Recitational questioning

CHAPTER 11 ENHANCING LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN THE PRIMARY YEARS
In Mrs. C.’s first-grade classroom, the children were seated on the gathering rug with their insect research journals. Each child’s journal reflected his or her individual exploration of insects through various nonfiction trade books from the classroom library. In addition to naming an insect and drawing a picture of it, the children included in their journals where the insect lives, what it eats, and one “amazing fact.” Today, the children 304305were meeting to orally share their journals with their class, taking turns to read and to show their information charts. After each student read his or her information, it was recorded by the teacher on a large summative chart. As the sharing continued, children often asked questions about the illustrations or about the insect studied.

By first grade, most children have developed a basic level of communicative competence. They can participate in conversations and use language to communicate their needs and wishes. At this level, there are increasing expectations that children will participate in the academic community of their school and classroom. In Mrs. C.’s first-grade classroom, described in the opening vignette, children’s language development has been enhanced by opportunities to learn how to communicate both orally and in writing. Through the process of reading books on insects and writing about them in their journals, Mrs. C.’s students have had opportunities to increase their knowledge about language and how to share what they have learned orally and in writing.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE LANGUAGE ENVIRONMENT IN THE PRIMARY GRADES
In the primary years (grades 1–3), the language environment is influenced by the curriculum of each classroom as well as the way in which it is implemented. In addition, a teacher’s understanding of the importance of talk in the process of learning is also a factor.

Curricula and Standards
The curricula implemented in the primary grades are more formal and more firmly established than the curricula in kindergarten and preschool classrooms. Another strong influence on the curricula found in primary classrooms is the alignment of curricula to state and national standards (see Common Core Standards, 2012, http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/english-language-art). While such standards exist for all areas of elementary curricula, the area of language arts standards is most relevant to this chapter. Most school districts adopt commercially developed curricula that are standards aligned. All teachers are expected to follow this formal curriculum and to implement lessons targeted to meet standards. While classroom teachers may not have control over the specific commercial curriculum that is selected for implementation, they do control the way the implementation occurs through the manner in which children are engaged in the curricular activities and experiences. The way a curriculum is implemented has a strong influence on the presence of talk in the classroom and the ways in which children become engaged in learning activities.

Implementation of Curricula
Curricula are often implemented in either of two ways: (a) task centered or (b) learner centered. In task-centered implementation, the focus is on adhering to the sequence and scope of learning tasks provided in the curricular materials. Learning activities strictly follow the predetermined sequence and duration. In contrast, learner-centered implementation focuses on children’s individual needs, learning styles, and responses to instruction. Learner-centered implementation strives to fit the curriculum to the needs of the student. Thus, the sequence or duration of activities may vary, depending on a teacher’s perception of her children’s needs and learning styles. This approach recognizes that curricular planning should always reflect an awareness of children’s developmental levels and learning styles rather than simply following a presequenced curriculum (Strickland, 1998).

Critical Role of Talk in the Learning Process
Lindfors (1990) challenged teachers to create “classroom communities” where children’s talk is invited and sustained, allowing children “to connect with others, to understand their world, and to reveal themselves within it” (p. 38). A key component of classroom communities is talk—talk about what is being learned and about responses to the learning process. This awareness of the important role of classroom talk is a relatively recent development. In the past, a quiet classroom was considered the ideal, with students silently working independently on learning tasks. Talk was restricted to formal recitation exercises or oral reading. Researchers and classroom teachers have begun to question whether a quiet, ordered classroom is the best learning environment (Kasten, 1997; Raphael & Hiebert, 1996; Wells & Chang-Wells, 1996). When classroom talk is overly limited or restricted, children lose the opportunity to engage in focused conversations and do not learn how to express their thinking, clarify their misunderstandings, or question others’ perceptions.

Teachers who understand the critical role of talk in the process of learning create classroom environments with a strong foundation for children’s cognitive growth and the development of “higher mental processes that constitute reading and writing” (Raphael & Hiebert, 1996, p. 90). In these classroom environments, learning activities are planned and implemented to focus on enhancing children’s oral and written language development in each of the five areas of language knowledge: phonological, semantic, syntactic, morphemic, and pragmatic.