Oral Expression and Listening Comprehension as Areas of Specific Learning Disability

1. Oral Expression and Listening Comprehension as Areas of Specific Learning Disability Georgia Magnera PhD, CCC-SLP Bridget Stauring MA, CCC-SLP Debbie Roll MA, CCC-SLP Candy Myers/SLD & Cindy Millikin/SLI (ESLU/CDE) Colorado Department of Education

2. Session Objectives In relation to Oral Expression and Listening Comprehension, participants will deepen their understanding of … • their role across the general curriculum and their impact on student achievement • interventions for struggling students • considerations in referring a student for special education evaluation • considerations in the determination of primary disability (Speech-Language Impairment or Specific Learning Disability)

3. The Big Picture Intent is to Provide an Overview of Oral Expression & Listening Comprehension: specific skills critical for success in school for ALL students recognizing and responding to struggling students considerations for determination of primary disability

4. Oral Expression/Listening Comprehension & Specific Learning Disabilities “Specific learning disability (SLD) means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations……….”

5. The SLD eligibility criteria (addressed later) must be met in one or more of the following areas… Oral expression Listening comprehension Basic reading skills Reading fluency Reading comprehension Written language Basic mathematical skills Mathematical reasoning } Not new to federal law, but added in Colorado ECEA Rules (2008) to align with federal law (IDEA ’04)

6. When there are concerns in these areas, the speech pathologist should be consulted for instruction/intervention planning, assessment, etc. With students who exhibit language learning deficits, the school-based speech pathologist’s focus is in the acquisition and development of oral expression and listening comprehension. In addition, when the student is an English language learner, the ELL specialists should be involved. ELL

7. Oral Expression/Listening Comprehension in General Curriculum: Colorado State Standards No CSAP tests for oral expression or listening comprehension but these areas are referenced in Colorado state standards English Language Development Essential Benchmarks ( ELL

8. Colorado State Standards, cont. Reading and Writing Standard 2 – Students write and speak for a variety of purposes and audiences Reading and Writing Standard3 – Students write and speak using conventional grammar usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. Reading and Writing Standard 4 – Students apply thinking skills to their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing. Proposed Colorado Standards Revision: “Reading, Writing and Communicating” as the Area and Standard 1: Oral Expression and Language Study

9. Colorado State Standards, cont. Math Standards – All of the math standards state that students need to “communicatethe reasoning used in solving these problems.” Science Standard 1 – Students apply the process of scientific investigation and design, conduct, communicateabout, and evaluate such investigations.

10. Colorado State Standards, cont. Colorado State Standards require all students to be able to describe and explain the concepts taught in any content area.

11. ELL English Language Development Essential Benchmarks ELL Standards 1-4: English Language Learners listen, speak, read, write for information and understanding using a variety of sources, for academic and social purposes.

12. Oral Language: Importance to Learning Oral language provides the foundation for literacy development which leads to success in reading and writing. Both comprehension and expression are essential to academic achievement in all content areas. Communication skills are critical for overall success in school.

13. Language Components of both Oral Expression and Listening Comprehension: Syntax– word order; sentence structure Grammar – the rules of language Morphology – the meaning units in words Pragmatics/social language– use of language in social contexts Semantics– knowledge of vocabulary; meaning-based language Phonology– use of sounds to encode the meaning of language

14. ELL Oral Language: Language Acquisition for L1 and L2 • Developmental sequence – for both first and second language acquisition • As knowledge and experiential base expands, language becomes more cognitively and academically complex • Acquisition influenced by: culture, environment, experience, exposure, instruction, and active communication

15. Listening Comprehension

16. Listening Comprehension… “Listening comprehension refers to the understanding of the implications and explicit meanings of words and sentences of spoken language.” CDE Guidelines for Identifying Students with Specific Learning Disabilities 2008

17. Listening Comprehension Skills Auditory Attention Auditory Memory Auditory Perception Comprehension - making connections to previous learning

18. Listening Comprehension: Classroom Examples Throughout the school day, students must be able to… (1) follow directions, which requires: - listening to direction/s (single or multiple steps) - keeping direction/s in mind - executing direction/s (2) comprehend questions (synthesize/understand questions related to academic content) (3) listen and comprehend in order to learn (oral presentation of stories, lectures, classroom dialogue, etc.)

