26).
This book contains a description of study which has once again proved the connection between listening and reading: those children who knew nursery rhymes had much more success in reading than those who did not have this knowledge. And there is an explanation of such results: nursery rhymes help children improve their phonological sensitivity and these children were more likely to benefit from reading instructions. (Chamberlin, 1998, p.27).
In 1960s there was a theory which was based on the idea that primary school pupils learn to read by selecting and pronouncing the word they expected to see. This theory was criticized for its simplicity of reading process explanation; however it does show the connection between experience of listening and speaking, which help to enrich children’s active vocabulary and their reading skills. It was investigated that older and more experienced primary school pupils use much more complicated strategy of reading or writing, like recognizing words’ shape, letter-sound correspondence or their context. In spite of these new findings, it is still clear that reading and writing processes are based on listening and speaking experience. (Rennie, 2000).
According to the new survey, it was found out that there is a difference between literacy level of female and male primary school pupils. There is a national trend that boys’ reading skills are much lower than their writing skills, moreover girls’ writing skills were significantly higher than the boys’ ones. It is rather hard to explain the first trend; however the second one is justified by the fact that girls were always much more committed to accuracy and school literacy than their male classmates.
One of the latest findings presents, that as a result of low engagement of primary male pupils in reading process many boys have fear to read aloud in class. To increase the engagement of pupils in reading and consequently help them overcome the fear, the following measures were taken: male primary pupils were provided with books on topics which interested them the most, buddy systems, which involved older pupils who would help younger mates to overcome barriers of reading or writing. Additional information on this issue is presented in the Appendix A.
This finding is directly related to the issue researched in this paper, since they show that the older primary pupils are the more problems they might face in learning to read or write, and there should be a system of constant reinforcement of literacy skills of primary school male and female pupils.
So, as it was already mentioned, in order to become literate a primary school pupil has to hear words first, and then be encouraged to speak these words, and finally pupil is starting to write these words on the paper. The process of learning should be interested for children so that they will eagerly participate in it, benefiting from this process. (Bourne, 1994).
How can teachers make the process more involving and interesting for young pupils? The answer to this question is through role plays, which have potential to encourage children to play and practice speaking, reading and writing through the game. The positive effect of these new methods is surprising significant and children learn a variety of new words and terminology. However, if teacher adopts this method in class, he/she should be careful not to replicate familiar environment of home-life, but use scenarios of the settings which are new for children and involve new vocabulary and new roles. (Smith, 1998) So, the importance of different role-play environments is undeniable, so as the necessity to provide children with high quality scenarios, which realistically reflect the world.
“Early Vision”, made by a professional film crew, is a film which gives children new examples of locations and role-plays in their learning process. Children can see real life situations, people’s actions and vocabulary they use in each case, and the level of memorization and application of this film is surprisingly high, since children are able not only remember all necessary information, but also plan their own scenarios, create new settings and as a result apply obtained speaking, reading or writing skills. For example, after watching this film children received a bank of new phrases and managed to perform the dialogue between the doctor and his/her patient or receptionist who answered the phone, which are considered to be rather complicated scenarios for primary school pupils.
Later young pupils felt much confident in writing these words and recognizing them during the reading process. Another advantage of this method is that film can be watched over and over again with new groups of primary school pupils or with a purpose to re-enforce the vocabulary or deepen children’s understanding of new environment. So, this method is a great example of how listening and watching can enhance the level of literacy and speaking and make the process of learning interesting and entertaining for young learners.
Educational films, like one described above, is not the only tool for primary school teachers whose aim is to improve writing and reading skills of primary school pupils through listening and acting. One of the new requirements of the National Curriculum and the National Literacy Strategy is to adopt drama as a part of learning process in all primary schools.
