Answers to some questions asked by teachers
about Walking Talking Texts.
What is Walking Talking Texts?
Walking Talking Texts is an ESL program based around the written
English text of a book. It covers the range of teaching strategies
needed to teach ESL effectively - both oral language and literacy.
Walking Talking Texts is a language-teaching program. The teaching
of oracy and literacy in English are planned for, within the broader
framework of teaching English-as-a second--language.
In Bilingual programs (Two-Way Schools) the Petal Planner is used in
Early childhood classes. In English-language only medium-of instruction schools, the Petal Planner is recommended for use in the
first and second years of schooling. The Petal Planner, when
implemented, teaches learners
• how to speak English
• what English looks like when it is written down, so when learners
come to read and write it themselves, they will be familiar with it
• to join in reading experiences in English, in groups
• to learn about written English by watching the teacher write group
negotiated texts.
When learners can communicate orally in their second language
(when they have that language in their heads/at their disposal), then
learning to read and write the second language will be facilitated.
Learning to read and write the second can then mirror the processes
involved in learning to read and write in a first language. However,
Second language learners will continue to develop new knowledge and
facility with the second as oracy and literacy in L2 grow.
How was Walking Talking Texts originally written?
Walking Talking Texts evolved out of classroom practice with ESL
Indigenous learners. It was trialled and refined over a period of three
years before it was originally written up as Walkin' Talkin' Stories in
the early 80s. In the mid 90s, I was asked to update the document as
it was one that many schools continued to use. The rewrite, with more
detail, reflecting researched ESL theory more explicitly, was entitled
Walking Talking Texts. The use of the word “Texts’ in this title reflected
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Answers to some questions asked by teachers
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the use by teachers of factual and informational texts in addition to
the narrative, as the stimulus text.
How can schools use Walking Talking Texts?
Walking Talking Texts is most effective when it is used as a whole
school program. The reasons for this are:
•
students receive a consistent teaching/learning program from year
to year. In this way, students become familiar with all the
strategies/activities in the program so that they can then
concentrate on the new English language structures to be learned
•
teachers and students all know what students have done before;
when the school has organized the scope and sequence of texts to
be used (which books/texts will be used in which Year levels), there
is less repetition of topics, of using texts that are too low a level (or
too high) and (new) teachers are not left wondering what text to use
and what level to target for particular groups of students.
•
all teachers are using the same pedagogy, therefore Learning
Together Sessions can be targetted at (multiple) teachers’ needs
•
tracking of students’ achievement through the assessment data
and evidence collected in portfolios from year to year is enabled.
Can/should teachers of Secondary & Preschool age learners use
Walking Talking Texts? Is it only appropriate for primary
school?
Preschool learners do not yet need/nor should they have a formal
language and literacy program. Preschool learners need lots of
experiences that promote and develop their first language. Pre-school
learners need exposure to English informally for a short time each day
(big books read to them, group songs and singing games, chants and
rhymes).
When learners enter Transition, usually at age 5, they can begin a
formal Oral English program presented through the Petal Planner.
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Answers to some questions asked by teachers
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The Column Planner has been adjusted to address the needs of
Secondary students through a ‘novel study’. Walking Talking Texts has
a history of successful delivery to Secondary students in the 80s. The
recommendation is that ESL Indigenous students who are of
Secondary school age engage in ‘novel’ length texts to enable
scaffolding into extended oral and written texts, based on the
requirements of Secondary school curricula. Some forms of
informational and other factual texts may also be suitable as stimulus
texts for secondary students.
Can the model be integrated into other Learning Areas?
Integration with other Learning Areas is a feature of Walking Talking
Texts, The teaching of English of, and through, other Learning Areas
is essential to learning the English of successful learning in school.
The application of learned English into other Learning Areas occurs
well into a unit of work and this is for a specific purpose. Students
need to learn the new English language words, sentences and
meanings (that is, they need time and teaching, to build up the field of
knowledge in English) about the topic, before they can begin to learn
new concepts using the English learned.