19. Oral Expression

20. What is Oral Expression? Oral expression is the ability to convey wants, needs, thoughts, and ideas meaningfully using appropriate syntactic, pragmatic, semantic, and phonological language structures. Oral expression is NOT reading aloud or reading fluently.

21. Examples of Oral Expression in the Classroom Students are asked to… • share stories or retell stories to demonstrate reading comprehension • predict or hypothesize • express their opinions • state main ideas or themes from stories and texts • tell or retell stories with a clear narrative structure

22. Examples of Oral Expression in the Classroom, cont. Students are asked to… • communicate with peers during recess or in cooperative learning groups • edit for grammar during oral language lessons • ask questions in class.

23. Examples of Oral Expression in the Classroom, cont. Students are asked to… • Summarize • Describe • Compare & Contrast • Categorize & Classify • Make Inferences • Problem-Solve Verbally

24. Pragmatics/Social Language Skills

25. Pragmatics/Social Language Skills… Competence in oral expression skills is essential for effective communication and social interactions. Students who struggle with oral expression skills have difficulty negotiating with peers and resolving conflicts.

26. Social Interaction in School Settings Students must be able to… work in cooperative groups share news about events outside of school converse with peers and adults relay messages resolve conflicts by talking to peers

27. Please just ask questions about Oral Expression and/or Listening Comprehension as they relate to the material covered so far in the presentation: • Oral Language: standards, general curriculum, importance to learning • Listening Comprehension: definition, skills, classroom examples • Oral Expression: definition, skills, classroom examples • Pragmatics/Social Language: definition & characteristics, in school settings

28. Interventions

29. General Considerations When Selecting Interventions: • Research/evidence-based • Targeted to student needs • Sensitive to cultural differences • Level of acculturation and stage of English language acquisition ELL

30. Guiding Questions in Planning Interventions: Auditory Attention and Memory • Does the student attend during instructional times? • Is lack of attention due to fatigue because of overload of working memory? • Is lack of attention due to environmental factors? • Are there any pertinent medical issues? Has hearing been checked? • Does the student remember information given verbally from day to day?

31. Interventions: Auditory Attention and Memory Provide opportunities for the student to learn how to … repeat sentences through strategies such as chunking rephrase/retell rhyme and use songs to remember classroom content (math facts, historical events, etc.) connect auditory information through visualization, mnemonics, etc.

32. Guiding Questions in Planning Interventions: Listening Comprehension • Can the student demonstrate understanding of academic content and/or novel information presented orally? • Can the student answer questions when given a visual cue, choices, scaffolded content? • Can the child demonstrate that he/she understands age appropriate vocabulary and basic concepts? • Can the child demonstrate that he/she understands how sentence structure can change meaning? • Does presentation method make a difference in the child’s ability to respond?

33. Guiding Questions in Planning Interventions: Listening Comprehension, cont. Can the student follow one and/or multiple-step directions? Is the student able to follow directions presented orally without visual cues? Does he/she improve with visual or auditory cues? Is the student an English Language Learner? ELL

34. Interventions: Listening Comprehension and Following Directions Explicitly teach listening strategies Eyes on speaker – within cultural norms No talking Quiet hands and feet Ask for repetition Teach strategies such as repetition, identification of key words, summarizing Provide sheltered instruction and implement vocabulary-building strategies ELL

35. Guiding Questions in Planning Interventions: Grammar and Syntax • Does the child use age appropriate grammar? A “typical” 1st grader may say mouses instead of mice, but this would not be age appropriate for a 5th grader. • Is sentence word order appropriate and do sentences make sense? “I want juice, please.”vs. “Juice I want, please.” • Does a student’s writing reflect the grammar and syntax of oral expression?

