It is often assumed that most children arrive in secondary school with fully developed speaking and listening skills, but in fact language develops throughout adolescence and beyond. Secondary is a much more demanding environment which taxes young people’s language skills, not just in class but in their social interactions too.
Some children will have special needs, but there is a bigger group of children who lack the words they need for learning. They do not quite manage the right tone or talk in the wrong register for the group they are in.
They struggle to acquire the academic vocabulary needed for secondary. It is not a case of “talking posh”, because “the little professor” will quite likely be mocked and ostracised by intolerant class mates. It is all a question of using the right sort of language and tone of voice for the right purpose and to fit in with different groups.
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