A persuasive speech by a Year 6 student council representative asking the school to start a language program. Students identify the speaker's requests and reasons, analyse techniques such as rhetorical questions, direct address and the rule of three, and evaluate how the speaker handles objections. Finishes with planning a short speech of their own.
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Curriculum: Australian Curriculum. We show specific outcome codes only where they have been verified against the official curriculum document.
Completed: Open the Door to Another Language — Speech Comprehension
Year 6 students (typically ages 11–12) working on reading comprehension. It is pitched at level 2 · standard.
Yes. The PDF includes a full answer sheet with model answers and success criteria where there is more than one good answer. You can also view the answers online.
About 25 minutes for 14 questions. Short, regular sessions work best: two or three a week beats one long one.
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Try Wattle Creek Holiday Park Brochure — Reading Comprehension.
Year 6 · English · Reading Comprehension
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Read the speech twice, once silently and once as if you were delivering it. Then answer the questions.
This speech was given by a student at a school assembly. Read it carefully and notice the techniques the speaker uses to persuade the audience.
Good morning teachers, parents and students. My name is Jonah Okafor, and I am the Year 6 representative on the student council. Today I want to talk to you about something our school does not offer, but should: a language program for every student from Year 3 up.
Let me start with a question. How many of you have a grandparent, a neighbour or a friend who speaks a language other than English at home? Look around. Nearly half the hands in this hall are up. Australia is one of the most multilingual countries in the world, with hundreds of languages spoken in homes across the country, including many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. Yet most of us leave primary school able to speak only one.
Some people say learning a language is too hard, or that it takes time away from 'real' subjects like maths and reading. The research says otherwise. Children who learn a second language become better at paying attention, switching between tasks and solving problems. They also understand their first language better, because they start to notice how grammar actually works. In other words, a language lesson is a maths lesson and an English lesson in disguise.
Learning a language is also about respect. When you learn even a few words of someone else's language, you are saying, 'Your world matters to me.' Imagine greeting the new student from Vietnam in her own language on her first day. Imagine being able to learn the local Aboriginal names for the creek and the hills around our school. That is not a luxury. That is what it means to be a good neighbour.
Finally, think about the future. Our region trades, studies and travels with Asia and the Pacific more every year. Students who can speak Indonesian, Mandarin, Japanese or Hindi will have doors opened to them that stay shut for everyone else.
I know the school cannot hire a teacher overnight. So here is what I am asking for. First, a lunchtime language club run by volunteer parents, starting next term. Second, that the school council put a language program on the agenda for next year's budget. And third, that every one of you learns to say hello in a new language before the end of this week.
Languages are not a door that is closed to us. The door is wide open. All we have to do is walk through it. Thank you.
Find each answer in the speech.
Use evidence from the speech to explain your answers.
Preview — the PDF contains the full resource and answer sheet.
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Comprehension Exercise · Year 5 · Reading Comprehension · Level 2 · Standard
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Comprehension Exercise · Year 7 · Reading Comprehension · Level 2 · Standard
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