Isle of Man Frameworks for Talking and Listening
Introduction
At Anagh Coar we are working towards using the core curriculum and assessment frameworks for Talking and Listening on the Isle of Man from September 2025.
The Importance of Talking and Listening
Pupils will be taught to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and others can communicate with them. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society. Spoken language underpins the development of reading and writing. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak are vital for developing their vocabulary and grammar and for developing their understanding of the processes of reading and writing. Teachers should therefore ensure the continual development of pupils’ confidence and competence in talking and listening skills.
The Teaching of Talking and Listening
Talking and Listening are core skills for learning and are central to teaching and learning in all subject areas. To make good progress in these skills young people require frequent and varied experiences of talking and listening activities. A consistent and coherent framework is an essential basis for the effective teaching of talking and listening. All teaching staff should regard themselves as teachers of literacy, including talking and listening. All learners should be able to talk with confidence in any subject, and listening attentively in a range of contexts.
The Talking and Listening Curriculum Framework
This is a high-level framework outlining the content, skills and knowledge pupils will experience in their learning. Schools will themselves determine how this is delivered in accordance with their own learning and teaching policies, and schemes of work. Talking and listening is an essential part of all areas of the curriculum and pupils should be given opportunity to develop these skills in all learning. The curriculum framework sets out the learning opportunities that every learner will experience and these are grouped together within year groups, except Year 1 which outlines specific content for that group as much of the literacy provision in Year 1 should be focused on talking and listening. As pupils move through the key stages they will be developing similar skills in different contexts. This framework uses elements of the English National Curriculum and the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence - Literacy and English Experiences and Outcomes.
The curriculum framework consists of 3 dimensions:
• Enjoyment & choice
• Tools for talking and listening
• Creativity