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August 3, 2021
Choosing topics for speaking and listening to improve communication and reasoning skills.
Main, P (2021, August 03). Topics for Speaking and Listening. Retrieved from https://www.structural-learning.com/post/topics-for-speaking-and-listening
Developing good listening skills is an essential skill for children to grasp. It helps them understand what they are being told, it enables them to follow instructions and it also allows them to participate in conversations with others. This article will look at some of the factors that make up a good topic for speaking or listening.
The first thing you need to consider when choosing your topic is whether there is something about which everyone can agree. If not then this may be difficult because people have different views on many things. For example if you were talking about how much money we spend on food each week, most people would probably agree but those who live on very little might disagree. You could discuss why we buy so much food, where our food comes from, how much waste goes into making it etc.
These sorts of listening activities involve children appreciating different perspectives. A good topic for speaking and listening should elicit positive student interaction. If you want students to listen carefully, try using questions as part of your topic. Questions help focus attention on particular aspects of the subject matter. They enable learners to think more deeply about their own understanding and provide opportunities for discussion. How can you develop good questions?
The Universal Thinking Framework comes with deep question stems that can be quickly used for creating listening tasks. As well as providing a stimulus for deep thinking, the higher-order questions stems can be used to assess English Listening.
Coming up with ideas for speaking and listening topics is hard work. Depending on the age group, controversial topics that bring opinions into student discussions can be a good starting point. Children's news programs always offer a selection of good topics. Choosing a child friendly concept is critical for generating discussion.
Questions might include, should we eat meat? Do we need cars? What should we learn at school? These open-ended questions require students to generate points and listen to others during a learning conversation. Drama offers a great window for developing these skills. Students can take on different roles and in doing so, change their perspectives.This type of student interaction provides an opportunity to determine the 'listening grade' of a child. Are they taking on board what others are saying or simply broadcasting their opinion?
Advanced students should be able to paraphrase by using terminology like 'I hear what you saying' or 'in other words, you mean...'. Being able to demonstrate this ability in listening tasks is an essential aspect of developing language skills.
Setting expectations for students is a key part of Oracy development, you can learn more about this area in our other blog post. Having classroom rules and creates accountability for student discussions. In time, these types of practices create classroom climates for productive speaking and listening. Advanced students should be able to participate in discussions that relate to all aspects of the curriculum. Whether they agree with the speaking and listening topic or not, they should be able to contribute valid points and demonstrate their ability to hear others.
A good speaking and listening topic can also integrate academic language. The chosen topic can be relevant to the subject area and provide students with opportunities to practice ways of talking about the curriculum area. For example, think and talk like a scientist. Speaking and listening is not just for English Language Arts or English Literature. Each curriculum area has academic vocabulary that needs to be mastered. Classroom dialogue can be used as a way of practicing or rehearsing for writing, think of it as a precursor before pen is committed to paper.
A good class discussion should promote the interchange of ideas. It requires active participation from everyone involved. Teachers have a responsibility to facilitate collaborative discussions where children feel comfortable sharing their views. This means being aware of your own biases when planning lessons and also thinking about rules for discussion. If you want to encourage debate then avoid teaching controversial issues such as religion or politics. Instead choose subjects that will allow students to share their thoughts without fear of offending someone else.
When choosing a topic, consider how many people may disagree with each other. You could even ask them beforehand if there's anything they don't want to discuss and add these to the rules for discussions. Another important factor is ensuring that the topic is interesting enough to keep students engaged throughout the lesson.
Collaborative discussions require teachers to listen carefully and respond appropriately. They need to ensure that every member of the class feels valued and heard. Students who do not speak up during a conversation risk losing out on valuable learning experiences. Asking questions encourages learners to express themselves and helps build relationships between peers. Good questioning techniques include asking open-ended questions rather than closed ones.
Questions help develop critical thinking skills and increase engagement levels. Collaborative discussions are an essential part of any successful school community. By encouraging pupils to engage in conversations, teachers can foster positive attitudes towards one another and improve communication within the classroom.
In the realm of primary education, the development of communication skills is integral, with a special emphasis on the aspect of listening. Nurturing this ability is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Rather, it requires the use of age-appropriate discussion topics that pique the child's interest and make the learning process enjoyable. One study in the Journal of Educational Psychology found that targeted, age-specific content significantly improved listening comprehension in children aged 6-8.
Strategically structured speaking exercises can enhance this further. For instance, a teacher might introduce a basic idea, like a simple scientific concept, and encourage students to discuss it. As they articulate their thoughts and ideas, they naturally strengthen their writing skills, as oral language forms the foundation of written communication.
