SLOW LEARNERS
The units suggested here have two objectives. The first group draws upon the knowledge and experience possessed by a native speaker. Any pupil can take part in the explorations that they lead to, because he is sure of having something to contribute that will be seriously received. The second group explore the nature of language itself in such a way that pupils rapidly grow aware of how much they know, intuitively, about their own language and the part it plays in their life and the life of the community to which they belong.
The first two units in theme H are concerned with the use of names H1 'Family names' and H2 'Personal names'. Together, they explore the personal and social meaning of naming within the family, the neighbourhood and the school. They offer an uncomplicated approach to the significance of role in our lives. This may then be followed by F2 'Man's job/woman's work' which begins with a discussion of who does what in the house, before moving on to consider how certain words carry with them deep-rooted assumptions about who should do what in society at large.
The first session of F1 'Nice/nasty' uses the simple classification of a collection of photographs into 'like 'and 'dislike' as a basis for looking at the relationship between words and judgements. The work of this unit can be supplemented by drawing upon El 'Animal, vegetable, or mineral' and E2 'Birds and beasts', both of which are concerned with the relationship between words and objects.
If work in small groups is possible, E6 'Colour labels' would make a useful introduction to B9 'Advertising', which looks at newspaper advertising by asking for a display to be designed. Language is always used for particular purposes, and examining the language of advertisements offers a starting-point for exploring this fact. E4 'Half, please' is concerned with spoken language, B4 'Notices' with written. The next step would be to look at the way in which people use language in the course of their everyday lives. This can be explored outside the school in F8 'How we use slang' or A9 'New words,' and inside the school by K1 'Schools and colleges' or by session (2) of K2 'School traditions'.
Units which encourage an exploration of language itself will come, in the main, from themes C and D. C8 'Words and gestures' looks at the way in which facial expressions and bodily gestures parallel and reinforce the meaning of the words that they accompany, while C6 'Intonation' asks a class to look closely at the part played by intonation in spoken language. Of the units which need a tape-recorder, C3 'Distinctive voices' examines what makes one person's voice different from another's, while C4 'Accent', considers popular ideas about the subject.
Two units in theme D use word games which can be adapted to the needs of remedial teaching. DI 'Sounds, words, and meaning' looks at various kinds of patterning in language, while D2 'Order in sentences' explores word order in English sentences. These may be followed by D4 'Patterns in language'.
D9 'Names in the High Street' encourages observation and inventiveness, besides stimulating exploratory discussion which might then lead to at least one session from D12 'Ambiguity and ambivalence.'
Finally, C10 'Spelling', suggests a line of approach to the problem of spelling.