What is the role of drama in teaching children how to speak, write or read? The answer to this question lies in the project, conducted by the University of Reading which aim was to ascertain how practical drama was. Groups of Year 5 and 6 pupils were involved in the project; their task was to introduce different texts, like Hamlet or The Tempest. The process, which involved reading and then presenting the texts, appeared to be fun for all its participants. The positive consequences of this project were obvious: children clearly understood the narrative, then used rather complicated language and managed to create own dialogues, and last but not the least – enjoyed the process.
Analyzing the described project, it is important to find out the reason why children tend to enjoy drama so much.
It appears to be that drama appeals to the senses of children, and those children who have difficulties with writing or reading are the main beneficiaries of drama positive effect.
So, it can be concluded that when speaking or listening are not helping to improve reading or writing skills one of the techniques which can be used is the provision of physical context through performance.
Finally, this project showed that the process of reading, writing and speaking is much faster in drama groups, rather than individually. Cooperating with each other pupils stimulate each other’s ideas and re-enforce the vocabulary, exchanging and sharing their knowledge. So, practical role of drama should not be neglected in developing writing and reading skills of primary school pupils. Other examples of successful pupils’ involvement process are presented in the Appendix B.
The role of the teacher in building successful process of learning can not be underestimated or neglected. Primary school teacher has a rather complex task of working out its methods of teaching, setting her/his standards and communicating these standards to the pupils in class.
There are many studies which can help teacher ascertain what are the learning needs of her/his pupils, however communication and interaction with pupils in order to find out what they are willing to learn or do plays a significant role too. Primary school teacher is only conducting the teaching process; however he/she is an example for primary school pupils to follow.
Primary school teacher is ought to work out accurate curriculum, which is written on the basis of National Curriculum Strategy. One of the requirements of National Curriculum is to set objectives and carefully follow them, assessing received results. Today objective is an integral part of every lesson, since every lesson is another step forward in the overall learning process, so achieving objective which was set is essential in order to succeed in this process. Teachers start their lessons by sharing the objective with pupils and reminding about its importance throughout the learning process.
Today primary school teachers’ task is to set both short term and long terms goals. Long term goals are set for a year or more and they should involve such essential components as increasing the level of literacy and oral skills of primary school pupils, learning new vocabulary and enhancing their knowledge of the environment and various situations, which they may face in life. (Daugherty, 1995).
An integral part of teacher’s job is making judgements about knowledge and behavior of children. These judgments should be founded on the evidence, which was gathered through observing children’s behavior in the class. Here is what is written on the importance of observation in the book by Wyse: “If you believe that the most important thing is for you to be actively teaching all of the time then you will not be able to observe. Detailed observation requires you to make some time to sit back and watch children at work”( 2002, p.71 ) Such assessments help teacher understand her/his pupils better, improve the overall process of teaching and even prevent problems which may emerge in the future by communicating with pupils’ parents.
This paper has already covered the importance of innovational techniques of working with primary school pupils, the role of the teacher in class and his/her judgements, as well as significant role of interactive methods of the learning process, however one of the most important links between school and child was not mentioned yet, – parents of the child.
So, parental involvement in supporting the process of education is as significant as the role of teacher who is in charge of the learning process. However, the main issue is how to involve parents in the process of educating their children and build bridges of understanding and collaboration with them. (Coulby, 2000).
In order to help school officials to solve this problem there is a great variety of Government initiatives and programs, which help to benefit both schools and pupils’ parents. In particular, an example of such program is the Transition Project, which aims to train primary school representatives in building strong relationships with parents, establishes two-way communication and necessary support. (King, 1995) One of the suggested measures for schools is to adopt parental involvement agenda, which has controversial nature; however it did have a positive impact on relationships between school and parents in schools where it was implemented. By participating in such programs parents do not only comprehend the structure of educational process, however they an opportunity to provide their own recommendations on the improvement of this process or help school officials with organizing school events.
“Teachers, like other professionals, are highly skilled people who are engaged in a complex occupation. First and foremost they are effective and enthusiastic in their work with children and the wider community. They are also sensitive and perceptive people whose inter-personal skills enable them to work well in teams. Teachers also have the ability to critically evaluate the key requirements of their job and, where necessary, take steps to influence policy makers so that they act in the best interests of children and their learning,”- these words from book “Becoming a Primary School Teacher” best sum up all those traits which teacher should possess in order to become a real professional in growing future literate and highly educated generations in the United Kingdom. (Wyse, 2002, p.95).