Further, to heighten the efficacy of these exercises, it's crucial to integrate non-verbal cues such as eye contact. "The power of eye contact in communication cannot be overstated. It signals attentiveness, interest, and engagement," says Dr. Jane Thompson, a renowned child psychologist. Hence, incorporating it into speaking exercises can significantly boost children's listening skills. It's a little-known fact that children who frequently engage in structured speaking and listening activities are 60% more likely to understand complex concepts. Such an approach, therefore, holds a promising potential for comprehensive learning in primary education.
These topics can be adapted to fit the specific needs and interests of the students, and can be expanded upon with follow-up questions to further promote higher order thinking and language development.
Choose something that interests all members of the class but does not cause offence. Avoid religious or political controversies unless you're confident that no-one would object to discussing this issue. Think about what makes a great debating topic? Is it topical? Does it relate to current events? Or perhaps it relates to history? Whatever the case, make sure that the topic is suitable for both groups of students. As it has been mentioned, topics that include relevant academic language can act as a springboard for writing assignments.
Here are some other speaking and listening topic ideas:
To spark meaningful collaborative discussion in the classroom, it’s not just about having students converse with each other; it’s about equipping them with the tools to construct and expand upon complex ideas. Initiating dialogue with a solid foundation of speech topics can serve as a springboard for more nuanced conversation, while incorporating argumentative and explanatory language encourages depth and critical thinking.
Teachers can facilitate this by preparing a mix of open-ended questions, question types that require conditional language, and prompts that necessitate cause-effect reasoning. Such approaches not only stimulate discussion but also ensure that students use Standard English to articulate their thoughts.
Furthermore, by structuring activities like 2-minute speeches, pupils practice descriptive language in a concise format, setting a stage for elaboration through follow-up questions. This method is particularly effective in transitioning from surface-level chat to purposeful debate.
Incorporating these elements fosters an environment where pupils not only share but build upon ideas, using a variety of linguistic structures to shape a well-rounded argument. Ultimately, the goal is to provide students with the 'extra ammunition' needed to generate key ideas essential to the topic, ensuring that every voice contributes to a rich tapestry of classroom discussion.
Here are five key studies that explore the impact of speaking and listening in primary schools, particularly focusing on how debate and discussion can facilitate progress:
These studies collectively illustrate the positive impact of incorporating speaking and listening activities, such as debate and discussion, in the primary education curriculum. They emphasize the development of critical thinking, language skills, and the effective use of various language forms (persuasive, emotive, descriptive, etc.), leading to significant improvements in student outcomes.
Developing good listening skills is an essential skill for children to grasp. It helps them understand what they are being told, it enables them to follow instructions and it also allows them to participate in conversations with others. This article will look at some of the factors that make up a good topic for speaking or listening.
The first thing you need to consider when choosing your topic is whether there is something about which everyone can agree. If not then this may be difficult because people have different views on many things. For example if you were talking about how much money we spend on food each week, most people would probably agree but those who live on very little might disagree. You could discuss why we buy so much food, where our food comes from, how much waste goes into making it etc.
These sorts of listening activities involve children appreciating different perspectives. A good topic for speaking and listening should elicit positive student interaction. If you want students to listen carefully, try using questions as part of your topic. Questions help focus attention on particular aspects of the subject matter. They enable learners to think more deeply about their own understanding and provide opportunities for discussion. How can you develop good questions?
The Universal Thinking Framework comes with deep question stems that can be quickly used for creating listening tasks. As well as providing a stimulus for deep thinking, the higher-order questions stems can be used to assess English Listening.
Coming up with ideas for speaking and listening topics is hard work. Depending on the age group, controversial topics that bring opinions into student discussions can be a good starting point. Children's news programs always offer a selection of good topics. Choosing a child friendly concept is critical for generating discussion.
Questions might include, should we eat meat? Do we need cars? What should we learn at school? These open-ended questions require students to generate points and listen to others during a learning conversation. Drama offers a great window for developing these skills. Students can take on different roles and in doing so, change their perspectives.This type of student interaction provides an opportunity to determine the 'listening grade' of a child. Are they taking on board what others are saying or simply broadcasting their opinion?
Advanced students should be able to paraphrase by using terminology like 'I hear what you saying' or 'in other words, you mean...'. Being able to demonstrate this ability in listening tasks is an essential aspect of developing language skills.
Setting expectations for students is a key part of Oracy development, you can learn more about this area in our other blog post. Having classroom rules and creates accountability for student discussions. In time, these types of practices create classroom climates for productive speaking and listening. Advanced students should be able to participate in discussions that relate to all aspects of the curriculum. Whether they agree with the speaking and listening topic or not, they should be able to contribute valid points and demonstrate their ability to hear others.
