Spoken Language 10

Core Competencies

Communicating
 
Collaborating
Critical and Reflective Thinking
 
Creative Thinking
Personal Awareness and Responsibility
 
Positive Personal and Cultural Identity
 
Social Awareness and Responsibility

Students are expected to know the following:

Using oral, written, visual, and digital texts, students are expected individually and collaboratively to be able to:

Big Ideas

Big Ideas

The exploration of oral text
any type of oral, written, visual, or digital expression or communication:
  • Visual texts include gestural and spatial components (as in dance) as well as images (some examples are posters, photographs, paintings, carvings, poles, textiles, regalia, and masks).
  • Digital texts include electronic forms of oral, written, and visual expression.
  • Multimodal texts include any combination of oral, written, visual, and/or digital elements and can be delivered via different media or technologies (some examples are dramatic presentations, web pages, music videos, online presentations, graphic novels, and close-captioned films).
and story
a narrative text that shares ideas about human nature, motivation, behaviour, and experience. Stories can record history, reflect a personal journey, or explore identity. Stories can be oral, written, or visual, and used to instruct, inspire, and/or entertain listeners and readers.
deepens understanding of one’s identity, others, and the world.
Voice is powerful and evocative.
Texts are socially, culturally, geographically, and historically constructed.
First Peoples oral text plays a role within the process of Reconciliation
the movement to heal the relationship between First Peoples and Canada that was damaged by colonial policies such as the Indian residential school system.
.

Content

Learning Standards

Content

Text forms
Within a type of communication, the writer, speaker, or designer chooses a form based on the purpose of the piece.  Common written forms include narratives; journals; procedural, expository, and explanatory documents; news articles; e-mails; blogs; advertisements; poetry; novels; and letters.
and genres
literary or thematic categories (e.g., science fiction, biography, satire, memoir, poem, visual essay, personal narrative, speech, oral history)
Common themes in First Peoples texts
  • connection to the land
  • the nature and place of spirituality as an aspect of wisdom
  • the relationships between individual and community
  • the importance of oral tradition
  • the experience of colonization and decolonization
  • loss of identity and affirmation of identity
  • tradition
  • healing
  • role of family
  • importance of Elders
Reconciliation in Canada

First Peoples oral traditions

Oral traditions are the means by which cultural transmission occurs over generations, other than through written records. Among First Peoples, oral traditions may consist of told stories, songs and/or other types of distilled wisdom or information, often complemented by dance or various forms of visual representation such as carvings or masks. In addition to expressing spiritual and emotional truth (e.g., via symbol and metaphor), these traditions provide a record of literal truth (e.g., regarding events and/or situations). They were integrated into every facet of life and were the basis of First Peoples education systems. They continue to endure in contemporary contexts.

  • purposes of First Peoples oral texts

    listen to and comprehend a wide range of authentic First Peoples oral texts reflecting a variety of purposes, messages, and contexts, including texts relating to life lessons, individual and community responsibilities, rites of passage - family histories - creation stories - formal speeches

  • a variety of First Peoples oral texts
Protocols
  • Protocols are rules governing behaviour or interactions.
  • Protocols can be general and apply to many First Peoples cultures, or specific to individual First Nations.
  • protocols related to the ownership and use of First Peoples oral texts
    Stories often have protocols for when and where they can be shared, who owns them, and who can share them.
  • acknowledgement of territory
    • students understand the protocols involved in the acknowledgment of traditional First Nations territory(ies)
    • students understand the purpose of acknowledgement of First Nations traditional territory(ies)
  • situating oneself in relation to others and place
    • relates to the concept that everything and everyone is connected
    • students understand the reason why it is common First Nations practice to introduce ones’ self by sharing family and place connections
Text features
attributes or elements of the text that may include typography (bold, italics, underlining, font choice), guide words, key words, titles, diagrams, captions, labels, maps, charts, illustrations, tables, photographs, and sidebars/text boxes
and structures
how text is organized
Strategies and processes
  • reading strategies
    There are many strategies that readers use when making sense of text. Students consider what strategies they need to use to “unpack” text. They employ strategies with increasing independence depending on the purpose, text, and context. Strategies include but may not be limited to predicting, inferring, questioning, paraphrasing, using context clues, using text features, visualizing, making connections, summarizing, identifying big ideas, synthesizing, and reflecting.
  • metacognitive strategies
    • thinking about our own thinking
    • reflecting on our processes and determining strengths and challenges
    • Students employ metacognitive strategies to gain increasing independence in learning.
  • writing processes
    There are various writing processes, depending on context. These may include determining audience and purpose, generating or gathering ideas, free-writing, making notes, drafting, revising and/or editing. Writers often have very personalized processes when writing. Writing is an iterative process.
  • oral language strategies
    speaking with expression, connecting with listeners, asking questions to clarify, listening for specifics, summarizing, paraphrasing
  • presentation and performance techniques
Language features, structures, and conventions
  • elements of style
    stylistic choices that make a specific writer distinguishable from others, including diction, vocabulary, sentence structure, and tone
  • usage
    avoiding common usage errors (e.g., double negatives, mixed metaphors, malapropisms, and word misuse)
    and conventions
    common practices of standard punctuation in capitalization, quoting, and spelling of Canadian and First Peoples words
  • citations and acknowledgements
    formal acknowledgements of another person’s work, idea, or intellectual property
  • literary elements and devices
    • texts use various literary devices, including figurative language, according to purpose and audience
  • rhetorical devices
    • examples include figurative language, parallelism, repetition, irony, humour, exaggeration, emotional language, logic, direct address, rhetorical questions, and allusion

