Language Abilities of Secondary Aged Pupils - Literature review Example

Lаnguаgе Аbilitiеs of Sесоndаry Аgеd Рuрils Name Course Instructor’s name 18 May 2018 Abstract Over the years, there has been an alarming increase in the cases of violence and hence incarceration among the young people in worldwide. Recent research has suggested oral language competence impairment as a cause of this violence (P. C. Snow & Powell, 2011). Oral Language Competence is defined as the two-way compound process through which information is sent and received by an individual through auditory-verbal (listening and speaking) channel. It involves the possession of two abilities, receptive ability and expressive ability to make any communicative purposive. The lack of these abilities often generates an antisocial behavioral disposition in an individual that results in violence. When the perpetrators of this violence undergo the justice process, the oral language impairment increases the probability of their incarceration. The paper discusses in details how the lack of receptive, expressive and purpose abilities, as described in the ICPALER model, leads to teenage violence and incarceration in Australia. It reviews previous literature to show the degree of association between oral language competence and teenage violence and incarceration. It describes the receptive and expressive abilities on the basis of the purpose of communication to define the desired outcome of the instruction process using the ICPALER model. Table of contents Contents Abstract 2 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 The ICPALER model 7 3.0 Oral language competence: what it entails and its importance 10 3.0 Oral Language Competency and youth violence and incarceration 11 4.0 Restorative justice process in Australia and the role of OLC in the restorative process 15 5.0 Empirical research on the relationship between OLC and youth violence and incarceration in Australia 17 6.0 Conclusion 20 7.0 References 21 1.0 Introduction Across the lifespan of an individual, oral language competence is a fundamental prerequisite not only for functional development but also for prosocial development (P. Snow, 2009). However, inadequate concern and investigation has been made about the relationship between oral language competence and behavioral disturbance among the young people even though the issue is of dominant concern. Impairment in speech and language use is often a precursor to substance use and abuse (P. C. Snow & Powell, 2011). Research shows that substance use disorders, especially among the young people, have a positively strong correlation to difficulty in self-regulation that has its bearing on language development. Impaired development of language in childhood heightens the risk for contemporary and later problem behavior. Psychiatric disorders and language impairments have a strong association. Children with language and speech impairments have been found to show higher rates of concurrent anxiety disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (P. Snow, 2009). Over the years, there has been an alarming increase in the cases of violence and hence incarceration among the young people in worldwide. A substantial number of these cases of violence in adolescents have been linked to oral language competence impairment in childhood. According to Naylor et al. (2008), mental health needs in teenage offenders and those who are at risk of offending are high. Getting and understanding of the mental health needs of young offenders is a complex task. Much of the research in this area has been dedicated to the secure estate of the problem that concerns itself with factors without the individual such as their upbringing. As such, mental health problems linked to oral language competence impairment has received inadequate research and hence address. In Australia, adolescent offenders in community-based orders have been found to have a high risk for clinically significant though undetected oral language (everyday talking and listening) difficulties (Naylor, Lincoln, & Goddard, 2008). Although research in this area is gaining popularity, little attention has been given to incarcerated young offenders’ mental health link with, offending severity and markers of early risk. The relationship between these phenomena has not been systematically examined. The existing corrective measures have rendered themselves to addressing violence associated with other factors other than oral language impairments (Maxwell & Hayes, 2006). Such factors as male gender, chaotic parenting, association with antisocial peers and parental mental health problems have received substantially adequate concern (Marshall, 1999). As serious young offenders pass through the education and the justice systems, they are not only expensive but also challenging both from a social and an economic point of view. Most of them double as victims of maltreatment or disadvantage and perpetrators of harm (O’Connor & Scott, 2006). Since they have histories of social marginalization and ill-treatment, complex multisystemic interventions are often required to address their plight. But as Holland et al. (2007) suggests, the justice system often fails in its attempt to