Supporting Oral Language in the Classroom: Educator Toolkit 11
SECTION 2: Supporting Language Structures
Teacher Talk BDA
The use of complex syntax in the classroom is linked with children’s
grammar and vocabulary learning (Farrow et al., 2020; Vasilyeva et al., 2006).
Using mental state verbs (e.g., think, know, hope, wonder) leads to more
complex syntax than action verbs (e.g., identify, write; Owen Van Horne et al., 2017).
Examples of mental state words: Example phrases:
Try Let’s try to find a match.
Know I know he is going to.
Think What do you think will happen next?
Wonder I wonder what will happen next.
Remember Remember to hang up your coat first.
Understand If you don’t understand what to do raise your hand.
Forget Don’t forget to write your name.
For struggling learners break up the complex sentences:
e.g., if you say “I wonder if this will fall now”
• Then say and gesture: “I’m wondering” and “this might fall”
• Using support of gestures (pointing) and pictures can support understanding
Seemingly small changes in the way that teachers communicate and present information in their classrooms
can have huge impacts for children with developmental language disorder (DLD), a persistent problem
learning language. Some easy to implement changes can be represented by the acronym S.M.A.R.T
(adapted from Mentrasti, 2019).
For more information, click here to access the LD@school article Oral Language Skills and
Learning Disabilities: A Review for Educators https://www.ldatschool.ca/oral-language-skills/.