I should be…
- Understanding that the word order changes the meaning of a message (e.g. ‘the boy the girl chased had a dog on the lead’ – who chased the dog? Who had the dog?
- Understanding academic words like ‘interpret’, ‘predict’, and ‘explain’
- Understanding that lots of words have more than one meaning (e.g. a bank where you keep your money and a grassy bank that you sit on)
- Reading ‘between the lines’ to infer meaning and understand sarcasm
- Understand lots of everyday expressions (e.g. no point crying over spilt milk).
- Understanding instructions involving inclusion and exclusions including words like ‘all except’, ‘neither’ and ‘either/or’.
- Defining lots of words (e.g. inequality means that things are not fair).
- Using complex words like “therefore” and “otherwise” in talking and in writing.
- Able to take part in discussions using complex vocabulary, responding to or challenging the views of others.
- Describing events and giving detailed accounts of what has happened.
- Using language to persuade others and to defend my viewpoint.
- Changing my talking style (e.g. I talk to my teacher in a different way than I talk to my family).
Don’t worry if…
- I make occasional errors with word order in long complex instructions as long as I can ask for help when I don’t understand.
- I need reminders to adapt my talking to my audience e.g. using simple language when talking to a younger child.
Seek advice if…
- It is hard to follow my explanations e.g. the rules of a game.
- I am unable to explain my reasoning.
- I don’t pick up on sarcasm and take things at face value.
- I use simple words in my sentences and struggle to join ideas and sentences using words like, ‘if’, ‘but’ and ‘so’.
- I struggle to find words that I know when I am talking.