rehabilitate these young people from antisocial behavior. This failure explains why there usually are many cases (about 60 percent) of recurrent adolescent offenders’ incarceration (Holland et al., 2007). A scrutiny of the services and resources that go into the rehabilitation of young offenders reveals that they are an enormous burden on society. The process of helping this group of young people to disengage from antisocial behavior requires lots of financial, welfare, judicial and educational resources. A study done in the UK by Hartshorne (2006) revealed that the average cost to the community of a 16-year-old male with language, speech, and social deficits is not less than £200,000. In Australia, it is estimated that every year at least $ 1 billion go into the processing and dealing with young offenders. In the financial year 2007-08, the average daily juvenile detention cost was estimated as $624 a day in WA and $652 in NSW (P. C. Snow & Powell, 2011). The Australian Institute of Criminology has been monitoring juvenile detentions since 1981. Although the number of juvenile detainees has dropped from 64.9 per 100,000 head of population in 1981 to 37 in 2008, there has been an emergence of concerning trends (P. Snow, 2009). There has been an over-representation of Indigenous juveniles which points to inadequacy in the rehabilitation system. Also, the number of juvenile detainees in remand as compared to those that are sentenced has been on the rise. Further, the seriousness of crimes committed by juveniles has been on the rise. More cases of violent crimes such as murder and robbery with violent have been reported over the past five years (P. C. Snow & Powell, 2011). The rehabilitation of juvenile offenders ought to be undertaken with utmost importance and care. This is because their possibility of growing out of offending and adopting law-abiding lifestyles is relatively higher than that of adults. This possibility underscores the reason it is crucial to understand the plight of the young offender from the factors responsible for the antisocial and violent behavior. Research has identified oral language impairments as an important factor leading to violence and hence incarceration for young people in Australia (Maxwell & Hayes, 2006). Therefore, institutions charged with the responsibility of rehabilitating these young people must address the problem from the cause. ICPALER has been suggested as one of the most effective models that can be used to address this system. The model has been used all over the world to inform teaching methodology in childhood to ensure that the education system produces students with perfect oral language competence (Student, n.d.). 2.0 The ICPALER model Oral language competence is the chief determinant of an individual’s success when communicating with others. The more words and experiences an individual has to draw upon automatically, the more effective their communication with others becomes. According to Munro (2009), people need both verbal and nonverbal signals to communicate. Further, the development of oral language has a lot of bearing from vocabulary since a common understanding of meanings as well as sound patterns are required. He proposed the ICPALER model that could be used to meet the goals above. ICPALER is an acronym that stands for Ideas, Conventions, Purpose, Ability to Learn how to use language, Expressing ideas, Receiving. The ICPALER model comprises of three aspects namely Ideas, Conventions and Purpose. The three aspects are defined in terms of two major components, Expressive and Receptive areas. The table below summarizes the interaction of these aspects and components in the development of oral language competence. Aspect of ICPALER Expressive and Receptive Components of ICPALER Expressive Receptive Ideas (Meanings) Say and use vocabulary correctly Learn to say new words correctly Say and use meaningful sentences Ask 5w+h questions Give instructions Say consequence, cause-effect, links between events, order of events, probability, generalizations, inclusive relationships Show listening comprehension: recount, retell what has been heard, converse, discuss Express discourse meanings, use discourse production strategies Say and use a topic of a discourse Comprehend vocabulary Learn to understand new words correctly Comprehend sentences , act them out Answer 4w+h questions Follow instructions Infer cause-effect, order of events Use and comprehend reference to consequences, location, cause-effect and the order of events, probability, infer cause-effect and temporal sequences of ideas Express or say discourse (listening) comprehension Use listening comprehension strategies Comprehend the topic of a discourse Conventions Use phonological skills Build pronunciation skills, say words correctly, correct and amend inaccurate attempts Use grammatical forms correctly in speech Retain and recall information in short term memory activities Use discourse conventions in spoken discourse Apply phonological skills in listening Recognize pronunciation patterns Comprehend grammatical forms correctly Recognize information in short term memory activities Comprehend discourse conventions in discourse heard Purpose Manage the speaking aspects of