In the Early Childhood years, the Learning Area integration may take
from one to four lessons of work. As the students get older and the
English language required becomes more complicated, and the topics
more abstract, the integrated areas may become minor units of work
within a Walking Talking Texts unit. The latter may take three or four
weeks within a one Term WTT unit, e.g. a science focus in which
students and teacher look at different habitats in the local
environment, make retrieval charts and write a report on different
animals or eco systems (from the unit Where the Forest Meets the Sea).
The Learning Outcomes for the integrated areas come from the
appropriate curriculum outcomes for that Learning Area. It will also
be necessary to timetable separately for other learning areas not
covered through integration as only outcomes linked to the topic in an
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Answers to some questions asked by teachers
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authentic way will be achieved through Walking Talking Texts. The
outcomes in other curriculum areas (not linked to the topic) will need
to be planned for and taught in an ESL informed way as Learning
Areas in their own right.
How will Walking Talking Texts help us to teach students
better?
Walking Talking Texts has been designed so that the learners engage
in English language activities and exercises in a unit of work in a
sequence which:
• teaches them the new English language for the unit of work
•
•
•
•
•
allows them to practise the language many times in slightly
different situations (this repetition may seem unnecessary to firstlanguage English speakers, however, second language learners
need and appreciate the time and opportunity to practise new
language so they can internalise it and learn to use it with ease)
provides vocabulary extension for learners’ repertoire of English
teaches all three cueing systems and skills for literacy graphophonic, syntactic and semantic
teaches both formal and informal use of English (interpersonal,
informational and aesthetic)
makes sure that all aspects of learning English, learning about
English and learning through English are covered (when teachers
follow the sequence of activities and exercises).
Walking Talking Texts also supports schools to teach students more
effectively when the whole school follows the program, as teachers can
talk together about what works well, how to do particular activities
etc.
Where the whole school follows WTT, the students also learn what is
expected of them in each activity/exercise. This means that in
subsequent units/years, students do not have to spend time learning
how to do the activity or guessing what the ‘new’ teacher wants them
to do (what the teacher expects) - they can concentrate on the new
English language they are learning from the activity.
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Answers to some questions asked by teachers
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How can we use Walking Texts in multi - age and multilevel
classes?
Walking Talking Texts can be used in multi-age classes:
• the teacher can use the same book/text as a stimulus for the unit
•
all learners will participate in the activities in the central column or
the Petal Planner together, joining in the group activities at their
own level/ability
•
it is recommended that teachers use a text that meets the
linguistic needs of the most ‘English-able’ students while at the
same time allowing the younger students access to the concepts of
the text, (and some of the language).

the other way to cater for a wide span in a multi-age group is to
work with two texts on the same topic, one with higher-level text
and one with more simple text.
•
in setting up the exercises and the independent writing, (side
columns of the Column Planner), the teacher will cater for the
different levels/abilities of the learners by planning for and
providing a different level of scaffolding while ensuring that the
exercises extend each child, for example,
- younger /less English-proficient readers and writers can
be given a written cloze exercise using the same topic/text
that has only a few key words left out, with perhaps some
beginning letters included and model of the text to refer to
- older/more English-proficient learners would use the
same text with more words left out and limited clues to
support them
-
•
independent learners would work on a text drawing on
their own repertoire of oral and written English to predict
and add grammatically text.
the Petal Planner should be no problem in multi-age classes as it is
an oral language program; teachers will know individual learners
and their abilities and will need to plan to meet the needs of
particular learners according to this knowledge
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Answers to some questions asked by teachers
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•
a mixed group of learners involved in the Petal Planner and the
column planner is often beneficial as the less English-proficient
learners can often learn from the more proficient English-learners
in group situations (less English-proficient learners are under no
threat to perform individually in this situation which promotes
further learning)
•
for individual writing, the teacher again will know what each
learner can do and how:
- more English-proficient writers will be able to attempt
-
•
their own first drafts with the support of the classroom
resources created from the unit of work
less English/literacy-proficient writers may need a
skeleton text on which they fill in small sections/single
words using the teacher's model of a group negotiated text
(active copying versus passive copying!)
