The ways in which practitioners and teachers model speaking and listening, interact and talk with children are critical to the success of Phase One activities and to promoting children’s speaking and listening skills more widely. The key adult behaviours can be summarised as follows.
Listen to encourage talking – time spent listening to children talk to each other, and listening to individuals without too frequent interruption, helps them to use more, and more relevant, language. This provides practitioners with insights into children’s learning in order to plan further learning, that is make assessments for learning.
Practitioners should recognise that waiting time is constructive. It allows children to think about what has been said, gather their thoughts and frame their replies.
Model good listening. This includes making eye contact with speakers, asking the sort of questions attentive listeners ask and commenting on what has been said. Effective practitioners adapt their spoken interventions to give children ample opportunities to extend their spoken communication.
Provide good models of spoken English to help young children enlarge their vocabulary and learn, for example, how to structure comprehensible sentences, speak confidently and clearly, and sustain dialogue. Phase One activities are designed to foster these attributes.