Works cited
Ashcroft, Kate and David Palacio, eds. 1995. The Primary Teacher’s Guide to the New National Curriculum. London: Falmer Press.
Coulby, David. 2000. Beyond the National Curriculum: Curricular Centralism and Cultural Diversity in Europe and the USA. New York: Falmer Press.
Daugherty, Richard. 1995. National Curriculum Assessment: A Review of Policy, 1987-1994. London: Falmer Press.
Lewis, Ann. 1995. Primary Special Needs and the National Curriculum. New York: Routledge.
Pollard, Andrew and Jill Bourne, eds. 1994. Teaching and Learning in the Primary School. New York: Routledge.
Protherough, Robert and Peter King, eds. 1995. The Challenge of English in the National Curriculum. New York: Routledge.
Rennie, Jennifer. 2000. Teaching Reading: Oral Reading Practices as a Pedagogical Tool in the Primary School. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 23, no. 3: 197.
Smith, M. Cecil, ed. 1998. Literacy for the Twenty-First Century: Research, Policy, Practices, and the National Adult Literacy Survey. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Wragg, E. C., C. M. Wragg, G. S. Haynes, and R. P. Chamberlin. 1998. Improving Literacy in the Primary School. London: Routledge.
Wyse, Dominic. 2002. Becoming a Primary School Teacher. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Appendix A. Boys and non-fiction: cause or effect?
A two-year study, which set out to examine whether boys’ underachievement in reading might be linked to their preference for non-fiction texts, may throw some light on why boys do less well at reading than girls.
The Fact and Fiction Research Project, funded by the ESRC and based at the University of Southampton, observed and documented seven to nine-year-old boys’ reading in and out of school. The study showed boys’ preference for non-fiction does not prevent them from ‘getting on the literacy bus’ as some have argued, citing the absence of non-fiction from the early years reading curriculum as failing to satisfy boys’ interests. Rather the project found that boys gravitate towards visually based non-fiction to mask their poor reading skills.
Examine the range of non-fiction they favour, from football sticker albums to Dorling Kindersley’s Eyewitness series and what you find are a range of texts where the visual, rather than the written text, dominates. Two boys working their way through a sticker album will concentrate on the number of pages the owner has filled; compare collections in terms of who has the most or the best stickers; or compare views on the relative merits of teams or players. This is boys doing friendship, and friendship in this case involves sorting out a hierarchy of knowledge and expertise, or who can tell good jokes, or deliver the best insults. The expertise displayed seldom draws directly on the immediate written text. Indeed in the kind of session outlined above, the writing in the sticker albums – about players’ footballing histories, or the clubs’ previous performance – goes largely unread. In this kind of encounter, who knows the most is often not directly related to, and doesn’t depend upon, who can read the text the best. In these respects, weak readers can meet their peers on an equal level.
It is the potential for equal social status that seems to draw weaker boy readers towards visually based non-fiction, and away from fiction texts. Fiction reading in the classroom constructs a different kind of hierarchy. Close monitoring of children’s progress in reading (largely fiction) texts is used by adults to carefully grade and sort children’s competence as readers to determine the kinds of text children will have access to. The fiction books children get to read, in their layout and point size of typeface, make public children’s relative standing in the reading stakes, both to the child themselves and to their peers. The project data shows boys and girls respond differently to this [exposure].
For weak girl readers, less seems to be at stake socially in accepting teacher judgements about their relative competence at reading. In paired reading, weaker girl readers find few difficulties in accepting help from more experienced readers, whilst groups of girls can often be observed reading well below their competence level, turning the reading of “easy” texts into a kind of play. Weaker boy readers find it harder to reconcile the social standing they are being offered in class to the social standing they aspire to in their relations with peers. One consequence is that early on many boys begin to evolve, often elaborate, strategies for disguising their low status as readers and as a result they spend less time reading.