multi-age teaching using Walking Talking Texts means that
- the topic/task is the same
-
the expectations differ according to the level of Englishlanguage ability of the particular students
•
cross-age tutoring is also a strategy that can be used in a multi-age
group when the teacher and students are familiar with Walking
Talking Texts
•
Walking Talking Texts utilises group work before independent work
on any task
•
in a multi-age group, the most English- proficient students can be
paired/grouped with less English-proficient students for the
exercises (practice of language items)
•
the sample units of work - Where the Forest Meets the Sea & the
Story of Rosy Dock- have been planned with a multi-age group in
mind.
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Answers to some questions asked by teachers
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How can we help students learn to write in different Englishlanguage genres through Walking Talking Texts?
Walking Talking Texts takes the teacher and students through a range
of both oral and written genres in each unit of work. Walking Talking
Texts requires the teacher to model how to write in each genre
through a group negotiation of the text first, before the students
attempt to write their own.
Depending on the genre of the stimulus text, and the nature of the
integrated activities, a unit of work can/will cover narrative, recount,
procedure, descriptive writing and report writing. Beverley
Deriwianka's text Exploring How Texts Work is a resource that the
school should buy for Learning Together Sessions. There is also a
video available with this resource. It is published by the Primary
English Teacher's Association (PETA).
How does Walking Talking Texts fit into a curriculum for ESL
learners?
Walking Talking Texts is a framework within which teachers can plan
to teach outcomes from the ESL (and the English curriculum) and
from other curriculum areas through integration of the outcomes of
other Learning Areas, in units of work.
It is the responsibility of the teachers/school as a whole to ensure
that outcomes from the curriculum documents are being covered and
incorporated into Walking Talking Texts units of work throughout the
school. Walking Talking Texts uses the curriculum pathway of the ESL
Framework of Stages - a scope and sequence document for ESL
students.
How can we find Learning Outcomes in this program to help us in
planning?
The answer given for the previous question is also relevant to this
question. Walking Talking Texts does provide Teaching Goals and
Learning Outcomes for each of the activities in the Petal Planner and
the central section of the Column Planner.
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Answers to some questions asked by teachers
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These goals and outcomes come from the ESL Framework of Stages
mentioned above. While these goals and outcomes will be addressed
as teachers implement each activity, the overall outcomes (ESL and
Learning Areas), identified as targets based on student
assessment data, are sourced from the NTCF.
How do we use, plan and implement Walking Talking Texts?
How do we use the "kit"?
The easiest way to begin using Walking Talking Texts is to start with a
sample unit of work that has already been planned. Just begin with
activity A (Petal Planner) or 1 (Column Planner) and implement all of
the activities as planned. List any activities or exercises that you have
trouble with/are not sure of, and these can become the focus of
Learning Together sessions at your school.
Walking Talking Texts provides blank planners for both the Petal (page
40) and the Column Planner (page 163). These planners scaffold the
programming and implementation process for teachers. It is best to
plan in teaching groups of two or more. Write in activities/ideas
related to the chosen text to the planner in the appropriate places.
The Column Planner is now available electronically.
There are also daily planners for the petal (page 183) and the Column
Planner (page 197).
Strategies for using Walking Talking Texts in classrooms
Included are some possible timetables for using Walking Talking Texts
in a Bilingual school that uses the Staircase Model of bilingual
instruction. These timetables do not have to be followed, they just give
and idea of how Walking Talking Texts can be implemented as the
School's English language program.
In order to use Walking Talking Texts in classrooms, it will be
necessary to organise some of the school's many text resources into
year/section levels for the school, so that learners are not repeating
texts as they go through the years, and so that the texts to which the
students are being exposed, reflect development in English language
difficulty. This task should not be a problem as most schools have
enough resources in the library to begin working with Walking Talking
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Answers to some questions asked by teachers
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Texts. The text lists at the back of Walking Talking Texts can be used
as a reference when organising the resources.
