Innovation at Jockey Club Sarah Roe School The use of core vocabulary in alternative and augmented communication (AAC) and language learning Presented by Stephanie Eber (Speech and Language Therapist/head of therapy JCSRS) 2 October 2015

 What is core vocabulary  Why teach core vocabulary  How we teach core vocabulary at JCSRS  How students use core vocabulary at JCSRS Topics to cover:

Core vocabulary is a small set of simple words, in any language, that are used frequently and across contexts (Cross, Baker, Klotz & Badman, 1997) What is core vocabulary

 Limited set of highly useful words  Words apply across settings  Vocabulary is primarily pronouns, verbs, descriptors, and prepositions  Very few nouns are included in a core vocabulary  Consistent location of vocabulary Features of core vocabulary

 Core vocabulary can be combined with fringe vocabulary (category specific words, usually nouns) to form diverse and varied sentences on any topic  Students need to have access to both core and fringe vocabulary to truly communicate effectively  The number of core words displayed varies. You can start of with a small number of core words, or you can start with a high number of core words  Always present more than what the student can use for exposure and greater language learning

 Vocabulary growth and expansion for communication, reading, writing  Students can express a variety of communicative functions (requesting, commenting, protesting, asking, answering, share information, greet)  Students can communicate across contexts with all people  Increase the semantic and syntactic complexity of students’ utterances Why teach core vocabulary?

 A3 charts in each classroom with removable pictures How we teach core vocabulary at JCSRS

 The same core words in the same location as classroom charts used in students’ communication systems (eg. Proloquo2go)

 Use of core words in literacy tasks -Words included in class ‘word wall’ -Books (commercially available books and books created by therapists) with core words and phrases -Writing and typing core words

 Speech therapy sessions targeting particular phrases

 Students are encouraged to use core vocabulary words at all times to build up sentence structures  Students are encouraged to write/type core words in their written words to write grammatically correct sentences (for able students)  Teaching, modeling, encouragement, praise How students use core vocabulary at JCSRS

– Evaluation formhttp://svy.mk/1QCjJhy Any questions