Oral Language Development
In Second Langauge Acquisition by Carlin Conner
Overview - Chapter 4
Next, the book outlines many games and activities for promoting language development in an engaging and entertaining way in the classroom. Tips for developing language within the core content areas are also provided.
Finally, the chapter closes by describing the different stages of language development and how teachers can effectively track the development of language with specific students using checklists, observations, and the SOLOM observation tool.
Integration of Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking
Classroom Activities to Promote Language Development
Writing, pronunciation, grammar, and simulation games can all be used in the classroom to help engage students and promote learning. Students enjoy games that promote movement and interaction among peers and almost any lesson can be introduced with a game. Students can also create games based on content they are studying or stories they have read by changing the rules to more traditional games ( such as candy land or bingo).
Games will give learners of all different levels the opportunity to work together and learn from each other. Social language usually develops first with EL's due to the urge to communicate with peers, which makes it important for teachers to support peer interaction and provide opportunities for EL's to engage with others who are both at and above their current level.
Assessing Oral Language Development
Tying it all together
What can the teacher do?
The textbook lists the following websites as useful resources for oral language development in EL's:
www.colorincolorado.org/educators/content/oral/