It is not necessary to organise all the books before starting to use
Walking Talking Texts in classrooms. Each class group only needs a
book to start with and a book to go on with.
Do we need to follow the cycle or can we pick up some of the
ideas and use them.
Any teacher can pick some of the ideas and use them to enhance
current classroom practice. However Walking Talking Texts has
been written and planned as a total ESL methodology and
program and if only some of the activities and/or exercises are
used, then the program being used is NOT Walking Talking Texts.
The correct implementation of Walking Talking Texts means
that teachers implement each activity and exercise in the
sequence in which they have been written.
Each activity/exercise has been included for the particular English
language skill/knowledge it focuses on and teaches. In choosing to
implement some activities/exercise and not others, teachers can leave
out vital elements and sequences that ESL students need, to achieve
competence.
When left to our own preferences/abilities in teaching, some of us
(teachers) would have a 'thematic' oriented unit of work where the
learners participate in interesting activities, but not necessarily with
any targeted spoken or written skills outcomes; others of us would
have a program full of language exercises, where learners for example,
do worksheet English to get aspects of the grammar correct or spelling
lists. Walking Talking Texts has a balance of both of these aspects of
teaching, when the activities/exercises are followed.
How do we use shared books (big books)?
The use of a shared text and the teaching strategies that go with
'shared reading' are an integral part of implementing Walking Talking
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Texts. Reading shared texts allows students to see and hear a model
of English reading as the teacher reads.
Shared reading also reduces the embarrassment of individual reading
where ESL students can sometimes feel inhibited and thus learn not
to take risks in learning. This is a good topic to explore at Learning
Together sessions.
Shared reading involves having the group of students predict what is
coming next, teacher pointing out aspects of English language
(graphophonics, spelling rules and inconsistencies, rhyming words
etc), as well as the basics such as pointing to each word as it is read.
In other words, demonstrating reading behaviours to ESL students.
Is it possible to use Walking Talking Texts for vernacular programs
as well as for the learning of English?
Some Two-way (Bilingual) schools which use WALKING TALKING
TEXTS as a whole school program, decided to use the same
methodology with an adapted format for vernacular programs. This
came about as a result of Indigenous Assistant Teachers and
Indigenous teachers expressing a desire to teach the vernacular
program in the same way that they saw English being taught; it was a
decision made at the local school level by people involved in the
programs, including the Teacher-linguists. The schools that began to
do this in the 80s and 90s are still following this model.
How does Walking Talking Texts relate to NT Board of Studies
documents?
Walking Talking Texts was listed on the recommended curriculum
charts in the 80s and 90s as a support document for the English
curriculum. Currently as a support (Layer Two) document for the
NTCF (ESL Outcomes), it does not replicate what other documents do,
it has a reciprocal, complementary relationship with other documents
such as Learning English in Aboriginal Schools which describes how
to use many of the strategies incorporated into Walking Talking Texts.
Unlike other documents, Walking Talking Texts provides an ESL
methodology organised into a scaffolded implementation format; it was
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Answers to some questions asked by teachers
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written as a document meant to sit on teachers’ desks during the
working day to support them in their teaching.
Is WALKING TALKING TEXTS appropriate to use with first
language speakers of English?
Walking Talking texts has been used with English-first-language
speakers in ‘mainstream’ classrooms. EL1 speakers should be able to
produce work at a more complicated English language level, without
the amount of scaffolding needed for ESL speakers. Walking Talking
Texts is flexible in its design so that learners can achieve at the level
they are able to, and are taught to. EL1 speakers come to school with
the semantic and syntactic knowledge of English already well
developed as their home language, therefore those aspects of language
learning which are emphasised in Walking Talking Texts come more
easily to most E1 learners. The same applies for other languagebackground learners using their first language to achieve literacy. The
texts used in particular age/year levels could also be of a more
complex English language level than those used for ESL learners, due
to the background these learners bring to school in the language of
instruction.