The project data suggests different areas for intervention. For weaker girl readers, that they be encouraged to read at, or above, their current levels of competence, rather than within and below. For weaker boy readers, that more opportunities be created for keeping them on task, coupled with ways of raising their self-esteem. It is a mistake to think that nothing can be done about boys. Indeed, the Department for Education and Employment’s own figures show that in 20 per cent of primary schools boys outperform girls and in 30 to 40 per cent of schools they lag behind significantly.
It may be that shifts of emphasis in the teaching format now in place within the structure of the Literacy Hour are already effecting changes in line with the project’s findings: making the focus for literacy instruction the group rather than the individual and by always insisting on work that encompasses text, sentence, and word levels with explicit attention paid to supporting wider reading.
Whilst teachers continue to struggle to meet targets and deliver a worthwhile curriculum in the new climate of quality control, there is much to play for and plenty of reasons for feeling optimistic about the future. (Dr Gemma Moss, Centre for Language in Education, University of Southampton. Web.).
Appendix B. Examples of good practice
The Billesley Paired Writing Project
This was a same-age class-wide peer tutoring in writing project in a mainstream primary school. The focus was to raise writing standards, especially within Year 5, using drama to stimulate writing. Three parallel classes of Year 5 Paired Writers co-composed books for an audience of Year 3 pupils. A number of pupils with special educational needs participated. Subsequently Paired Writing was spread across the school. It proved possible to block time allocated to writing within the National Literacy Strategy, taking a year-long perspective. Participant feedback has been extremely positive, although national curriculum levels proved too loose and wide to effectively measure gains in writing capability. Given the paucity of evidence-based approaches in raising writing standards, other schools have shown considerable interest.
The Dame Ellen Pinsent Project
This special school for pupils with moderate learning difficulties (www.dameellenpinsent.bham.sch.uk) has also developed a same-age peer tutoring in writing project. It is startling that they have succeeded with such challenging pupils in arguably such a challenging curriculum area. The objectives were to raise writing standards, especially in creative/expressive writing (where there was a social-emotional agenda); to increase variety of writing; to increase vocabulary in and through writing; and to develop social and communication skills (especially in those pupils on the autistic spectrum or with a different linguistic heritage). This work is being qualitatively evaluated.
The Fox Hollies Project
Fox Hollies Special School is for pupils who have severe learning difficulties. It has a national reputation in the performing arts. Both within and outside the school, pupils are involved in peer assisted learning through the MENCAP Transactive Project, in performing arts (such as the Cafe Atlantique project and Birmingham Royal Ballet project), and in work experience. They work with pupils with similar difficulties and with pupils from mainstream schools. The school also receives peer helpers through the Valued Youth scheme (see below). The Fox Hollies Project is also being qualitatively evaluated.
The Broadway Project
Birmingham has a distinguished record in deploying high school students with serious emotional and behavioural problems as tutors in primary and special schools.These young people usually present a completely different and much more positive aspect of their personality and capability in such settings. The Broadway project seeks to extend this by developing cross-age peer tutoring in reading for pupils with behavioural difficulties in the Lower School of a high school, prior to developing a scheme for Upper School pupils to do likewise with Lower School pupils. Broadway is a two-campus high school in an intensely multicultural area.
The Reading 42 Project in Scotland
As England groans in the stranglehold of the national curriculum, much of the innovation in education is happening in the devolved Celtic fringes. However, concern about a plateau in achievement growth in the first two years of high school is common across the UK. In a high school in Dundee, middle ability second year readers act as cross-age tutors to low ability first year readers (including many special needs pupils), using high motivation books of a level of challenge which engages both tutor and tutee, and serves to enhance the reading capability as well as the self-esteem of both. Reading42 features experimental research with control groups. Collection of post-test data is still proceeding at the time of writing. (Web).