This document outlines key strategies for meeting the speech, language, and communication needs of students with learning challenges in mainstream classrooms. It discusses the importance of a whole-school approach including strong leadership, early identification of needs, impactful interventions, tracking student progress, and ongoing professional development for teachers. Specific strategies are recommended such as using visual supports, structured social interactions, explicit vocabulary instruction, and "think time" to improve student participation and outcomes.

1. Key Strategies for Meeting the Speech, Language
and Communication Needs of Learning
Challenged Students in Mainstream Settings
Wendy Lee
Professional Director
The Communication Trust, UK
IEFE, February, 2014
www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk

2. Speech, Language and Communication Needs
SLCN

3. Why think about language and communication
..?
• Many children with SLCN are taught in mainstream schools
• There is a gap in teacher knowledge in identifying and supporting children with
language and communication needs
Also
• Good practice for children with SLCN is good practice for all
children

4. Prioritising communication
• Every lesson depends on
language
• Therefore...
• Communication is
everyone’s business…
• Yet it is much
misunderstood

5. Verbal communication; integration of 4
components
Speech
Language
1. Speech
sounds
2. Words &
meaning
3. Rules;
grammar
Communication
4. The use of language
Important to remember understanding as well as talking

6. It’s a complicated process…
Understanding/comprehension
Processing and integrating
Planning and organising to support
Expressive language
Receptive skills
Listening, attention,
perception
Expressive skills ‘Talking’
Speech
Sounds; e.g. p,b,t,d,k,g,
words, sentences,
narrative
Language in a social context – communication
Underpinned by desire, need and confidence to communicate

7. Speech, Language and Communication Needs...
• Difficulties can be with
– Speech – clarity and fluency of speech
– Talking – vocabulary, grammar and combining words and sentences
for narrative
– Understanding – understanding words, sentences, narratives
– Functional and social use of language – using language and
understanding verbal and non-verbal rules of communication

8. Some children don’t use spoken language

9. Factors relating to SLCN
Part of another condition;
Autism; ADHD; hearing
impairment; learning
difficulties
Family history
Social
disadvantage
Factors
include:
Structural;
cleft palate
Genetic;
Developmental;
Premature babies
Developmental
delay
Environmental;
Poor communication
environment
Neurological;
cerebral palsy,
brain injury
Down syndrome,
Fragile X

10. Needs led…
• Although children might have different impairments, we are
concerned with their communication needs…
• Where is their communication breaking down?
• How can we support them to access learning?
• How can we support the development of speech, language and
communication?

11. The Scale

12. The Children...
The Way We Talk is a
film from The
Communication Trust
It shows seven children
with SLCN talk about
their life, experiences at
school and what is it like
to have a
communication difficulty
http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=Onqn_7xzp
2Q

13. The Impact
Direct links to literacy
– Between 50% and 90% of children with persistent SLCN go on to have reading difficulties
Learning
– children with primary language difficulty achieve lower academically; this gap is growing
Social skills
– children with language difficulties can often have difficulties with social interaction
Emotional skills
– Developing emotional intelligence is considered to be largely dependent on language skills
Behaviour
– behaving appropriately is often dependent on being able to think through problem situations,
mediated through language

14. The Effects Poor Language
on Reading Comprehension
16
High Oral
Language in
Kindergarten
Reading Age Level
15
14
5.2 years difference
13
12
11
Low Oral Language
in Kindergarten
10
9
8
7
6
5
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Chronological Age
13
14
15
16

15. From the research evidence....
WHAT WORKS FOR CHILDREN WITH SLCN

16. A whole community approach
1. Strong leadership – who care about SEN/SLCN; with this, anything
is possible
2. Early Identification – there remain huge challenges for teachers in
effectively identifying SLCN, with continued misunderstanding of
what it is
3. Impactful interventions – children with SLCN need support at all
levels, in the classroom, in targeted group work and by specialists
4. Track and monitor progress – children with SLCN do less well at
school than peers of similar ability; the setting and measuring of
relevant, meaningful and functional outcomes should be at the
heart of the system
5. Professional development – there needs to be a structured,
systematic and ongoing approach to teacher professional
development – this is very important

17. Strong leadership
Leaders
• School leaders are successful in
improving pupil outcomes
Whole school approach
Specialist
support
• Our interventions work more
effectively with support of school
leaders
The full report (DCSF-RR108) can be accessed at
www.dcsf.gov.uk/research
Evidenced
interventions;
small groups
Communication
supportive
classrooms
Trained teachers

18. Early identification
Know what you are looking for
• Speech
• Language
• Communication
Consider prevalence
• What would you expect in your school, class, students....
Know what to expect for their age
• Universally speaking
Look beneath the surface
•
•
•
•
Behaviour
Literacy
Social / emotional
Self esteem

19. Impactful interventions
• Children with SLCN say...
The best people, they
understand the nature of my
condition...that is the most
important thing
Young person with specific language
impairment

20. Impactful interventions; a
communication supportive environment
Research has identified the following as important
Language learning environment ...
The classroom context supports teaching and learning e.g. Labelling in
classrooms, quiet corners, visual support, sound and lighting
Language learning opportunities ...
The what of learning e.g. Small group work
Language learning interactions ...
The how of learning e.g. the ways in which staff talk with children
Tools developed to identify communication supportive classroom practice
www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk
20

21. Visual timetables

22. Impactful Interventions; What works data
base
What works data base
At all levels
• Universal ; for all children
• Targeted; for some children; e.g.
Supporting vocabulary development
• Specialist; delivered by specialists for
children’s specific needs

23. For example
Think time
•
Benefits for students:
– The length and correctness of their responses increase.
– Questions from students were more frequent
– "I don't know" and no answer responses decreases.
– Volunteered, appropriate answers by larger numbers of
students greatly increases.
– Responses from less able students increases
– The scores of students on academic achievement tests
tend to increase.
•
Benefits for teachers;
– Questioning strategies tended to be more varied and
flexible.
– Decreased quantity and increased quality and variety
of questions.
– Asked additional questions that required more
complex information processing and higher-level
thinking

24. Components of language are supported
•
•
•
•
•
Listening and understanding
Vocabulary understanding and use
Sentence construction; grammar
Narrative skills
Social interaction

25. For example; Support vocabulary and self
awareness

26. Helping understand words

27. Visual Support in sentences

28. Support narrative structure

29. Track and monitor progress
We have developed
tools to monitor
and track progress
in speech, language
and communication

30. Professional development
“The ways in which teachers talk to children can influence
learning, memory, understanding and the motivation to learn.”
(cambridge primary review)

31. The Speech, Language and Communication
Framework (SLCF)
• An online self-audit tool
outlines what you need to
know and do in order to
support children's
communication.
• shows training to help
develop skills in the
areas needed.
www.talkingpoint.org.uk/slcf

32. See the website or
Get in touch ...
www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk
wlee@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk