Oral language

Listening and speaking

Listening and speaking are essential for language development, for learning, for relating to others, and for living successfully in society. Students should learn to express their own ideas, feelings, and thoughts clearly, and respond to others appropriately, in a range of formal and informal situations.

Students need structured, planned experiences in order to develop the listening and speaking skills that they will use in adult life. They should understand the processes by which they acquire these skills, think critically about what they hear, and use oral language to gather, process, and present information. They should recognise the ways in which oral language varies according to context, understand the structures and conventions of different oral language texts, and develop the knowledge and strategies for analysing spoken language, using real examples.

The oral language strand is divided into the sub-strands of listening and speaking. Within each of these sub-strands, achievement objectives are set out for two functions of oral language: interpersonal listening and speaking, and listening to and using texts. These functions of oral language are not mutually exclusive, and are often part of a continuum as students use and respond to oral language in different formal and informal contexts.

The achievement objectives imply the use of technology, such as radio and tape recording, as well as direct communication in formal and informal situations.

As they develop their oral language through these language functions, students will be using the processes of exploring language, thinking critically, and processing information. Achievement objectives are set out to assist teachers to monitor students' development of the oral language processes.