Communication Flashcards
Accepting
A listener does not express agreement or disagreement with the speaker. This allows the speaker to be completely open about expressing ideas about his/her speech.
Analyzing
Being able to evaluate/measure the content of one’s own spoken messages along with the content and message of others.
Analyzing skills need to be modeled and taught.
Clarifying
Asking questions of a speaker and paraphrasing what you think has been said.
Questions might be asked, such as “Is this what you are saying about…?” or “Am I understanding you correctly about…?”
Cognates
Words in two languages that share a similar meaning, spelling, and pronunciation.
Examples are family-familia; computer-computadora, and bicycle-bicicleta.
Colloquial Writing and Speaking
The use of everyday language such as in text messaging and emails.
Confirming
Repeating or paraphrasing what has been said by the speaker in order to ensure that you understand what the speaker is explaining.
Connotative Meaning
The various hints/suggestions of the meaning of a word or visual image.
Denotative Meaning
The very specific definition of a word or visual image.
ELL
Students whose native language is not English.
Empathizing
Understanding and sympathizing with the feelings of another, such as of the speaker to an audience or an author of a written text.
Empathizing is trying to see the speakers point of view – active listening.
English Language Proficiency Levels
Emerging –
- Level 1 – Use/understand single words & chunks
- Level 2 – Use/ understand phrases/short sentences
Expanding –
- Level 3 – Use/ understand a series of related sentences
- Level 4 – Use/understand many complex sentences
Bridging –
- Level 5 -Use/understand linguistically complex sentences
Formal Language
Formal language is typically used in business, government, and the academic world. It is written for an audience who is already familiar with the topic.
Formality
Vs
Informality
The way in which we use language in writing and speaking.
Two issues are relevant:
- The audience to whom you are speaking/writing
- Your goals
Functions/Purposes Of Media
Persuasion
- Ex: commercials, political ads
Information
- Ex: newspapers, documentaries
Entertainment
- Ex: movies, television, games
Education
- Ex: educational TV programs
Informal Language
Informal language uses everyday rules of English but can use contractions and sentence fragments. It is usually for a broad audience.
Ex: Blogging
Inversions
- The placement of a verb before its subject and can grammatically be correct or incorrect.
Ex: Where were you today?
- Another meaning of inversion in lower elementary school is reading words in reverse order such as “god” instead of “dog”.
Listening Comprehension
Listening and understanding what we hear. In order to comprehend what is heard, the listener should
- Recall background knowledge about topic
- Listen for the main idea of the topic
- Try to predict what the speaker will say based on background knowledge
- Draw inferences about what is being said
- Summarize in your mind (or on paper) the key points of what has been said–in your own words
Morpheme
A combination of sounds that has meaning in speech or writing; a morpheme cannot be divided into smaller grammatical parts.
Examples: write, cat, laugh, and box. Also, prefixes and suffixes are morphemes that carry meaning such as contra-, a-, an-, and pre-
Oral Language Assessment
Performed with either formal or informal assessments. The goal is to listen, analyze, and record brief episodes of students’ oral language.
These assessments provide information about students’ needs, strengths, and interests, and what will be the next steps to support their growth.
Oral Language Skills
Oral language is the system that relates sounds to meanings by communicating through word of mouth; it includes both listening and speaking.
Some of the oral language skills needed for students in early grades include
- Listen when someone speaks
- Join in conversation with others and takes turns speaking
- Use social standards, such as “Excuse me,” “Please,” and “Thank you”–but may need reminders at times.
Oral Presentation
The ability to report on a topic or text, tell a story, or relate an experience with appropriate facts including relevant details.
Students need to:
- Speak in complete sentences
- Look at their audience
Oral Vocabulary
Words that are used in speaking or that are recognized in listening.
Orthography
Spelling Patterns
Paraphrasing
Taking the key points and meaning of what has been said and expressing these points using different/your own words.
Phonemes
The smallest individual sounds in a word.
Ex: “Bit” has three phonemes: b – i – t.
Phonetics
The sound of human speech
Pragmatics
The study of language in use, NOT in its structure.
Pragmatics studies the appropriate use of language. One needs to be competent in pragmatics in order to communicate in a competent manner.
Pragmatic Language Use
The social language skills we use in our daily conversations with others. The skills guide what we say, how we say it, our body language, and whether it is appropriate in a given situation.
Ex of some pragmatic language skills:
- Taking turns
- Making eye contact
- Asking appropriate questions
- Asking for clarifications
Probing
Asking questions of a speaker in order to get more information and also to clarify any misunderstandings.
Rubric
A scoring guide based on several criteria rather than a single numerical score.
A rubric for one state’s mandated writing test has the possibility of a score of 4 under each of the five assessment criteria:
- Focus and coherence
- Organization
- Development of ideas
- Voice and writing conventions
Semantics
The study of word or symbol meaning.
Examples of semantic usage are: “I love…” can have many different meanings, and “Raining cats and dogs” does not literally mean what it says.
Segmentation
Segmentation is breaking something into parts. In oral language development, segmentation usually refers to hearing and recognizing parts of words.
Strategies That Can Be Used To Enhance Oral Language Development
- Giving children many opportunities to talk / listen / or participate in poetry, songs, etc. – promote discussion
- Provide a risk-free environment
- Work in small groups playing, listening to stories, etc.
- Having the students name and then describe various objects
- Experiencing the world through center work, field trips, science experiments, library, instruction, etc.
- Use show-and-tell to build oral language skills.
- Modeling for students and repeatedly discussing the importance of looking at their audience/speaking clearly
- Utilizing technology
Syntax
Rules that govern the construction of words in order to make phrases, clauses, and sentences.
Syntax includes subject-verb agreement.
Subject-Verb Agreement : A singular subject (she, Bill, car) takes a singular verb (is, goes, shines), whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb.
Validating
Listening openly and with empathy while affirming in an interesting way. This usually also involves eye contact.
Vocabulary
The knowledge of the meaning and pronunciation of words.
