Cross Curricular Links - Literacy

The benefits of linking language and design and technology

Through linking the two subjects, the advantages for both children and teachers are readily apparent.

For the children, the benefits include:

- A real need - Design and technology activities offer children a real purpose for using and developing their language skills.
- Relevant contexts - Design and technology provides the variety of relevant contexts which children need to be able to use and develop their language skills.
- The opportunity to apply language - There are opportunities to apply all types of language and to gain practise in areas in which a child finds a particular difficulty. For those who have English as an additional language, design and technology is a useful vehicle through which language development can take place in meaningful contexts for the children.
- Enjoyment - There is a growing body of evidence which suggests that children reach higher levels in language, particularly in writing and speaking, through design and technology as they are so well motivated.

For the teachers, the benefits include:

- Planning within meaningful contexts - When planning for the literacy lessons, it is useful to find meaningful links and contexts for the children to aid learning.
- Assessment opportunities - As language opportunities within design and technology are varied and purposeful, there are many situations when teachers can assess children's use and application of language. Children may well perform better in certain contexts.
- Best use of time - With the constant pressures that are placed on the primary timetable, it is crucial that work is not unnecessarily duplicated. Careful planning is needed to ensure best use of time.

Setting the context

Language can be developed through design and technology if appropriate links are made and that this is achieved in a structured and organised way. Of course, there will always be unexpected opportunities and the value of these should not be dismissed.

Why "language" not "literacy"?

As a practical subject, which involves children in both thinking and doing, design and technology provides many opportunities for children to develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. By using the word "language", it is the intention that the readers will understand that all aspects are examined, thus enabling purposeful links between the two areas to be made.

Language for learning

Language is a tool for thinking and communication and design and technology can offer an exciting context for children to become more skilful in using this tool. Eve Bearne's (1998) useful summary showing how language fits into learning for example.

Children use language for:

- preparation, getting ideas going, framing questions
- gathering, organising or categorising information
- exploring ideas, hypothesising, predicting, describing, persuading, arguing
- giving information to others, communicating ideas
- reflecting on and evaluating learning, reviewing progress
- demonstrating that something has been learned

Using different aspects of language

Many of the skills we need to teach, particularly in design and technology, depend on developing children's ability to communicate effectively. To develop designing skills, children should be taught to describe and draw on their experience to help generate and explore ideas, and to clarify their ideas through discussion. Some children will find that design and technology activities give these experiences a tangible context which they find easier (or simply more interesting) to articulate.

At first the focus tends to be on spoken communication, but by producing a design in the form of a drawing, children can record their design ideas. Labelled drawings give children a real reason for writing, and lists of the equipment or materials required for the making process are useful to introduce the appropriate vocabulary and to contribute to the range of writing which the children experience. Some schools use writing frames, such as those developed by Wray and Medwell (1995), to support the children until they are familiar with a particular genre.

The need to read, both their own texts and a variety of other sources, will ensure that children engage with information texts. Modelling how we read these differently from fiction is important and shared reading of such texts is useful if the children are going to produce their own factual account, for example, when evaluating a product.

In both language and design and technology, at Key Stage 2, children are expected to develop a greater awareness of the purposes and audience / users for their work and we should highlight this overlap. We should aim for a balance of independent and collaborative work, which encourages children to synthesise their skill, knowledge and understanding and enables them to communicate effectively.

© Developing Language through Design and Technology, Design & Technology Association: Wellesbourne, 1999.

This booklet can be found in the ONLINE SHOP

Many Education Business Partnerships have been writing Big Books that link schools with modern industries.