Best Practice

Seven reasons oracy education is vital in your classroom

Pedagogy Skills Lesson planning Vocabulary & oracy
Following a recent article offering quick wins for the teaching of oracy skills in the secondary classroom, Amy Gaunt looks at seven reasons why oracy education should be at the heart of our curriculum and teaching

 

Over the past seven years, the charity Voice 21 has been working with UK schools to embed a high-quality oracy education which equips their students with the oracy skills they need for success in school and in life.

Earlier this year, we published our insights and impact report (2023), drawing on survey data from 12,313 staff and 46,636 students in Voice 21 Oracy Schools, as well as findings from the research projects we have led over the last year.

I wrote recently in SecEd offering a range of quick wins for the teaching and development of oracy (Gaunt, 2023) while also taking part in SecEd’s recent podcast episode focused on ideas and advice for the teaching of oracy in the classroom and across the school (2023).

But why is this important? In this article, I would like to share seven insights from our recent report about the importance of oracy education. So, what did we learn?

 

SecEd Podcast: Amy Gaunt was among the guests for a recent episode of the podcast focused on how we can teach oracy, speaking and communication skills in the classroom and across the school with practical tips, ideas, resources, advice as well as examples from the work of two schools: https://bit.ly/3qOcWPq

 

1, Oracy boosts attainment in reading

Progress in reading is accelerated through high-quality oracy education. In our research project to explore the impact of an oracy-rich approach to vocabulary development, 80% of students met or exceeded expected progress in reading, with one-third of students exceeding expected progress.

These findings are consistent with those from other studies, such as an Education Endowment Foundation meta-analysis which found that oral language interventions had a positive impact on attainment, particularly in reading (EEF, 2021).

How does oracy teaching support vocabulary development and why does this benefit reading? Vocabulary plays a fundamental role in the reading process, both in terms of word recognition and language comprehension. And as Isabelle Beck and colleagues explain in their book Bringing Words to Life (2002), oral language is the most effective vehicle for learning new words. In oracy-rich classrooms, students have structured opportunities to try-out and experiment with new vocabulary in their speech and to hear new language in context which benefits their reading.

 

2, Oracy education increases student confidence

 

As a result of a high-quality oracy education, students’ academic and social emotional confidence is boosted. In our research, when asked “Is there anything else you would like to say about why speaking and listening (oracy) is important to you?”, 35% of students in Voice 21 Oracy Schools who responded chose to write about oracy as a source of confidence.

Responses from students aged between 5 and 16 reveal that while younger children are more likely to perceive academic confidence in relation to oracy (“my oracy skills help me learn better at school”), older students perceive the confidence they acquire from having good oracy skills in more social and emotional terms (“my oracy skills help me get along better with others”).

 

 

3, Oracy education is crucial at transition

While oracy education can increase student confidence, we also found that students’ perceptions of speaking change at transition; anxiety and nervousness increase dramatically in year 7 and rise steadily throughout secondary school.

This suggests that oracy education is particularly important at transition when students are adapting to a new social environment and academic challenge.

Teachers and school leaders should be aware of this increased nervousness or anxiety when planning for oracy in their settings. By teaching students the oracy skills they need to be effective speakers in different contexts (rather than simply expecting them to have these) and fostering supportive classroom cultures in which every voice is valued, we can better prepare students to speak in class and to different audiences and boost their confidence.

 

4, Oracy matters across subject domains

Oracy improves outcomes across the curriculum. However, in secondary schools oracy expertise is not evenly distributed across departments. We found that English and humanities teachers are most likely to be “definitely” involved in the development of their school’s oracy provision, while maths and science teachers are least likely to be.

To realise the benefits of oracy education, schools should embrace oracy education in all subjects. As Mercer and Littleton (2007) remind us: “Ways of thinking are embedded in ways of using language.” Teaching students to speak like scientists, mathematicians and historians empowers them to think like specialists.

In the SecEd Podcast episode, we discussed lots of ideas for how teachers can introduce oracy education to their subjects.

 

5, Oracy can be assessed

 

Not being able to assess and track student progress in oracy is often cited as a barrier to a greater focus on oracy in schools. However, our pilot, Comparing Talk, established that “comparative judgement” (a new approach to assessment) is a reliable way to assess oracy. This method of assessment relies on assessors making lots of quick comparisons between videos of student talk, rather than “marking” each video in a traditional way, against a mark scheme or rubric and overcomes reliability concerns of other approaches to assessing oracy.

While there is still work to do before this assessment is ready to hit the classroom, we are quietly confident that we have found an approach to oracy assessment which will offer teachers game-changing insight into the development of their students’ oracy skills. Watch this space!

And again, we discussed assessment approaches in the SecEd Podcast episode.

 

6, Oracy teaching improves early language provision

 

As you might expect, we have learnt that oracy teaching is vital in the early years. Communication and language skills provide the foundation for the development of later literacy skills and so explicitly teaching oracy in the early years sets students up for success as they progress through school. However, it is vital that the same effort and attention which is paid to spoken language in the early years continues through primary and into secondary school– oracy education should be the golden thread that unites every stage of a child’s schooling.

 

7, Oracy leadership requires professional development and support

 

Without dedicated leadership there is a risk that oracy is “everywhere and nowhere” in a school. To embed oracy education successfully, we suggest that every school appoints a dedicated oracy leader. These leaders require specialist, domain-specific leadership skills in order to influence oracy practice across a school.

Unsurprisingly, we found that the more confident oracy leaders feel in their role, the more progress their schools make towards embedding a sustained, high-quality oracy education.

So, to ensure your students can reap the many benefits of a high-quality oracy education, we recommend that every school appoints an oracy leader (and invests in their development).

  • Amy Gaunt is director of learning and impact at Voice 21, a national charity which works to transform the learning and life chances of young people through talk. Voice 21 supports a network of Oracy Schools. Amy is the co-author of Transform Teaching & Learning Through Talk: The oracy imperative. Visit https://voice21.org/ and follow @voice21oracy

 

 

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