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People learn to talk by talking, comprehend oral language by listening, write by writing, and read by reading. And they learn to think by thinking. The school program is built around stimulating the expansion of language and thinking to provide rich opportunities for their functional use and to encourage refinement, flexibility, and variety within these uses (Goodman, Smith, Meredith, & Goodman, 1987, p. 7). |
Language is the defining characteristic of human beings and it is the base for learning, thinking, and communicating. Language promotes cognitive and social growth. At the same time, it acts as the vehicle for cognitive and social development. Therefore, language use is the focus for the English language arts program.
The aim of the English language arts K-12 program is to graduate a literate person who is competent and confident in using language for both functional and aesthetic purposes. A program that promotes language growth gives learners opportunities to:
The general goals of the English language arts curricula from kindergarten to grade twelve are to:
These general goals are developed through the foundational and learning objectives found in the Objectives section of this guide. They are also supported by the Common Essential Learnings.
The following principles underlie the English language arts program.
In the English language arts courses students use language to develop their language abilities as they learn about the nature of the English language and its literature. Directly and indirectly, through speaking and writing, students in the senior grades learn that language varies according to audience, purpose and situation; that language has a variety of logical and structural patterns; and that language develops and changes over time.
In the English language arts courses, students also learn about oral, literary, and media texts written to stimulate the ideas, imaginations, and feelings of students and extend their view of the world. Through listening, viewing, reading, reflecting upon, and responding to a wide range of literary genres and selections, students extend their English language repertoires and increase their understanding of themselves and others.
Teachers in all disciplines offer students a range of language tasks which will help them prepare for the communication skills required of them in life, work, and post-secondary education. In all areas of study, students use language to learn the concepts, processes, and values that are central to those areas of study and the applied listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills used in the various areas. The language and literacy requirements of particular subject areas are best acquired in the specific context of those areas. Some of the language experiences that are addressed across curricula are:
| Oracy (Speaking and Listening) | Literacy (Writing and Reading) | Other "Literacies" (Representing and Viewing) |
| Group discussions.
Reports. Introductions. Interviews. Press conferences. Panel discussions. Business meetings. Speeches. Debates. Giving directions. Explaining a process. |
Learning logs.
Journals. Essays. Abstracts. Business letters. Contracts. Proposals. Correspondence. Minutes. Applications. Invitations. Résumés. Order forms. Manuals, pamphlets, and brochures. Directions. Explanations. Factual narratives. Rules and regulations. Newspapers, magazines, editorials, letters to the editor, press releases, want ads. Surveys. Reference materials. Field notes. Travel writing. Biographical information. Texts. Charts, maps, graphs. |
Video.
Television. Radio. Microphone skills. Tapes, records, discs. Music. Film. Photographs. Posters. Advertising. Stage presentations. Art. Dance. Computer. Electronic mail. On-line bulletin boards. |
Representing and viewing are processes that support oracy and literacy. They broaden the ways in which students can understand and communicate their learning.
While the emphasis of the language arts is on representing thoughts, ideas, and feelings in written or spoken forms, students also might use visual, dramatic, and multimedia formats to support their written and spoken messages. When appropriate, students should be given opportunities to communicate and respond through a variety of formats including print (e.g., charts, graphs, tables), visuals (e.g., diagrams, photos, advertisements), drama (e.g., tableaux, improvisations, role playing, storytelling, readers theatre), and multimedia (e.g., recordings, films, videos, television).
Students also comprehend thoughts, ideas, and feelings by viewing. When appropriate, students should be given opportunities to view a variety of formats including visual (e.g., photos, graphs, cartoons), dramatic (e.g., tableaux, improvisations, live theatre), and multimedia (e.g., videos, television, CD-ROM). As students read and listen, they encounter visual messages which require response, interpretation, and critical assessment. The interaction between the viewer and the text varies because of student's prior knowledge and cultural perspectives.
By accommodating a variety of learning styles, representing and viewing help students achieve the English language arts objectives. Incorporating representing and viewing into language experiences encourages students to explore and expand the depth of their understandings. They also expand the ways in which students communicate their ideas.
A well-planned language arts program attends to listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and representing. Responding to and using the appropriate medium help students grow in their language skills.
Representing enhances speaking when students support their spoken presentations with materials such as visuals in presentations to small groups, various media in multimedia presentations to the class, and props in improvisations.
