Evidence Bank
“Keeping all children engaged academically has significance for health and wellbeing at a community level and it is vital that educators position their work within a broader public health context.”
– Pamela Snow and Martine Powell
Yarra Me School educational programs are designed to provide a Social and Emotional, 'learning intensive' for students so that they are able to positively engage with their learning in their mainstream schools. We offer a positive school experience by delivering personalised social and emotional learning within a predictable and structured routine.
In a recent publication by Pamela Snow and Martine Powell 'Oral Language Competence in Early Life and Risk for Engagement in Antisocial Behaviour in Adolescence', oral language competence is referred to as a set of listening and speaking skills which develop in childhood. This includes:
This research indicates that children who are demonstrating behavioural difficulties at school will quite possibly also have speech and language difficulties. These difficulties can have such an impact on a child’s self-esteem and frustration levels that behavioural issues arise, or there is further exacerbation of existing issues.
The importance of developing oral literacy skills, including reading has been the subject of extensive research. Poor reading skills have been closely linked with poor academic success, and have been associated with behavioural difficulties. Interactive reading has shown to develop a child's oral language which in turn assists in the development of success in reading.
For Yarra Me School students, difficulties with pragmatics- interpreting and responding appropriately to social situations- is often an area of concern. Introduction to and development of social skills is important for students as school is a place where social skills are necessary in group work, interactions with teachers, friendship development and academic areas like reading comprehension or verbal expression of ideas. For the majority of the students, their inability to fully participate in the classroom due to their behavioural difficulties places significant barriers to their learning and their engagement in the classroom. Some of our students have an interruption to their schooling due to poor attendance and school suspensions; impacting negatively on their literacy development and successful school engagement.
At Yarra Me School, students have the benefit of a speech pathologist working with teachers and within the classroom offering tailored oral language, literacy and social skills programs to support the learning needs of the students. Yarra Me School offers students the ability to develop and further enhance oral language skills, including pragmatics and social skills, within a supportive classroom routine with the plan that these skills can be transferred to their mainstream settings.
In a recent publication by Pamela Snow and Martine Powell 'Oral Language Competence in Early Life and Risk for Engagement in Antisocial Behaviour in Adolescence', oral language competence is referred to as a set of listening and speaking skills which develop in childhood. This includes:
- word knowledge or vocabulary development (semantics)
- grammar and verbal sentence structure (syntax)
- storytelling or narrative development (oral expression)
- the ability to listen to and follow instructions (auditory comprehension)
- problem solving and making connections between pieces of information (language competence)
- isolating and blending together sounds in words during reading and spelling activities (phonemic awareness)
- interpreting and responding appropriately to social situations (pragmatics)
This research indicates that children who are demonstrating behavioural difficulties at school will quite possibly also have speech and language difficulties. These difficulties can have such an impact on a child’s self-esteem and frustration levels that behavioural issues arise, or there is further exacerbation of existing issues.
The importance of developing oral literacy skills, including reading has been the subject of extensive research. Poor reading skills have been closely linked with poor academic success, and have been associated with behavioural difficulties. Interactive reading has shown to develop a child's oral language which in turn assists in the development of success in reading.
For Yarra Me School students, difficulties with pragmatics- interpreting and responding appropriately to social situations- is often an area of concern. Introduction to and development of social skills is important for students as school is a place where social skills are necessary in group work, interactions with teachers, friendship development and academic areas like reading comprehension or verbal expression of ideas. For the majority of the students, their inability to fully participate in the classroom due to their behavioural difficulties places significant barriers to their learning and their engagement in the classroom. Some of our students have an interruption to their schooling due to poor attendance and school suspensions; impacting negatively on their literacy development and successful school engagement.
At Yarra Me School, students have the benefit of a speech pathologist working with teachers and within the classroom offering tailored oral language, literacy and social skills programs to support the learning needs of the students. Yarra Me School offers students the ability to develop and further enhance oral language skills, including pragmatics and social skills, within a supportive classroom routine with the plan that these skills can be transferred to their mainstream settings.
Useful Website Links Speech, Language and Communication Needs
- Level One Speaking and Listening Project - Activities to explicitly target oral language within the classroom. DET Speech Pathologists 2010
- Increased rate of parents reading to their children - DET Early Childhood Indicators 2013
- Reading to Young Children: A Head-Start in Life - The research sets out to explore the connections between parents reading to their young children and their child’s later reading and other cognitive skills. DET and the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research 2012
- Early Years Strategic Plan Improving outcomes for all Victorian children 2014-2020 - A focus on the early years: DET
- Language and Literacy - Onlineinset SLCN. For more information on the Inclusion Online courses go to http://www.oltaustralia.net/
- DET Learning and Play - How to build your child's literacy skills: birth to year 2
- Speech Pathology Australia - This website provides information about finding, choosing, and accessing speech pathology services, and fact sheets.
- Spelfabet - Alison Clarke provides information and resources for teaching the foundations of literacy.
- Learning Difficulties Australia - Learning Difficulties Australia covers all aspects of learning difficulties, including oral language, literacy and numeracy issues. It also has a tutoring service.
- Oral Language Supporting Early Literacy – This website provides research information and practical activities for oral language practice and instruction.
- Inclusive Classrooms Online Courses for Teachers - Supporting Students with ASD, Supporting Students with Oral Language and Learning and Supporting Students with Learning Difficulties Including Dyslexia
