Using ‘Shape Coding’ to teach Using ‘Shape Coding’ to teach grammar grammar

3030thth June 2011 June 2011 Dyslexia Action conferenceDyslexia Action conference

Susan Ebbels

Moor House School, Hurst Green, Surrey, UKwww.moorhouseschool.co.uk

and Division of Psychology & Language, UCL

Dyslexia and Dyslexia and language impairmentslanguage impairments

• Approximately 50% of children diagnosed with dyslexia have language impairments and vice versa (McArthur et al, 2000)

• Language impairments often affect the ability to understand and form grammatically correct or complex sentences

• Shape Coding can help children learn the rules of English grammar

Visual coding systemsVisual coding systems

Implicitly based on following hypotheses:

1. Children with grammatical difficulties have not learned language implicitly in the normal way

2. They can learn language using taught strategies

3. They have visual strengths

4. They can be taught language through these visual strengths

Shape CodingShape Coding

1. Codes parts of speech with Colour Pattern Scheme colours (with a few modifications)

2. Codes phrases with shapes (drawn in black).

3. Codes verb morphology with arrows

Shape Coding - coloursShape Coding - colours

Colour Pattern Scheme colours (with a few alterations)

Noun / Pronouns (boy, table, I)

Det / Possessive pronouns (the, a, my)

Verb (push, melt)

Adjective (hard, sad)

Preposition (in, through)

Adverb (quickly, carefully)

Coordinating conjunction (and, but, or)

Subordinating conjunction (because, if)

• Phrases grouped with shapes and linked with colour, a question and a symbol

Shape Coding - shapesShape Coding - shapes

What happening?

ClauseAux or Modal

• ‘Subjects’ and ‘objects’ have different shapes

NP: Subject NP: Object

Who? What?

Who?

What?

Verb Phrase

What doing?

Prepositional Phrase

Where?

What like?

How feel?

Adjective Phrase

• Extra shapes

How?

When?

Ben was putting an apple in a bowl

Shape CodingShape Coding

The apple is tasty

The sad boy is putting his tasty apple in her bowl

NarrativeNarrative

• Plan ideas in the relevant shapes, e.g.,

• Setting: Where, When, What like? • Main characters: Who?• Actions / Events: What did?

• Makes links between narrative and grammar

NarrativeNarrative Where?

When?

Who?

What happened or will happen?

What like? How feel?

1.

2.

3.

4.

How is Shape Coding How is Shape Coding introduced to new children?introduced to new children?

2. Teach that can have >1 word per shape and the correspondence to the question word is key to coding John is cleaning the car John is putting the car in the garage

3. To reinforce the meaning of the shapes, give exercises where the shape changes according to the meaning John is sleeping vs. John is tired

4. and answer questions of Who or What, but belongs inside other shapes

5. Specific shapes inside hexagons (verb phrase) depend on the individual verb and need to be learned with the verb.

1. SV sentences Who is what doing

Examples of verb typesExamples of verb types

feel or

feel

go

push

sleep

put

pour

fill with

Basic sentence TemplatesBasic sentence Templates

Learning vocabularyLearning vocabulary

To really know an item of vocabulary you have to know its1. Phonology

2. Meaning, includinga) multiple meanings (use colours to show different meanings

which belong to different grammatical categories)

b) if it is an irregular plural (double red line) or past tense (vertical arrow at the left) or past participle (horizontal arrow pointing left)

3. AND be able to use it in a sentence, for this you need to know itsa) Part of speech (use the colour)

b) Argument structure if it is a verb (use the shapes)

light = not heavy, easy to lift

This box is light

light = object which helps you see when it is dark The boy is touching the light

light = make something burn

The boy is lighting the fire

For exampleFor example

Part 2: verb morphologyPart 2: verb morphology

Subject verb agreementSubject verb agreement• Double red line used for plural nouns

• Double blue lines used for plural verb

The man and the lady are happy

The man is happy

The men are happy

he ate

Verb tensesVerb tenses

• Vertical arrow = finite verb (in the middle=present, left=past tense)

• zig-zag at right end = progressive participle

• horizontal arrow pointing left = past participle

he eats

he is eating he was eating

he has eaten he had eaten

walk

walk

drink

drink

ank

was

walk

walk

drink

drink

Intervention: verb tensesIntervention: verb tenses Ebbels (2007)Ebbels (2007)

• Coding used to reinforce which form of the word is present and which is past

• Signing also used with verbs to indicate tense

PAST

ed

PRESENT

s

s

is

is

was ing

inging

ing

Teaching past tense to Teaching past tense to class class

• Start with time line• Establish position of ‘present’ and ‘past’• Think of words which could be used for past times

e.g., yesterday, last week, this morning, 10 years ago• List verbs in present progressive versus past progressive• Introduce simple past tense• Class identify tense of different verbs in isolation or in

sentences• Class change words/sentences from past to present tense• Class correct adult’s bad sentences• Class correct own free writing

Unaided free writingUnaided free writing

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

A B C E F G H I J

Sept

Jan

Feb

Percentage of verbs used in past tense when required

Uses of morphological Uses of morphological codingcoding

• Teaching • Concepts of tense and agreement• Grammatical rules e.g., every clause must have one tensed verb =

“every cracker must have one down arrow”• Need to have an auxiliary (“diamond”) to carry tense (“down arrow”)

with a present or past participle • Consistency of tense throughout a piece of text (“arrows should be

in the same place – middle or left of blue line”)

• Correcting work• Use coding system to mark work• This enables children to “see” their own mistakes• Increases independence as can correct own mistakes

Points to notePoints to note

• Shape Coding is a tool, not a programme• You need to gradually withdraw the shapes to get

automatic use or understanding of the grammatical structures:Activities with shapesActivities without shapes, but bring shape templates

back to check answersActivities with no use of shapes

Evidence of effectivenessEvidence of effectiveness• Comprehension of ‘wh’ questions and passives (Ebbels & van der

Lely, 2001)

• Comprehension of datives (Ebbels, 2007)

• Use of past tense in written work (Ebbels, 2007)

• Production of verb argument structure (Ebbels et al., 2007)

• Comprehension of coordinating conjunctions (Ebbels et al., 2011)

Ebbels, S. and van der Lely, H. (2001). Meta-syntactic therapy using visual coding for children with severe persistent SLI. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 36(supplement), 345-350.

Ebbels, S.H. (2007). Teaching grammar to school-aged children with Specific Language Impairment using Shape Coding. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 23, 1, 67-93.

Ebbels, S.H., van der Lely, H.K.J., and Dockrell, J.E. (2007). Intervention for verb argument structure in children with persistent SLI: a randomized control trial. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 50, 1330-1349.

Ebbels, S.H., Marić, N., Murphy, A. & Turner, G. (2007). Can we improve comprehension of grammar in secondary-aged students with language impairments? A randomised control trial of therapy for coordinating conjunctions. Poster presented at “Lost for Words: Lost for Life?” conference on SLCN in older children and young people. 15-17 June 201, City University London, England.

More informationMore information

Email:

ebbelss@moorhouseschool.co.uk

Website (CD of resources & References):

www.moorhouseschool.co.uk/shape-coding-course

Discussion group + info re future courses: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shapecoding/

or email:

shapecoding-subscribe@yahoogroups.com