The document provides tips for teachers to encourage classroom talk among students. It recommends that teachers (1) use positive reinforcement and encouragement, (2) create a relaxed positive atmosphere, and (3) provide a stimulating classroom environment with centers of interest. Teachers should also (4) improve their own language skills, (5) use language appropriate for students, and (6) speak with the correct tone and body language. It is important for teachers to (7) speak audibly and clearly and (8) remove any barriers to talking like noise or poor use of classroom resources.

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2. Promoting classroom talk
What kind of environment do you think will encourage children to talk?
1. Encouragement
You can encourage your pupils to talk through the use of positive response
You can encourage participation by:
Giving them practical work to do
Letting them plan experiments or investigations together
Asking questions
Asking them to comment on others’ ideas
Asking for their opinions
Asking them to report on events
Planning learning games for them
Making them know that wrong answers are not a crime
Giving them opportunity to work in pairs or groups.

3. 2. Positive atmosphere
Your pupils need to learn in an atmosphere that is
relaxed. Make sure that your relationship with the class
is good.
3. Providing a stimulating environment for talk
Make sure that your classroom is interesting and
stimulating. E.g. you can do this by creating centers of
interest like: our shamba, our shop, the post office etc.

4. 4. Improving your own use of language
If the pupils do not understand your spoken language there will
be poor learning. If your written language is also poor the
problem will be compounded. You need to take measures to
improve your language in the various areas.
Example:
Parent: what is the matter? Didn’t you like it at school, then?
Child: the teacher never gave me the present
Parent: present? What present?

5. Child: she said she would give me a present
Parent: well now, I’m sure she didn’t
Child: she did. She said: “you are Ali Juma, aren't you? Well,
just sit there for the present”. I sat there all morning but I
never got it. I am not going back there again
You can see that the word “present,” which is ambiguous,
was used, making the pupil mistake the intended meaning

6. 5. Use appropriate level of language
As a teacher you should use language that is appropriate for
the class and the tasks. You can use known vocabulary to
teach concepts that are complicated.
6. Use the right tone
Using the correct tone of voice is important. After all a lot of
meaning is carried by the change in tone.
For example: the tone can indicate whether the words “thank
you” are used in good faith or sarcastically. The way the level
of the tone changes will tell you how the speaker feels

7. 7. Being audible
Your voice should be well projected so that it is heard in the
whole class by all the pupils. Try not to mumble. Do not swallow
your words. Speak all the words clearly. If you are not heard
what will the pupils do?
8. Use of body language
This is the silent language where we use our body to send
signals to add meaning to our spoken words. Research has
shown that 70% of our meaning is carried by our non-verbal
communication methods.

8. 9. Removing barriers to effective talk in class
Noise and any disturbance that prevents learning from taking
place should be minimized. Rain on corrugated iron sheets
will interfere with classroom talk, so suspend the talk until the
rain subsides.
10. Use of resources
If you don’t use resources well this can be a barrier to talk. Do
not crowd the pupils at a corner because you have stored
irrelevant items all over your class. The children should sit so
that all can see and speak to each other clearly.

9. END
Thank you for listening and learning