Language for Communication
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40-60+ months
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Early learning goals
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47
Have confidence to speak to others about their own wants and interests. Use talk to gain attention and sometimes use action rather than talk to demonstrate or explain to others. Initiate conversation, attend to and take account of what others say. Extend vocabulary, especially by grouping and naming. Use vocabulary and forms of speech that are increasingly influenced by their experience of books. Link statements and stick to a main theme or intention. Consistently develop a simple story, explanation or line of questioning. Use language for an increasing range of purposes. Use simple grammatical structures. Interact with others, negotiating plans and activities and taking turns in conversation. Enjoy listening to and using spoken and written language, and readily turn to it in their play and learning.
Look, listen and note ■■ ■■
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Children’s readiness to engage in conversation. Children’s awareness of conventions, such as taking turns to talk. How children link statements to develop stories and explanations. The purposes for which children use talk, for example, to gain attention or to resolve disagreements. How children concentrate on what others say and their responses to what they have heard. Rhymes and songs children know by heart. Children’s made-up songs. Children’s growing vocabulary. The occasions when children speak clearly and confidently and show awareness of the listener.
Communication, Language and Literacy
The Early Years Foundation Stage Practice Guidance
Development matters
Effective practice ■■
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Encourage conversation with others and demonstrate appropriate conventions: turntaking, waiting until someone else has finished, listening to others and using expressions such as “please”, “thank you” and “can I…?”. At the same time, respond sensitively to social conventions used at home. Show children how to use language for negotiating, by saying “May I…?”, “Would it be all right…?”, “I think that…” and “Will you…?” in your interactions with them. Model language appropriate for different audiences, for example, a visitor. Encourage children to predict possible endings to stories and events. Encourage children to experiment with words and sounds, for example, in nonsense rhymes.
Planning and resourcing ■■
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Give time for children to initiate discussions from shared experiences and have conversations with each other. Give thinking time for children to decide what they want to say and how they will say it. Set up collaborative tasks, for example, construction, food activities or story-making through role-play. Help children to talk about and plan how they will begin, what parts each will play and what materials they will need. Provide opportunities for talking for a wide range of purposes, for example, to present ideas to others as descriptions, explanations, instructions or justifications, and to discuss and plan individual or shared activities. Foster children’s enjoyment of spoken and written language by providing interesting and stimulating play opportunities. Provide word banks and writing resources for both indoor and outdoor play. Resource role-play areas with listening and writing equipment and provide easy access to word banks.