What is the difference and/or relationship between the Petal
Planner and the Column Planner
The Petal Planner was originally designed for Bilingual schools which
use the 'staircase' model of Bilingual education where learners in
Early childhood classes have an Oral English program until they
transfer literacy skills developed in their first language, to English, in
the Primary grades.
The Petal Planner is also used in the first year of formal schooling for
ESL Indigenous Learners in English-language only medium of
instruction schools. The majority of schools in the NT use the Petal
Planner in the ESL for Indigenous language Speaking Students (ILSS)
program.
The Petal Planner is an Oral English methodology that exposes the
learners to the group reading and writing of English language texts.
This is based on the theory that learners are more successful in
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reading and writing in English when they understand the 'culture' of
reading and writing in English, and the fact that we use spoken and
written English in very different ways, and that the ways in which we
do this, need to be taught. As well as the passive reading and writing
exposure written into the Petal Planner, each activity has been
chosen with the purpose of using spoken English to teach spoken
English, to teach about Spoken English and to teach through Spoken
English (See the analysis of the activities on page 3 of Walking Talking
Texts).
The Column Planner is made of up the petal planner which has been
elongated and written in the central shaded column, so that spoken
English is the core of the English program; on each side, independent
writing (left hand column) and exercises (right hand column) give
learners practice in independent reading and writing skills.
The Column Planner is for learners who are in a classroom program
which teaches literacy in and through English at the same time that
spoken English is being taught - Primary years in 'staircase' Bilingual
(Two-way) models; and from Year One/Two in English-language-only
medium schools (the Petal Planner is advised for Transition in all
schools, with the addition of 10 - 15 mins a day practising/playing at
writing). A deliberate feature of the Column Planner is that no
speaking, reading and writing requirements are expected of learners
on an individual, independent basis until the requirements of these
language tasks have been taught, modelled and scaffolded by the
teacher first (in the central column). By following the numbered
activities and exercises in sequence, this aspect of the methodology is
realised.
Do teachers have to do all the activities and exercises, and, in the
sequence in which they occur in the document?
Each activity/exercise has been included to teach and give learners
practice in a different aspect of using English; each activity builds
upon the previous ones, so jumping too far out of the suggested
sequence or leaving some out will not enable the learners of the
amount of time and practice they will need, as learners of another
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Answers to some questions asked by teachers
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language, to internalise the English taught and to practise the new
aspects of English they are learning.
What ages can Walking Talking Texts can be used with?
The document has been written to cater for learners in the age range
represented by learners from Transition (first year of school) to Year
Seven and into the Secondary years.
Can WTT be used in Preschool?
These young learners do not need the more formal aspects of school
just yet; however, in order to familiarise young ESL Indigenous
learners with some aspects of ‘school-learning’, Preschool teachers
could take aspects of the Petal Planner and use these, as many
preschool teachers would do in their programs anyway (read short
simple English language texts with clear and interesting illustrations
to the learners, sing songs, learn rhymes, do simple role plays for
about 10 to 15 mins a day);
Is WALKING TALKING TEXTS suitable for Secondary students?
WALKING TALKING TEXTS has been used with Secondary Aged
students effectively in the past. The Column planner has been slightly
adjusted to accommodate the learning of ESL through a novel study
where students are required to write a journal based on the reading of
the novel as required in the English Learning area in Secondary
programs. Some factual texts may also be suitable as the stimulus for
a WTT unit in the Secondary area as well.
How long does a unit of work take?
The length of a unit of work depends on the age/year level of the
learners, the length of the stimulus text and the amount of integrated
Learning Area studies a particular book lends itself to. In general, a
unit of work for Transition/Year one learners takes from one to two
weeks (three at the most) With older learners and more complicated
texts, the amount of time needed for the units of work becomes longer.
While most Middle Primary units of work would be about five to six
weeks, it is more often the case than not, that the units of work in
Upper Primary and Secondary engage learners in active learning for
the full ten-week term.
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