ABSTRACT
In order to assist the students' speech and language development, it is essential to remember:
In order to get language out, you need to put words in. So before expecting the student to use language, you must feed the language in, using all methods to assist the student to understand, that is, visuals such as gesture, signing, facial expressions and pictures and, of course, accompanying words.
Always focus on achieving comprehension before requiring a verbal response. The student must have the necessary knowledge in order to follow the instruction or answer the question. Students need to demonstrate consistent understanding of a concept before they can use it in their functional verbal language.
Asking a question is always a 'test' situation for a student, no matter how casual the question. If you ask a student a question that you expect them to answer correctly, for example, 'What did you do last night?' then there must be evidence that they have the skills to do so. Is the student able to recall the information without the assistance of visual prompts such as photos? Do they have the vocabulary to provide that information? Before asking a question, be sure that the student has had the opportunity to learn the necessary words required to respond correctly. Asking a question is the method of determining if the student has acquired the relevant language knowledge, it is not a teaching method.
The students' responses to questions are likely to be significantly shorter than their spontaneous language. When speaking spontaneously, the students use words that they know in order to talk about a topic of their choice. When responding to questions, however, the student needs to process the question asked of them and then provide an answer-that requires words that they may or may not know or have difficulty recalling or pronouncing, on a topic that they may not be interested in or familiar with.
62 If a student has difficulty answering a question and visual prompts such as photos are not available, provide assistance by giving them a choice of two answers; for example: 'Who visited our class on Monday? Was it a fire fighter or a police officer?'
Language must be functional, meaningful and memorable. In order to encourage students to use language in a communicative manner, teach words in conjunction with a relevant and meaningful activity. The student is then more likely to see its purpose and retain the information.
Allow the student time throughout the day or week to focus on activities or topics that are of particular interest to them. As they are motivated by this subject, they are more inclined to remember words that are related to this activity and this will assist in building up their vocabulary. The student may also have acquired an adequate vocabulary related to this activity that can be further developed and then expanded to other topics.
