Spoken Language

What the national curriculum

requires in spoken language at key stage 1 and key stage 2

Pupils should be taught to:

• Listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers.
• Ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge.
• Use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary.
• Articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions.
• Give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings.
• Maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments.
• Use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas.
• Speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of Standard English.
• Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates.
• Gain, maintain and monitor the interest of the listener(s).
• Consider and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of others.
• Select and use appropriate registers for effective communication.