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Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
English K–6
Speaking and listening
Recording an oral language sample
Purpose:
A transcript is used to record an oral language sample or samples from a student.
The teacher then uses the transcript to analyse a student’s use of expressive oral language.
Instructions
Step 1:
Select a language task.
There are a range of language tasks that teachers can use to obtain a language sample.
Teachers should select a language task that reflects the language focus (ie type of vocabulary,
tense, grammar, etc) for assessment and that is motivating to the student. The teacher may
choose to collect a range of samples. Examples of language tasks include asking a student to:
• tell a story based on a picture book
• demonstrate and explain a familiar routine
• tell a story based on a sequence of cartoons (pictures only)
• retell a story depicted in a short film
• describe a picture that depicts a wide range of actions, eg beach or holiday scenes
• describe funny or unusual pictures
• undertake an experiment or building activity and explain what they are doing.
Step 2:
Minimise teacher talk to ensure that the sample captures expressive language rather
than a student’s receptive understanding and responses to questions or instructions. This also
supports the production of complete sentences rather than incomplete sentences or single
words which may be elicited from questions.
The sample can be captured using a recording device for later transcription. The teacher
should use a student’s pauses and intonation to determine where an utterance or sentence
ends, being aware that ‘and’ may represent a filler between sentences rather than a
conjunction.
Note:
The more sentences obtained, the easier it will be to identify typical
structures used by the student.
Step 4:
Write the correct form of the sentence under each sentence. This will help to identify
specific difficulties in grammar and sentence form.
ASSESSMENT