Curricular Competency

Learning Standards

Curricular Competency

Comprehend and connect (reading, listening, viewing)

Recognize and appreciate the role of story, narrative, and oral tradition in expressing First Peoples perspectives, values, beliefs, and points of view
Recognize and appreciate the diversity within and across First Peoples societies as represented in texts
Apply appropriate strategies
Strategies used will depend on purpose and context. These may include making predictions, asking questions, paraphrasing, forming images, making inferences, determining importance, identifying themes, and drawing conclusions.
in a variety of contexts to guide inquiry, extend thinking, and comprehend oral and other texts
Think critically, creatively, and reflectively to explore ideas within, between, and beyond texts

Recognize and appreciate how different forms, structures, and features of oral and other texts reflect diverse purposes, audiences, and messages

Explore the impact of personal, social, and cultural contexts, values, and perspectives in oral texts
Recognize how language constructs and reflects personal and cultural identities
A person’s sense of identity is a product of linguistic factors or constructs, including oral tradition, story, recorded history, and social media; voice; cultural aspects; literacy history; and linguistic background (English as first or additional language)
Examine how literary elements, techniques, and devices enhance and shape meaning and impact
Explain the role of oral traditions
The means by which cultural transmission occurs over generations, other than through written records; among First Peoples, oral traditions may consist of told stories, songs and/or other types of distilled wisdom or information, often complemented by dance or various forms of visual representation such as carvings or masks. In addition to expressing spiritual and emotional truth (e.g., via symbol and metaphor), these traditions provide a record of literal truth (e.g., regarding events and/or situations). They were integrated into every facet of life and were the basis of First Peoples education systems. They continue to endure in contemporary contexts.
in First Peoples cultures, in historical and contemporary contexts
Recognize the influence of land/place in First Peoples oral texts

Create and communicate (writing, speaking, representing)

Respectfully exchange ideas and viewpoints
  • using active listening skills and receptive body language (e.g., paraphrasing and building on others’ ideas)
  • disagreeing respectfully
  • extending thinking (e.g., shifting, changing) to broader contexts (e.g., social media, digital environments)
  • collaborating in large and small groups
from diverse perspectives to build shared understandings and extend thinking
Respond to text in personal, creative, and critical ways
Demonstrate speaking and listening skills
  • Strategies associated with speaking skills may include the conscious use of emotion, pauses, inflection, silence, and emphasis according to context.
  • Strategies associated with listening skills may include receptive body language, eye contact, paraphrasing building on others’ ideas, asking clarifying questions, and disagreeing respectfully.
in a variety of formal and informal contexts for a range of purposes
may include to understand, to inquire, to explore, to inform, to interpret, to explain, to take a position, to evaluate, to provoke, to problem solve, and to entertain
Use the conventions of First Peoples and other Canadian spelling, syntax, and diction proficiently and as appropriate to the context
Express an opinion and support it with evidence
Recognize intellectual property rights and community protocols and apply them as necessary
Use writing and other creative processes

There are various writing and creative processes depending on context, and these may include determining audience and purpose, generating or gathering ideas, free-writing, making notes, drafting, revising and/or editing. Creative processes may also include conception, rehearsing, revising, and delivering/performing.

to plan, develop, and create engaging and meaningful oral and other texts for a variety of purposes and audiences

Students expand their understanding of the range of real-world audiences. These can include children, peers, and community members, as well as technical, academic, and business audiences.

Use a variety of techniques to engage meaningful texts for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Assess and refine oral and other texts to improve clarity and impact
  • creatively and critically manipulating language for a desired effect
  • using techniques such as adjusting diction and form according to audience needs and preferences, using verbs effectively, using repetition and substitution for effect, maintaining parallelism, adding modifiers, and varying sentence types
  • for oral texts, consciously using emotion, pauses, inflection, silence, and emphasis
  • rehearsing with the help of a constructively critical listener, a mirror, and/or audiovisual recording