conversing, recounting and discussing topics Adjust to context/audience in what is being said Talk about ideas in imaginative ways Use common idioms in speech Extend an exchange Judge how much information to give in conversing, discussing, use the context in speaking Express goals for speaking Use the topic or theme of communication in speech Use noun-pronoun verb tense agreement appropriately in speech Retain and recall information in short term memory activities Manage the listening aspects of conversing and discussing topics Comprehend adjustments to context/audience in what is being heard Comprehend imaginative reference to ideas Comprehend common idioms Comprehend extensions to an exchange Use the context while listening, recognize adjustments to context and audience in conversing, discussing Comprehend goals for using language Comprehend reference to the topic in listening comprehension Comprehend the use of linguistic forms that are defined by the context in which they are used Recognize information in short term memory activities use auditory perceptual skills, discriminate and localize sounds Source: Munro, J. (2011). Teaching Oral Language: Building a Firm Foundation Using ICPALER in the Early Primary Years. Aust Council for Ed Research. Like the other aspects, the purpose aspect of the ICPALER model can be explained in two ways namely expressive and receptive components. The aspect comprises of four items that inform the expressive and receptive components of the model. These items are managing and directing, listening and speaking between the lines, adjusting context and audience, and using language for different goals. On one hand, the expressive component of the ICPALER model is concerned with the part of communication emanating from the student. On the other hand, the receptive component is concerned with the part of communication directed at the student. The model, therefore, outlines the specific desired outcomes of the oral language learning process that fall under the purpose aspect analyzed in the expressive and receptive perspectives (Munro, 2011). 3.0 Oral language competence: what it entails and its importance Oral Language Competence is defined as the complex two-way process through which information is sent and received by an individual through auditory-verbal (listening and speaking) channel (P. Snow, 2009). It defines the individual’s ability to process the spoken language of others. That is, how well the individual understands words as well as the ways in which they are connected in grammar to convey a variety of meanings. The meaning of a speaker’s utterances can be concrete, literal, abstract or even nuanced. Accurate interpretation of the utterance relies heavily on the listener’s social inferencing and listening skills. This phenomenon explains why when learning a new language; a listener can pick up on keywords from a native speaker’s utterance to determine the gist of the conversation. However, when this is done, the listener either misunderstands important details or misses them completely. Oral language competency requires the user of a language to possess the ability to draw on their vocabulary as well as knowledge of grammar, and to apply social conventions to communicate with others. Using these abilities, the user can formulate their ideas, intentions and wishes into spoken language that others can understand (Hay et al., 2009). Usually, receptive (comprehension) and expressive (speaking) skills are differentiated from one another. Receptive skills often develop ahead of the expressive skills, both for first language learners and for second language students. Vocabulary size and complexity comprise of the competent core skills in oral language competence. They involve the ability of the individual to use words with subtle yet important differences in meaning to convey contextually important shades of meaning (Hines, Wible, & McCartney, 2010). Oral language competence provides the means through which individuals negotiate their everyday life’s business. It informs negotiations in social, educational, commercial, personal and professional contexts. It also forms the basis for the transition to literacy in early childhood development. The development of a repertoire of social skills appropriate in a culture has its basis on oral language competency (Student, n.d.). Furthermore, it is the means through which transmission of culture takes place. Finally, it is a tool of self-regulation. An individual’s planning and organization of behavior has its bearing from their oral language competence (P. Snow, 2009). 