Published on www.standards.dcsf.gov.

uk/NationalStrategies 27-Aug-2010

Understanding and using the range of speaking and listening

contexts for teachers
The range of contexts for speaking and listening in the classroom is:

• whole-class
• small group
• paired
• individual

Do pupils in all of your classes in every year group have opportunities to work in each context to learn and develop new
skills and to build their confidence as speakers? This section will briefly explore each context in turn.

Within those four basic ranges, there will be a number of activities and approaches that you can adopt, ranging from
debating and interviewing to drama and individual presentations.

Activity
Discuss with a colleague why you would choose one context rather than another. What are the benefits and drawbacks
of each? Make notes and then compare them with those in the attached resource Benefits and limitations of different-
sized groups.

Approaches to whole-class teaching of speaking and listening

Whole-class teaching of speaking and listening

As with other speaking and listening work, the ground rules are a particularly important aspect of the teaching of whole-
class discussion. The posters provide a useful resource for you to use in the classroom. Many teachers develop a list of
'golden rules' with their classes which are revisited regularly.

Activity
Have a look at the attached posters and discuss with a colleague how you might use them with a particular class or
whether you would want to change or amend any of the 'rules'.

Speaking and listening: group work

The key to group work achieving its maximum potential is setting clear expectations, timings and then intervening
appropriately as the activity proceeds. Notice in the video clips (attached) how the teacher explains the task, timings
and set the expectations for the activity.

Activity
With a colleague, discuss the ways in which a teacher can ensure that the purpose and outcomes of group work are
clear. Share examples of methods of ensuring pupils understand what is expected of them.

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Ground rules
The ground rules for speaking and listening included in the posters (attached) will provide you with a positive model for
emphasising with your pupils the ways to ensure group work is successful.

Guided group teaching

Guided group teaching gives you the opportunity to work with specific groups and model how to move a discussion
forward, how to ask questions, how to make points in a supportive way and how to reach a conclusion. For this
modelling to be effective it is important to allow time for reflection with the group at the end of a discussion.

If you would find it helpful to watch examples of guided group work at this point, these can be found on the following
resources available in your English department: Increasing pupils' rates of progress CD-ROM and Improving reading
CD-ROM.

Group composition
How do you choose or decide which pupils are in which group?
Have a look at the attached Group composition sheet which indicates the range of ways in which you can put pupils
into groups and the benefits and limitations of each.

Using video examples in speaking and listening

Activity
• Try out the use of the video clips with a class as part of the introduction to a particular discussion activity.
• Observe pupils during discussion making notes.
• In a plenary session, review the success of the activity with the groups and refer back to the video clips.
Discuss with pupils the extent to which the video clips helped to support their work.
• Compare notes with a colleague.

Further resources
The Secondary National Strategy has published a number of resources which you may want to consider when
developing small group work in your classroom (attached).

Group work using a Socratic approach

The teacher from School C has made extensive use of a Socratic approach to teaching speaking and listening. The
layout of the classroom is crucial to the success of this approach and requires a central group of tables for the
discussion group with the remainder of the class seated around the room. Each pupil observing is assigned a particular
pupil or aspect of discussion for the focus of their observations. In this way each pupil in the discussion group will have
several 'observers' during the discussion. The observers are provided with guidance for their observations. An
important feature is that the pupils are aware that they will all have a turn as part of the discussion group in later
lessons.

At the end of the discussion activity, the teacher leads an evaluation where the observers are invited to comment on
the contributions 'their' pupil has made to the discussion. As well as providing a valuable opportunity for pupils to reflect
on their own contribution to the discussion there is a very clear strengthening of the quality of discussion in the class.

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Activity
Watch the video clip of the Socratic discussion(Video: Lesson engaging pupils in activity using Socratic approach).
Note how the teacher ensures that the observing pupils have a clear focus for their observations.

With a colleague consider the advantages this approach offers.

Now watch the attached interviews with the teacher and headteacher at School C where they describe the advantages
of the approach.

Compare your thoughts with the advantages featured in the interview.

The benefits
As with whole-class dialogic talk, this approach allows the teacher vital space and time for reflecting on, assessing and
recording pupils' skills in speaking and listening.

The next video clip shows pupils from School C discussing the benefits to them, both inside and outside school, of such
speaking and listening. You could use this clip with some of your classes to begin a discussion on the benefits of
speaking and listening.

Activity
Try out the Socratic approach with a class. It can often be most successful where there is likely to be a difference of
opinion about the subject matter, which is why poetry and more challenging texts can prove to be effective, as can
discussion about current contentious issues.

Pair work in speaking and listening

There are many opportunities for pair work in lessons but, often, there is little guidance for pupils about the best way to
organise themselves to make the task successful. Establishing ground rules for pair work is a good way to focus pupils
on the need for this work to be treated seriously. Emphasising the need to support each other's contributions and the
need to move the discussion on so that it achieves its purpose are important.

By using the posters (attached) to reinforce the ways of working effectively you will help to ensure that pupils are aware
of the best ways to organise their time in a paired discussion.

Activity
Watch the video clip of a teacher setting a task for pupils to work on in pairs, and their subsequent response.

Show the same clip to one of your classes as preparation for pair work and discuss which aspects could be improved
(for example the boy's dominance).

Individual presentations based on teacher modelling

Making an individual presentation is a key skill for your pupils. One way to support them in preparing for an effective
presentation is through modelling.

Watch the video of the teacher at School B modelling an effective presentation.

School B, Year 10 – Individual (01:09)

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Activity
Note how the teacher includes the features of persuasive language in his model presentation. This is a particularly
effective example because the teacher has developed a list of features and shared these with the pupils so they know
what to look for.

The teacher discusses the features of his modelled presentation with the class after the discussion to draw out the
effective features.

Discuss with a colleague ways you could use modelling to support work on individual presentations. Consider using the
video example with a class to explore the features of effective presentations.

Other resources
Commercially available resources can also be useful to provide models of effective presentations in the classroom. The
'Moving On' resource available from BT (follow the URLs below) includes models of effective communication skills. The
'Expressing yourself clearly' section will be of particular interest.

http://www.btbetterworld.com/pg/developing_skills/free_resources/Moving_On/home.ikml (link opens in new window)

http://www.btbetterworld.com/ (link opens in new window)

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