Language Support
The Department of Education & Early Childhood Development Resource
The Language Support Program – Teaching and Learning for Students with a Language Disorder has been developed by Dr John Munro (Ed Assist) in collaboration with Department of Education & Early Childhood Development personnel. The program provides a framework for teaching oral language to students requiring additional support.
It enables schools to further build on the objectives of the Principles of Learning and Teaching.
ICPAL
A key focus of the Language Support Program – Teaching and Learning for Students with a Language Disorder is a model based on the Ideas, Conventions, and Purposes of language allied with the learner’s Ability to Learn language in both the expressive and receptive modes. This model is encapsulated in the mnemonic ICPAL.
| I |
Ideas |
The meanings of words, sentences, discourse and topics of language |
| C |
Conventions |
The rules governing the sounds, sentences and genres of oral language |
| P |
Purpose |
The use of oral language within our social interactions |
| AL |
Ability to Learn |
The necessary skills and their prerequisites for the acquisition of oral language |
A student with a language disorder may experience problems in one or more areas implicit within the ICPAL model.
Lewis & Lewis Language Support Resource
The Lewis & Lewis Language Support Resource has been developed by Lewis & Lewis staff members and is continually updated by the Lewis & Lewis speech pathology team. Material included on the website is based on the content from the Language Support Program with additional material produced being consistent with the program’s focus.
Feedback via email on activities would be welcomed as would ideas for additional activities.
Observational Profile
This Observational Profile is a tool that can be used to provide insight into a student’s oral language needs. It contains a number of indicators of language difficulty commonly evident in school-aged students’ interactions across each of the components of the ICPAL Model. By completing the Observational Profile for a particular student you are concerned about, an understanding of where the student is having difficulty can be established. Once the Profile has been completed, appropriate teaching strategies and activities are provided.
- Observe the student over a period of two weeks;
- The profile can be completed in its entirety or individual sections can be completed if a predominant concern has already been identified;
- Once the profile is completed, click the ‘Generate Summary’ button to view recommended teaching strategies;
- Select a teaching goal that will have the greatest impact on the student’s participation in class activities;
- Often, you can work on two aspects of the ICPAL Model with the same task;
- Teaching strategies and activities are printable;
- By recording the student’s profile ID number, you are able to revisit the original completed profile after a period of intervention to monitor improvements and identify future learning goals for the student.