3.0 Oral Language Competency and youth violence and incarceration According to Snow (2009), oral language competence emerges from very early infancy. At this stage, key caregivers to the infant display emotionally warm and consistent engagement with the infant. This forms a basis for reciprocal conversational-like turns. This conversation is the basis for early secure attachment, cognitive and social skills, and language and empathy development. It is in the first five years of life that expressive and receptive language skills develop. Language competence is, however, a lifespan issue. Vocabulary continues to grow and specialize with the unfolding of education and training. As individuals engage in daily interpersonal exchanges, they do not adhere to a specified literal script. Their intended meaning does not always align with their stated meaning. In practice, communication is made more entertaining and interesting through the employment of a myriad of linguistic devices. These devices include sarcasm (saying the opposite of what is meant), figurative language (metaphors, idioms, and analogies), puns, humor, irony, and paradox. The use of such devices makes everyday communication not only challenging but also opaque for speakers with identified disabilities. Speakers with autism spectrum, intellectual disability, and specific language disability find it very difficult to communicate (P. C. Snow & Powell, 2011). Oral Language Competency is the means by which relationships among humans are formed and maintained. Human relationships are a critical ingredient for mental health. Research done (Brinton, Fujiki & Morgan 1999) indicated that primary school year children with language impairments and without any other behavioral or developmental difficulties were rated as below average performers on likeability, impulse control, and prosocial behavior. At the level of school entry, children normally have an extensive expressive and receptive vocabulary and are often able to share their experiences with others via the medium of the narrative. A narrative is defined as a story that adheres to a temporal template that is broad so that an account that follows a coherent, logical order that takes into consideration the presumed prior knowledge of the listener. Narratives have a particular significance in forensic settings. The speaker must tell their story for legal counsel, for police and/or for the court(Dwyer & Hayes, 2011). Language development is the basis for development of empathy and emotional attunement. The two aspects of psycho-social development underscore the role played by communicative competence in social inferencing and social cognition. Further, they bring to the fore the relationship between child abuse and neglect and poor language development (Marshall, 1999). Social cognition refers to the knowledge, processing and application of culturally relevant behavior which assists in the establishment and maintenance of interpersonal relationship of different degrees of complexity and complexity. Social challenges occur in everyday life and have different levels of seriousness ranging from subtle disagreements to charged argument disagreements (Patchell & Hand, 1993). Communication ease and success in everyday life is impacted by social cognition in many ways. Social cognition helps the listener to process a face-to-face interpersonal situation correctly. It gives the listener the ability to consider the verbal content, social constraints of the context and the tone of the voice and the facial expression of the speaker. These aspects of communication are fundamental in the purposive – receptive aspect of communication (Fujiki, Brinton, Morgan, & Hart, 1999). The ability of a listener to derive the intended meaning from contradictory or incomplete verbal/non-verbal information shared in a given context- social inferencing derives from social cognition. The individual is able to employ the learnt understanding of politeness conventions in numerous everyday situations. Through the application of the understanding, the listener weighs up the politeness conventions alongside the explicitly stated information to accurately infer the intended versus stated meaning of the speaker. The inability of the listener to integrate the non-verbal (tone of voice and facial expression), verbal and contextual cues in the milliseconds available in order to arrive at the correct inference often has detrimental repercussions. It does not only damage the relationship but also results in impulsive and ill-considered responses that lead to violence (Dwyer & Hayes, 2011). In addition to interpersonal functioning, oral language competence is the means of transition in early school years. Children who enter school with well-developed receptive and expressive language skills are in a better position to transit into the most unnatural medium of writing and reading. Researchers invoke the so-called “Matthew Principle” to explain this phenomenon. The “Matthew Principle” is a reference to the biblical idea that “the rich get richer, and poor get poorer.” The larger proportion of at-risk young people, however, often fails to make this transition in their first three schooling years. The early educational disengagement marks the beginning of their trending on a path of antisocial behavior and social marginalization (Dwyer & Hayes, 2011). Academic success throughout the entire school curriculum is absolutely determined by how well developed the literacy skills of the learner are. Academic success in turn determines the probability that the young individual will have an opportunity to proceed to further education and post-school training. These two further determine whether the young person will emerge from the school curriculum with employable skills. However, in most Australian jurisdictions formal literacy instruction (receptive and