36. ELL Considerations for English Language Learners: • Consider that errors may be differences NOT disorders due to primary language structures. • Consider the importance of providing frequent opportunities to practice syntax structures with peers and adults.

37. Interventions: Grammar and Syntax Explicit teaching of word order for different sentence types Daily oral language activities Sentence strips – words rearranged into correct order Grammar games such as: Build-A-Sentence or Making Sense with Syntax Translate oral expressions into written form

38. Guiding Questions in Planning Interventions: Vocabulary Development Does the child know common words and/or concepts? Does the student misuse words, for example, call a hat a mitten? Is the student able to learn new content area vocabulary? Does the student have trouble recalling content area vocabulary? Does the student interpret figurative language literally (e.g., idioms, jokes, metaphors, sarcasm)?

39. Interventions: Vocabulary Development Explicitly teach word meanings in authentic contexts. Use words in context and provide daily exposure to new vocabulary words. Pre-teach new vocabulary before content area lessons. Use graphic organizers to build vocabulary Don’t limit the teaching of vocabulary to having students look up dictionary definitions.

40. Guiding Questions for Planning Interventions: Social Language Does the child respond to greetings from peers and adults? Does the child engage in reciprocal conversations? Does the child stay on topic or does he/she immediately introduce a topic of interest to him/her? Does the child respond appropriately to nonverbal cues and body language from others?

41. Interventions: Social Language Development Implement social skills programs Cue students to respond to greetings Teach students to observe and respond appropriately to body language and facial expressions of conversational partners Teach students stay on topic of conversation and to shift topics appropriately Have students turn to a partner for content-related conversation (Buddy Talk or Pair Share strategies)

42. Narrative Skills in the Classroom Students are asked to… share stories or retell stories to demonstrate reading comprehension predict or hypothesize express their opinions state main ideas or themes from stories and texts

43. Guiding Questions in Planning Interventions: Narrative Skills Can the student retell or create a simple story with a clear beginning, middle, and end? Can the student make predictions and draw inferences? Can the student ask and answer questions in the classroom setting? Can a student provide a response to a reading selection and explain his/her thinking? Can a student provide the explanations needed for comparing and contrasting?

44. Interventions: Narrative Skills Sequencing activities such as arranging picture cards to illustrate a story or stating the steps for an activity Explicitly teaching narrative structure including the beginning, middle, and end Using graphic organizers for oral presentations Having student provide a sequential retell to a story

45. Teacher Read Alouds Students listen to aural content and learn to extract the important information. Students learn to visualize the information. Effective teacher implementation of read alouds: Pre-teach vocabulary Have students draw, write, or respond orally to what is being read Ask questions about the content being read Make connections to prior knowledge and experience (e.g., picture walk)

46. 30 Second Conversation • Target students who have weak oral language skills • Take 30 seconds each day to engage them in authentic conversation “This is one of the most powerful interventions for developing oral language skills.” (The Talking Classroom, Judi Dodson 2008)

47. Questions should now relate to • INTERVENTIONSin the following areas: • Auditory Attention & Memory • Listening Comprehension • Grammar & Syntax • Vocabulary Development • Pragmatics/Social Language • Narrative Skills • General Oral Language Interventions

48. Progress Monitoring

49. Progress Monitoring Steps Monitor the intervention’s progress as directed by individual student’s RtI plan Establish a baseline and expected growth and monitor regularly (e.g., weekly) Graph progress – apply gap analysis to compare to peer performance Reference developmental norms for oral expression and listening comprehension (K–12 norms given in Colorado’s Guidelines for Identifying Students with Specific Learning Disabilities, pp. 73-75)

50. ELL Progress Monitoring Recommendations for English Language Learners • Monitor progress of English language acquisition based on Stages of English Language Acquisition(Colorado Guidelines for Identifying Students with Specific Learning Disabilities 2008, Appendix p. 131) • Seek assistance from SLP and/or ESL specialists in the development of linguistically appropriate progress monitoring probes