Talk In English Language

In this assignment, the contribution of talk will be looked at in three main areas; drama, reciprocal reading and questioning. Linking talk to how it helps children’s understanding of texts. A text is defined as meaningful phrases of language that is either written or spoken (Halliday, 1985). The national curriculum shows a variety of oral activities that can be used in the classroom, which includes persuading, drama, explaining, storytelling, and discussion (Grigg, 2010). These examples set in the national curriculum all contribute to helping with comprehension. Comprehension is in simple terms; understanding what you are reading, this usually happens before, during and after a person reads a text, to see if they are aware of what is being …show more content…
This is due to drama having an important role in allowing children to reach deeper levels of meaning in literature (Graham and Kelly, 1997). Additionally, in drama students learn to develop language skills throughout which are necessary for comprehension and studying literature (Kelner & Flynn, 2006). Children tend to find drama particularly interesting and enjoyable (Grugeon et al., 2001). Drama is used effectively across the whole curriculum to encourage quality thinking and discussion, some drama and talk activities in particular help to prepare children for understanding a variety of text types as they can see them acted out, there are many techniques which can be used to help with the understanding of a text through talk, such as freeze-frame, conscience alley and hot seating (The National Strategies, 2009). To develop understanding of a text, children should have the opportunity to experience the text through acting in order to help build confidence and understanding (Fisher, Williams, and Robert, 2006). Therefore, by allowing reading with the use of drama, learners can become fully involved in the learning process, in where learners will feel less self-conscious and more encouraged to express themselves through the multiple voices (Vygotsky, 1987; Bakhtin, 1981) of the differing characters. Whereas, for younger children role play is widely used as a way for them to express their feelings and emotions (Grigg, 2010). To help with understanding, it is more common that children will engage more with a text they are currently reading (Glazzard and Palmer, 2015). (Medwell et al., 2007) points out that if a drama activity is generated by a certain story or familiar text used in the classroom, then no matter the level of understanding the children have, it will motivate them to take part. Thus, making massive improvements in their ability to understand the text, which will