expressive instruction) stops after the first three school years (Center, 2005). After this period the instruction shifts from learning to read to reading to learn (Hines, Wible & McCartney, 2010). Children who have had difficulty in mastering the former undergo enormous struggle to manage the latter (Hay & Fielding-Barnsley, 2009). Research proves that the shift process occurs at around eight years of age (Hines et al., 2010). At this age, externalizing behavior begins to manifest in the classroom especially in boys. When this happens, children are put under clinical care where they are treated using approaches derived from perceptions of adults with similar handicapping conditions. The implication of such occurrences is that these young people end up with unidentified language difficulties. They are not identified as at-risk for unidentified language impairment but as behavior problems. The result of this is that they end up being managed as behavior problems through methods such as incarceration (Maxwell & Hayes, 2006). 4.0 Restorative justice process in Australia and the role of OLC in the restorative process Marshall (1999) defines the restorative process as a process whereby parties with a stake in a specific offense collectively resolve how to deal with the aftermath of the offense and its implications for the future. As such the restorative process for young offenders in Australia employs restorative justice conferencing as the primary method. Restorative justice conferencing is a method which brings together the offender, the victim, and the community. It gives all the parties equal parts to repair the relationship destroyed by the crime. Legislation in all Australian States has enshrined the use of restorative justice conferencing for young offenders. The New Zealand model in which civilian staff facilitates the conference process is the most widely used. However, some states use dual models that involve both civilian and police staff to facilitate the conferences. Such states include the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania (Maxwell & Hayes, 2006). The restorative conferences progress in three phases namely introduction, storytelling, and agreement negotiation. The introduction phase involves the convener of the conference opening the conference with general introductions as well as defining the purpose of the conference and the role of the participants. The next step involves the young offender accounting for their offending behavior. As they tell their story, young offenders are required to relate their involvement in the offense and what they were thinking and feeling at the time. The expectation is that the young offender acknowledged the harm they have caused the victim (Maxwell & Hayes, 2006). Next the victims are asked to give a description of the effect the offense has had on them. They often highlight the emotional, physical and material effect of the offense. Parents of the young offender and partners of the victim offer additional comments. The young offender is then asked to describe how the story of the victim makes them feel. At this point, the offender is expected to admit that the story of the victim made them come to the appreciation of the full impact of their behavior. Often, offenders offer their victims apologies for their behavior (Maxwell & Hayes, 2006). The final phase of the conference is the discussion of what the young offender can do to repair the harms they have caused. The offender is first asked to give suggestions. All participants then discuss the suggestions aiming to arrive at a consensus about what the young offender will do to complete the agreement. Agreements take the form of verbal and/or written apologies, monetary restitution or commitment not to reoffend (Hayes 2006). As seen from the description of the restorative process, the young person is required to effectively engage in a conversation that addresses their wrongdoing and how to repair the harms they have caused. As such, the oral language abilities (everyday listening and talking skills) of all parties are the major determinant of the effectiveness of the restorative justice process. On the purposive – receptive side, the young offender must be able to listen to emotionally charged and complex accounts of the perspective of the victim. On the purposive- expressive side, the offender is required to formulate their own ideas to form a coherent narrative that the parties affected by the violence can judge as adequate and authentic (Maxwell & Hayes, 2006). 