A good speaking and listening topic can also integrate academic language. The chosen topic can be relevant to the subject area and provide students with opportunities to practice ways of talking about the curriculum area. For example, think and talk like a scientist. Speaking and listening is not just for English Language Arts or English Literature. Each curriculum area has academic vocabulary that needs to be mastered. Classroom dialogue can be used as a way of practicing or rehearsing for writing, think of it as a precursor before pen is committed to paper.
A good class discussion should promote the interchange of ideas. It requires active participation from everyone involved. Teachers have a responsibility to facilitate collaborative discussions where children feel comfortable sharing their views. This means being aware of your own biases when planning lessons and also thinking about rules for discussion. If you want to encourage debate then avoid teaching controversial issues such as religion or politics. Instead choose subjects that will allow students to share their thoughts without fear of offending someone else.
When choosing a topic, consider how many people may disagree with each other. You could even ask them beforehand if there's anything they don't want to discuss and add these to the rules for discussions. Another important factor is ensuring that the topic is interesting enough to keep students engaged throughout the lesson.
Collaborative discussions require teachers to listen carefully and respond appropriately. They need to ensure that every member of the class feels valued and heard. Students who do not speak up during a conversation risk losing out on valuable learning experiences. Asking questions encourages learners to express themselves and helps build relationships between peers. Good questioning techniques include asking open-ended questions rather than closed ones.
Questions help develop critical thinking skills and increase engagement levels. Collaborative discussions are an essential part of any successful school community. By encouraging pupils to engage in conversations, teachers can foster positive attitudes towards one another and improve communication within the classroom.
In the realm of primary education, the development of communication skills is integral, with a special emphasis on the aspect of listening. Nurturing this ability is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Rather, it requires the use of age-appropriate discussion topics that pique the child's interest and make the learning process enjoyable. One study in the Journal of Educational Psychology found that targeted, age-specific content significantly improved listening comprehension in children aged 6-8.
Strategically structured speaking exercises can enhance this further. For instance, a teacher might introduce a basic idea, like a simple scientific concept, and encourage students to discuss it. As they articulate their thoughts and ideas, they naturally strengthen their writing skills, as oral language forms the foundation of written communication.
Further, to heighten the efficacy of these exercises, it's crucial to integrate non-verbal cues such as eye contact. "The power of eye contact in communication cannot be overstated. It signals attentiveness, interest, and engagement," says Dr. Jane Thompson, a renowned child psychologist. Hence, incorporating it into speaking exercises can significantly boost children's listening skills. It's a little-known fact that children who frequently engage in structured speaking and listening activities are 60% more likely to understand complex concepts. Such an approach, therefore, holds a promising potential for comprehensive learning in primary education.
These topics can be adapted to fit the specific needs and interests of the students, and can be expanded upon with follow-up questions to further promote higher order thinking and language development.
Choose something that interests all members of the class but does not cause offence. Avoid religious or political controversies unless you're confident that no-one would object to discussing this issue. Think about what makes a great debating topic? Is it topical? Does it relate to current events? Or perhaps it relates to history? Whatever the case, make sure that the topic is suitable for both groups of students. As it has been mentioned, topics that include relevant academic language can act as a springboard for writing assignments.
Here are some other speaking and listening topic ideas:
To spark meaningful collaborative discussion in the classroom, it’s not just about having students converse with each other; it’s about equipping them with the tools to construct and expand upon complex ideas. Initiating dialogue with a solid foundation of speech topics can serve as a springboard for more nuanced conversation, while incorporating argumentative and explanatory language encourages depth and critical thinking.
Teachers can facilitate this by preparing a mix of open-ended questions, question types that require conditional language, and prompts that necessitate cause-effect reasoning. Such approaches not only stimulate discussion but also ensure that students use Standard English to articulate their thoughts.
Furthermore, by structuring activities like 2-minute speeches, pupils practice descriptive language in a concise format, setting a stage for elaboration through follow-up questions. This method is particularly effective in transitioning from surface-level chat to purposeful debate.
Incorporating these elements fosters an environment where pupils not only share but build upon ideas, using a variety of linguistic structures to shape a well-rounded argument. Ultimately, the goal is to provide students with the 'extra ammunition' needed to generate key ideas essential to the topic, ensuring that every voice contributes to a rich tapestry of classroom discussion.
Here are five key studies that explore the impact of speaking and listening in primary schools, particularly focusing on how debate and discussion can facilitate progress:
These studies collectively illustrate the positive impact of incorporating speaking and listening activities, such as debate and discussion, in the primary education curriculum. They emphasize the development of critical thinking, language skills, and the effective use of various language forms (persuasive, emotive, descriptive, etc.), leading to significant improvements in student outcomes.
