Step 1: Explicit Teaching & Modelling
Name the target in child-friendly language and demonstrate one concrete example connected to context, language.
Learning goals
1. Outcome Overview & Core Concepts
People change their language depending on who they are speaking with, what is happening and the role each person has. Respectful language can still sound friendly, formal, helpful or firm.
Learning target: investigate how interpersonal language choices vary depending on the context, including the different roles taken on in interactions
Big idea: Choose words and tone to suit the context and the roles people take
Learning routine: Notice context → Identify roles → Choose words → Check tone
4-Step Instructional Sequence
4. 4-Step Instructional Sequence
Step 2: Guided Analysis
Compare or practise a second example together. Students point to, say or show the clue.
Step 3: Collaborative / Independent Practice
Create or analyse one example together, then use a fresh familiar example independently.
Step 4: Formative Assessment
Use a one-minute check with a new example; require observable evidence rather than a guess.
Subject-Specific Content & Key Examples
2. Subject-Specific Content & Key Examples
Compare the same request in different contexts
Friend: Can I have a turn?Teacher: Could you please explain that again?Team leader: Please line up behind the cone.Visitor: Welcome to our classroom.
The purpose may be similar, but the wording and tone change with the audience and role.
Choose language that fits the role
askinginvitinggiving instructionsdisagreeing politely
Think about the relationship, the purpose and how the listener may feel.
Sort and notice
Sort short speech cards into language for a friend, teacher, visitor or team member.
Guided practice
- Sort and notice — Sort short speech cards into language for a friend, teacher, visitor or team member.
- Build or improve — Rewrite one blunt sentence so it suits two different audiences.
- Explain your choice — Use the words context, role, tone to explain what you changed and why.
Curriculum Coverage & Elaborations
Curriculum Coverage & Elaborations
The content description is the required target. The elaborations below are taught as examples and contexts, not as disconnected checklist wording.
- E1: exploring culturally specific greetings and expressions of politeness
- E2: exploring First Nations Australian cultural protocols in Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country, and the greeting words used by local First Nations Australians (teaching context)
- E3: exploring how familiarity with a group or individual influences language choices
Common Student Misconceptions
3. Common Student Misconceptions
- Using the same wording everywhere: Change the wording when the audience, purpose or role changes.
- Polite means overly formal: Respectful language can be natural and age-appropriate.
- Answer without evidence: Point to the word, sentence, image, sound pattern or text feature that supports the answer.
Practice Thought & Formative Assessment
Practice Thought & Formative Assessment
Use a fresh, code-aligned example. The student should show the exact word, sound, sentence, image feature, audience clue or text evidence that supports the answer.
Quick checks
- How might you ask a friend for help?
- How might you ask a visitor the same thing?
- What is a role in an interaction?
- Why does tone matter?
Mastery evidence
- Identify context
- Identify speaker roles
- Choose suitable wording
- Use respectful tone
Revision Notes
Revision Notes
- Remember: Choose words and tone to suit the context and the roles people take
- Use the routine: Notice context → Identify roles → Choose words → Check tone
- Before answering: point to the clue in the spoken words, written sentence, image, page layout or text purpose.
- Self-check: change the example slightly and see whether the same reasoning still works.
🎥 Optional Video Lesson
The SkillrHub lesson remains the primary learning resource. This optional video reinforces the explanation; you can complete the lesson and practice without watching.
Before you watch:
- Pause after each worked example.
- Try the examples yourself.
- Return to the SkillrHub lesson before continuing.
Recommended: The Courtesy Song
Scratch Garden — Notice polite words used for requests, thanks and interruptions in different situations.
As you watch: How does the reason for speaking change the words a person chooses?
Load video player Loads YouTube in this lesson. See the video notice below.
Try it: Act out asking a friend for a pencil and asking a teacher for help. Explain which words you chose.
Video unavailable, inaccurate or unsuitable for this year? Report a video problem to SkillrHub by email. You can continue with the written lesson and practice resources.
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Curriculum equivalents: Victoria, NSW and international
Curriculum equivalents for Investigate how interpersonal language choices vary depending on the context...
Mapped skill: investigate how interpersonal language choices vary depending on the context, including the different roles taken on in interactions
These references identify matching or closely related learning. Curriculum sequence, terminology and depth vary, so teachers should use the mapped skill and lesson difficulty to confirm suitability.
| Region | Curriculum framework | Closest level or code |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Australian Curriculum v9.0 | AC9E2LA01 · Year 2 |
| Victoria | Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0 — English | VC2E2LA01 · Level 2 |
| New South Wales | NSW English K–10 Syllabus (2022) | EN1-OLC-01 · Stage 1 |
| United States (USA) | Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts | Grade 2 |
| Canada (Ontario) | Ontario Curriculum — English | Grade 2 |
| United Kingdom (England) | National Curriculum in England — English | Year 3, Key Stage 2 |
| India | NCERT / CBSE — English | Class 2 |
Australian Curriculum v9.0 is the canonical source for this SkillrHub lesson. Victoria and NSW entries name the closest published state codes or outcomes; international entries are planning references rather than claims of identical curricula.
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Topic reference: AC9E2LA01 — AC9E2LA01: Investigate how interpersonal language choices vary depending on the context, including the different roles taken on in interactions
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