Representing also enhances writing when students participate in activities and assignments that involve exploring and organizing ideas (e.g., webbing, outlining); dramatizing scripts and dialogues; illustrating settings, plots, and characters (e.g., story maps, diagrams, blueprints); producing scripts (e.g., video, film, television); and preparing advertisements (e.g., print, radio, television).
Viewing enhances listening skills when students attend to nonverbal communication and visual elements of performance, video, television, film, and multimedia productions.
Viewing also enhances reading when students attend to visuals accompanying print (e.g., charts, diagrams, pictures); to specific textual techniques (e.g., layout, colour, symbols); and when students critically assess the assumptions, perspectives, and quality of a variety of media (e.g., photos, plays, video).
Technology and media can play an important role in the language arts.
Students live in an information age filled with a variety of technology and multimedia learning tools. In addition to the traditional books, newspapers, radio, and television, they have access to a range of media and "new" communication and personal technologies (e.g., voice mail, electronic mail, fax, Internet, CD-ROM, laptops, camcorders). These texts and tools are useful to achieve the English language arts oracy and literacy objectives and offer opportunities for critical viewing and representing.
Whether students use a book or a CD-ROM (hypertext), the traditional letter or e-mail, the telephone or the computer, the newspaper or the Internet, students must focus upon their purposes by determining what they need, where to find it, and how to access it. They must select reliable and relevant information and sources, process the information, and, using an appropriate format, communicate the results. As with other tools, the value of any technology depends on how students use it. Students need to determine not only what they want to locate and communicate but how they can do so most effectively.
With appropriate teacher support and guidance, students in English language arts can take more responsibility for their learning and access and use the information they need. In addition to the traditional print resources, students can use:
Students need an informed and critical understanding of the nature of the mass media, the techniques used by them, and the impact of these techniques. They should have regular, planned opportunities to engage actively with media texts in order to:
The Common Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts (1996) was developed by the Ministries of Education in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, and Yukon Territory in co-operation with teachers and other educators from these provinces and territories. This collaborative effort resulted in the identification of common educational goals and student learning outcomes designed to prepare students in these jurisdictions for present and future language requirements. The common goals allow for continuity should students transfer from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and for the use of common educational resources.
The Common Curriculum Framework articulates a shared vision for the respective provinces and territories and provides a basis for curriculum development in English language arts in Saskatchewan. Five general student learning outcomes serve as the foundation for the Common Curriculum Framework. These general outcomes (GOs) identify the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students are expected to learn in English language arts across jurisdictions. They are interrelated and interdependent; each can be achieved through a variety of integrated speaking, listening, writing, reading, representing, and viewing experiences. The five GOs for kindergarten through grade 12 English language arts are listed below.
Students will listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to:
Specific learning outcomes (SOs) identify the component knowledge, skills, and attitudes that contribute to these general learning outcomes. These outcomes are identified in the Appendix and are reflected in the foundational and specific learning objectives of this curriculum.
A curriculum guide outlines a rationale, intended learning objectives, teaching and learning strategies, and resource suggestions for a particular grade level. The "real" curriculum, however, is the dynamic experiences that occur in the classrooms as teachers work with students. It is a teacher, not a curriculum guide, who makes it happen. A teacher must continually search for the effective teaching strategies that will help students learn. If learning experiences are to be successful in developing the language skills and understandings of students, a teacher must act as a reflective, instructional decision maker.
Implementing a curriculum in the classroom requires thoughtful decision making and reflection in three key areas.
Reflections on the Curriculum Guide
Reflections on the Students
Reflections on Self and Practice
Boomer (1985) describes effective teachers as being both scientists and artists. As scientists, teachers are continually examining, questioning, and ultimately integrating theory, practice, and experience. Such teachers examine previously held assumptions and test them against research and reality. Farrell (1965) discusses the X-factor, that certain hard-to-define quality that makes certain teachers, artists. Farrell writes that, besides that X-factor, all teachers can cultivate six factors:
The teacher is a professional, a reflective practitioner, who remembers that the most important question is always "why". Why am I doing this? Why am I assuming this? Why am I using this? Why am I assigning this? Why am I evaluating in this manner? Why am I using this resource? Why is this worth learning? The teacher is self-conscious in the very best sense of the word.