Oracy

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Proportion of different subject teachers who believe it is ‘very important’ to develop particular skills among their pupils Science 69 55% 57% 57% 74% Maths 84 54% 55% 56% 89% Languages 58 38% 81% 78% 79% 92% English 102 47% 80% 94% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Writing <strong>Oracy</strong> Numeracy Reading Strikingly, headteachers (84%) are more likely than class teachers (68%) to say they feel it is ‘very important’ their school develops pupils’ skills in oracy. One secondary headteacher says he feels, irrespective of the subject taught, “one of the undervalued aspects of being a teacher is the ability to use language effectively”. Importantly though, teachers also highlight a range of reasons why oracy fails to be given the same status or priority as literacy and numeracy. We explore these factors in greater depth in Sections 4 and 5, but key reasons why oracy is pushed down the agenda include: • A lack of time • Perceived negative effects of oracy, such as deteriorating pupil behaviour or putting shy or under confident pupils on the spot • Competing priorities • Teachers’ lack of inclination, confidence or expertise to use oracy effectively • A belief that it is not relevant to their subject Talk as a foundation for all learning at Limpsfield Grange School Spoken language is seen as a fundamental part of pupils’ learning at Limpsfield Grange School, a boarding special school for girls aged between 11 and 16 with autism. Headteacher Sarah Wild explains that spoken language is a “first and continual step” in the girls’ learning. It is critical for their educational outcomes because: 24 “Quite often the girls are really good at decoding language, so their reading ages can be amazing… but it’s not about that, it’s about the understanding, so it’s the layer underneath that that they can’t do. You get [pupils] with really amazingly high reading ages that can’t solve a maths worded problem, because they don’t really understand… the meaning of the worded problem” Sarah Wild, Headteacher, Limpsfield Grange School
Why does oracy matter? Both the literature and teachers’ views highlight a range of reasons why oracy matters. xii While this section explores the areas in which teachers feel oracy contributes to pupils’ development, we look in Sections 4 and 5 at reasons why some teachers do not engage with oracy as systematically as they do with reading, writing and numeracy. <strong>Oracy</strong> helps pupils... 906 Understand and use language 64% 29% Increase their confidence and independance 64% 30% Develop their understanding of particular subjects 52% 39% Explore and understand their feelings and empathise with others Voice opinions, and participate in activities in school and the wider community Extend their career prospects, and meeting employers’ needs 48% 39% 33% 48% 27% 41% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Proportion who believe oracy supports pupils’ development in this area ‘a great deal’ Proportion who believe oracy supports pupils’ development in this area ‘a fair amount’ Language and communication A number of studies suggest that focusing on oracy can enhance pupils’ ability to develop spoken language and communicate effectively and appropriately. One experimental study shows that activities involving ‘argumentation’, learning to reason and build arguments, can improve pupils’ ability to build and use arguments in lessons and transfer these skills to other subjects. 44 Qualitative research and literature reviews also point to benefits associated with oracy in this respect, suggesting it may: • Enhance pupils’ ability to communicate with greater clarity and effectiveness, 45,46 particularly those who find self-expression through writing difficult, 47 for whom English is not a first language, 48 or who have forms of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 49 • Help build vocabulary 50 “Oral language, ‘oracy’, is the most fundamental communication tool” Professor Frank Hardman xiii Links between oral language skills and literacy, as well as broader educational outcomes, have frequently been highlighted in academic literature, 51,52,53,54,55 and in particular for younger children and those who struggle to learn to write (including those with a related form of special educational need). 56 Teachers play an important role in developing their pupils’ spoken vocabulary, which in turn can boost the pupils’ decoding skills 57 and reading comprehension 58,59 again particularly among younger children 60,61 and learners with additional educational needs. 62 Furthermore, a young child’s ability to say words confidently can have a direct impact on their spelling which, in turn, can support their writing. 63 xii Practitioners were asked how they thought oracy contributes to pupils’ development in different ways, with oracy defined as ‘the development of children’s capacity to use speech to express their thoughts and communicate with others in education and in life, and talk through which teaching and learning is mediated’ (based on Alexander, 2012: 10). xiii Key informant interview. 25
Page 1 and 2: Oracy The State of Speaking in Our
Page 3 and 4: Contents Foreword 3 Executive Summa
Page 5 and 6: Foreword The things we say and how
Page 7 and 8: Executive Summary What does this re
Page 9 and 10: 1. Introduction 7
Page 11 and 12: 2. What is oracy? 9
Page 13 and 14: Learning through talk Oracy should
Page 15 and 16: Oracy framework School 21 uses the
Page 17 and 18: 2010s • The new National Curricul
Page 19 and 20: Several secondary practitioners say
Page 21 and 22: Secondary school and FE teachers al
Page 23 and 24: 3. Why does oracy matter? 21
Page 25: 55% Oracy is seen as a pre-requisit
Page 29 and 30: Using Makaton sign language to deve
Page 31 and 32: Elklan Language Training Elklan run
Page 33 and 34: Oracy can help pupils gain confiden
Page 35 and 36: Cognition Pupils’ cognitive devel
Page 37 and 38: In comparison with the linguistic a
Page 39 and 40: Yet while employers rate oral commu
Page 41 and 42: Social disadvantage Numerous studie
Page 43 and 44: Which pupils in particular benefit
Page 45 and 46: 4. How do teachers and schools curr
Page 47 and 48: Professor Alexander believes classr
Page 49 and 50: Developing ‘real-life’ oracy sk
Page 51 and 52: Whole-school practices Schools do n
Page 53 and 54: The ‘Woolsack Debating Society’
Page 55 and 56: Embedding oracy into learning The h
Page 57 and 58: 5. What helps and hinders oracy in
Page 59 and 60: Lack of time Proportion of teachers
Page 61 and 62: In contrast, teachers working in in
Page 63 and 64: Prioritisation Almost one in five t
Page 65 and 66: Teachers particularly lack confiden
Page 67 and 68: The applicability of oracy-based ac
Page 69 and 70: Who is responsible for oracy in you
Page 71 and 72: Championing oracy from the top Jan
Page 73 and 74: 6. Conclusions 71
Page 75 and 76: What helps and hinders oracy in sch
Page 77 and 78:
7. Appendix 75
Page 79 and 80:
The Survey Pretesting The survey wa
Page 81 and 82:
School name Location Phase / School
Page 83 and 84:
References 1 Wilkinson, A. (1968)
Page 85 and 86:
51 Dockrell, J. E., Marshall, C., a
Page 87 and 88:
95 Ibid.: 3. 96 Mourshed, M., Farre
Page 89 and 90:
Particular thanks goes to Big Chang
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