Introduction
Oracy has become a hot topic in education recently, especially with Prime Minister Keir Starmer bringing it into focus during pre-election discussion. Concern regarding the impact of the quality and accessibility of oracy education in schools across England led to the establishment of the independent Oracy Education Commission, headed by the respected Geoff Barton. The Commission agreed that oracy can be best defined as “Articulating ideas, developing understanding and engaging with others through speaking, listening and communication”
We are glad to see the growing recognition of the underpinning skills of speech, language and communication, as well as to see oracy is coming to the forefront of the national agenda. The recently published report of the Oracy Education Commission contains a welcome level of recognition of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and how support of SLCN in school is essential.
It also contains a timely warning with the current focus on “spoken” language not to conflate “fluency” with “good communication”. As an organisation, we recognise that communication, whether spoken, signed or using assistive technologies, is always underpinned by language skills.
Understanding Oracy
Wilkinson, 1965, defined oracy is defined as the ability to use spoken language purposefully – to communicate effectively with other people. Examples of this include using active listening, powers of persuasion, collaboration, discussion to influence others. In comparison with the Oracy Education Commission’s definition (above), this does not reflect so directly the role of speaking, listening and communication.
Oracy is important for various reasons; oracy-rich approaches can have a positive impact on attainment, particularly in reading (EEF, 2021), and can pave the way for future success in employment, such as interviews, teamwork and leadership roles (with employers ranking oral communication as the number one employability skill, NACE, 2016).
Furthermore, oracy practice can increase student confidence and supports friendships alongside social and emotional development.
The Role of Speech and Language in Developing Oracy
Voice 21 and Cambridge University developed The Oracy Skills Framework to specify the various skills young people need to develop to deal with different talk situations. They have separated out four strands of oracy: physical, linguistic, cognitive and social & emotional, and given detail as to what skills to look out for and develop under each area.
Using their glossary for guidance, examples of the skills demonstrated by an effective presenter are detailed below:
- Physical – Oral presentation varied in pitch and tone, e.g., to sound informative, humorous or passionate. Which is produced with clarity, appropriate volume and precision. The presenter’s body language and facial expressions are open, engaging and match the message provided.
- Linguistic – Apt and varied vocabulary, for example, to persuade, demand respect, or assert authority, depending on the situation. Use of appropriate grammatical choices and register that align with the situation and audience. Good speakers can use jokes, metaphors and anecdotes to enhance the presentation and build rapport.
- Cognitive – Selected information is relevant and interesting for the audience, builds on what they know, and enables the presenter to provide constructive responses to any ideas and views expressed by the listeners.
- Social and Emotional – Effective management of questions and encouragement of audience participation. Confidence and ability to adjust what they say to meet their needs. Demonstration of liveliness and flair to enhance the presentation.
It is easy to see how these abilities are highly desirable for school and beyond, and it is no wonder there are plans to bring oracy more centre stage in the curriculum. However, it is also easy to get ahead of ourselves when creating lessons to develop oracy skills. Ambitious planning to work towards good oracy skills in students is admirable, however without careful consideration of certain factors, such as those below, we might find ourselves leaving many students in the class behind:
- Adequate attention skills e.g. maintaining, shifting and integrating attention
- Intelligible speech sound production
- Understanding and use of a wide range of vocabulary
- Grammatically correct sentence structures
- Understanding of what others are saying
- Being able to provide information in a narrative form
As highlighted above speech and language skills underpin oracy; without clear speech or a strong grasp of understanding and spoken language, a student’s ability to communicate effectively and participate verbally is compromised. With a large (and rising) population of children struggling to meet age-appropriate speech and language milestones—it is so important that we consider the ‘nuts and bolts’ so we can realistically support our students to become the most effective communicators they can be.
Practical Tips to Promote Oracy from a Speech and Language Therapist:
- It is imperative to identify students with speech and language difficulties, as early as possible, and to understand their speech and language profile of strengths and needs. This will enable school staff to recognise where these students may have difficulties with oracy. Would they benefit from more explicit instruction around listening and understanding skills for example, to be able to respond in discussions? Could some work around specific speech sounds, vocabulary, or use of appropriate sentence structures help others to understand the message these students are trying to convey?
- Consider how students who are having speech and language interventions can take their learning back into the classroom so they can use these new found skills to develop their oracy, in class discussions, presentations and newstime for example.
- If a student has ongoing , significant speech and language difficulties, are there alternative or augmentative ways that they can get their messages across, for example use of visuals and gestures, or prompts on the presentation to support recall of the information? Make sure that your oracy targets are realistic for each individual student.
- Ensure a communication-friendly environment, where all students are encouraged to participate and listen, and efforts are overtly praised.
- Careful observation during class discussions can support your understanding of what language skills could be practised to boost the class’s abilities. For example, the class might benefit from clarification strategies to help them really grasp what others are saying or verbal reasoning support to learn how to justify their opinions.
- Value listening as much as talking – being able to take in another’s point of view, process that information and build on what is said demonstrates great collaborative oracy skills that can be of much benefit later in life.
- Provide plenty of varied discussion opportunities– for example, provide chances for students to take part in paired work, group work, debates, presentations and news time as different skills are used for each.
- Use lots of explicit instruction and modelling around effective communication skills e.g. the use of formal language in certain situations, responding respectfully and confidently, how to articulate ideas well, use of body language and facial expression (consider classroom resources, training).
- Reflect on where students are struggling – do arguments break out during collaborative activities? Do some pupils take over conversations, whilst others sit passively and avoid talking? Do some children balk at the idea of newstime? What can be done to support students’ underpinning speech and language skills, as well as their oracy skills and their confidence? Providing sentence starters, a visual structure for how to present information and selecting appropriate pairs and groupings may help in these situations. A range of engaging topics, including those that might draw in the quieter students will help to build interest and engagement.
- Ensure that the students have time to reflect on how their oracy work went – would they have liked to have inputted more in discussions? Were they happy with their presentations? What could have been done to make the session even more effective? Feedback forms or an end of session discussion could be used, and these not only guide future oracy work but enable staff to consider individual’s level of self-awareness.
With a much-needed focus on the new spoken curriculum and proposal of how to ensure that oracy education is a focus within schools, there is no better time than now to consider how to boost your students’ speech and language skills in order to lay a great foundation for effective communication development. For those students who may be struggling with the underpinning speech and language skills, our evidenced identification and intervention packages may be the answer!
References and guides:
EEF (2021): see https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/oral-language-interventions
Wilkinson, A. (1965). The Concept of Oracy. Educational Review, 17:4, 11-15, DOI: 10.1080/0013191770170401a.
The Oracy Skills Framework: see https://oracycambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/The-Oracy-Skills-Framework-and-Glossary.pdf
NACE (2016): see https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/employers-verbal-communication-most-important-candidate-skill/