Understanding and Using the Range of Speaking and Listening Contexts

The range of contexts for speaking and listening in the classroom is:

• Whole-class
• Small group
• Paired
• Individual

Do pupils in all of your classes in every year group have opportunities to work in each context to learn and develop new skills and to build their confidence as speakers? This section will briefly explore each context in turn.

Within those four basic ranges, there will be a number of activities and approaches that you can adopt ranging from debating and interviewing to drama and individual presentations.

Activity

Discuss with a colleague why you would choose one context rather than another. What are the benefits and drawbacks of each? Make notes and then compare them with those below:

Group size sheet (328 KB)