5.0 Empirical research on the relationship between OLC and youth violence and incarceration in Australia A number of studies about the relationship between OLC and youth violence and incarceration have been done all over the world. Examples of such research include Sanger and co-workers (Sanger, Hux & Ritzman, 1999; Sanger et al., 2000, 2001) in the United States, Bryan and co-workers (Bryan, 2014; Bryan, Freer & Furlong, 2007) in the United Kingdom and Snow and Powell (Snow & Powell, 2004a, 2004b, 2005, 2008, 2011a, 20011b) in Australia. The most recent study (Snow & Powell, 2011a, 2011b) was funded by the Criminology Research Council (CRC). All the studies found out that most young offenders going through the youth justice system have a high likelihood of having undetected oral language deficits previously. Snow and Powell (2008) reported that over 50 percent of a sample of male offenders completing custodial sentences in Australia showed sentence repetition, had deficits on measures of abstract/figurative language and narrative (storytelling) skills. The difficulties could not be explained in terms of low nonverbal IQ. The greatest risk associated with poor narrative language skills, a low expressive vocabulary and poor auditory processing skills is that when the young offender is under pressure ( for instance when undergoing police interview), they are likely to produce poorly elaborated, monosyllabic and non-specific responses. These responses are often accompanied by an occasional shrug of shoulders and poor eye-contact. The usual outcome from such responses is that they generate a confirmatory effect on the authority figures. The situation is worsened by the fact that these authority figures already have biased impressions about marginalized young people (P. Snow, 2009). The young offender is, therefore, assumed to show apathy, rudeness, and poor motivation to comply with the social contract extended to them. The most recent study (Snow & Powell, 2011) made a cross-section examination of 100 young offenders with a mean age of 19 years completing custodial sentences in Victoria, Australia. The study aimed to find out the relationship between oral language competence and youth offense and incarceration and to find out the relationship between OLC and the nature and severity of the offence. The study assessed the participants on a range of standardized oral language, offending-severity, IQ and mental health measures. Language competency was measured on the basis of sensitivity to a range of everyday linguistic competencies such as ability to define words, listening comprehension and understanding of everyday idioms and other non-literal language forms. The participants were classified into two groups, language impaired (LI), and those without language impairment with 46 percent of them being classified as language impaired. Standard language measures based on expressive and receptive language competencies namely CELF4 and TLC-E) were used for the grouping. The relationship between offending severity and language competence was studied using CLCI scales (P. C. Snow & Powell, 2011). The findings of the study were consistent with those of previous studies (Patchell & Hand, 1993). About 46 percent of young offenders were found to be language impaired. They were found to show some aspect of previously undetected oral language impairment. Their perpetration of violence, as well as the process leading to their incarceration, was found principally to be oral language incompetence. Further, offending severity was found to be increasing with language impairment. This finding raised a matter of concern for policymakers, educators and justice administrators (P. C. Snow & Powell, 2011). The study recommended that more effort needs to be put to identify high-risk students in the early school years. Evidence-based ways that result in improved school attachment are then supposed to be used to address their needs. The participants of the study were reported to have had an average of only 9.8 years of normal schooling. This was found to be both a cause and effect of violence arising from the oral language impairment that was correctable if it was identified in the early schooling years. The paper also highlighted the need to revise the existing intervention approaches to adequately incorporate oral language competence to ensure that they are effective (P. C. Snow & Powell, 2011). 6.0 Conclusion Oral language competence is the basis of human interaction in everyday life. On one hand, the ability of an individual to correctly decode the verbal and non-verbal message of a speaker through the correct interpretation of language tools used is defined by the receptive aspect of their oral language competence. The expressive aspect, on other hand, enables the individual to formulate their own ideas, intentions and wishes into spoken language that others can understand. These abilities are acquired during the early years of school as described by the ICPALER model and continue to develop as the individual grows. The lack of these abilities makes a communication lose purpose and sometimes even become impossible. Young people with these oral language inabilities usually become perpetrators of violence because of the resultant antisocial mental disposition arising either from the resultant social marginalization or poor transition in school. Also, their inability to communicate effectively predisposes them to confirmatory sentences when they undergo police interviews 7.0 References Center, Y. (2005). Beginning Reading: A Balanced Approach to Teaching Reading During the First Three Years at School. A&C Black.  Dwyer, A. E., & Hayes, H. (2011). Getting lost in the field: the unpredictable nature of fieldwork with young people. Qualitative Criminology: Stories from the Field, 106–115. Fujiki, M., Brinton, B., Morgan, M., & Hart, C. H. (1999). 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