The following statements apply to all year groups.  The content should be taught at a level appropriate to the age of the pupils.  Pupils should be taught to develop their competence in spoken language and listening to enhance their communication skills, across a range of contexts and to a range of audiences.  They should have opportunities for working in groups of different sizes, understanding how to participate in conversations and debates. Pupils should be taught to:

• listen and respond appropriately to adults and peers
• ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge
• use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary
• articulate and justify answer, arguments and opinions
• give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings
• maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments
• use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas
• speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of Standard English
• participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role-play, improvisations and debates
• gain, maintain and monitor the interest of the listener(s)
• consider and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of others
• select and use appropriate registers for effective communication.