Oracy is an essential aspect of human communication. It helps us to express our ideas, thoughts and feelings effectively in speech. Being able to convey how we feel in an organised and articulate manner is key to connecting with and talking to others in both personal and professional contexts.
Contents
- What is oracy?
- What does oracy mean in education?
- What are the four types of oracy?
- Why does oracy matter?
- Is oracy the same as speaking and listening?
- What is the difference between literacy and oracy?
- How to build oracy skills in the classroom
- Classroom resources to develop students' oracy and language skills
What is oracy?
Oracy is the ability to demonstrate our views, ideas and emotions fluently through the spoken word. Oracy works through the use of grammatical structures to verbalise our thoughts and involves the skills of understanding and interpreting spoken language.
Oracy moves beyond speaking and involves significant cognitive skills to succinctly and clearly communicate with others. Oracy can be developed, refined and polished through practice, both in the classroom and beyond.
What does oracy mean in education?
As an essential skill for social navigation, oracy is especially critical in educational settings. Not all children will have a well-developed oracy skill set when they start school, so the opportunity to develop and expand oracy is vital to becoming a confident communicator.
It’s important to note that effective oracy involves using both speaking and listening skills. Developing understanding, conveying ideas and being able to build on the ideas of others are all significant aspects of oracy.
Oracy is one of the most critical elements of a student’s entire learning journey. Being confident with oracy empowers students to understand their own ideas on a deeper level and enables them to fully engage with the views of others. In this way, children build a richer knowledge of the world around them.
What are the four types of oracy?
In many respects, oracy is a broad discipline that encapsulates multiple threads of human communication.
In schools, oracy is typically broken down into four key strands:
- Physical: This involves the technical use of voice and body language, such as tone, volume, pace and gesture.
- Linguistic: This focuses on the use of language, including vocabulary, grammar, structure, and the ability to adapt language to different situations or audiences.
- Cognitive: This encompasses the structuring of thoughts, development of ideas and critical thinking skills.
- Social and Emotional: This involves the use of language in social contexts, understanding others, expressing emotions, and developing relationships.
By developing these elements of oracy, teachers can help students improve their communication skills, enhance their learning and strengthen their metacognition (understanding of the thinking process).
Channelling these threads of learning not only actively engages students with the power of collaborative learning but also reveals the pathway to achieving their potential.
Why does oracy matter?
Now more than ever, employers are rating communication as a major priority. In occupations where tech is becoming seamlessly integrated into virtually every workflow, speaking fluently and listening effectively are sought-after commodities in the world of work.
There's increasing evidence to show how fundamental these oracy skills are to students' progress, life opportunities and attainment, particularly at GCSE level. Voice 21, England's leading oracy charity, suggests that spoken language skills are 'one of the strongest predictors of a child’s future life chances'.
The English Speaking Union found that 85% of 16-24 year old respondents to a recent survey think receiving specific support at school for speaking and listening would have helped them progress more effectively in their career, and in life generally.
For children from disadvantaged backgrounds, the language gap starts before primary school and widens throughout their learning journey at secondary school and beyond.
The Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group published their report, Speak for Change, in 2021, which recognised the need to raise the status of oracy in education. It sets out shared expectations for oracy teaching in primary and secondary schools, highlighting the positive impact of oral language interventions.
By focusing on these crucial oracy skills, we can narrow the gap and improve all students' academic outcomes and communication skills, as well as increase their self-confidence and wellbeing.
Is oracy the same as speaking and listening?
Oracy is a broader concept of effective communication through spoken language, with the core components of speaking and listening. However, oracy involves many more aspects, such as:
- The mechanics of speaking and listening
- Dialogue engagement
- The ability to structure thoughts coherently
- Clear expression of ideas and views in speech.
What is the difference between literacy and oracy?
While literacy and oracy are both forms of communication, they convey this communication through different mediums. Oracy is the communication of ideas through spoken language, whereas literacy refers to the ability to read and write, enabling individuals to access information in written form.
Oracy in the National Curriculum
The National Curriculum emphasises the importance of oracy, recognising these skills as fundamental to educational development. Students should be taught to speak clearly, convey ideas confidently in standard English, and participate effectively in debates and presentations.
For teachers, this means developing oracy skills through:
- Integrating lesson activities that promote speaking and listening skills.
- Creating a classroom environment that encourages open communication.
- Encouraging critical thinking and active participation from all students.
The focus on oracy not only enhances students' verbal communication skills but also contributes to their overall academic achievement and future life chances.
How to build oracy skills in the classroom
Building oracy skills is vital for students' development and success. Here are some effective strategies you can try in your classroom:
1. Incorporate interactive activities
- Group discussions
- Debates
- Presentations
- Role-play exercises
2. Implement peer feedback sessions
- Structured listening with feedback forms
- Think-pair-share discussions
- Gallery walks with verbal commentary
3. Create opportunities to practice
- Speaking and listening practice
- Thought articulation
- Confidence building
These approaches help students develop their communication skills in a supportive environment where they feel comfortable expressing ideas.
CPD resources on oracy and the language gap
Explore the following useful webinars, toolkits and resources to discover strategies that support students with building oracy, vocabulary and language skills.
- Developing oracy strategies in the classroom is a free 30 minute on-demand webinar from the Teachit Talks series that looks at how we can develop effective oracy strategies in the classroom. Download the webinar and PowerPoint for practical advice and evidence-based strategies.
- Accelerating vocabulary at secondary school is a toolkit of teaching ideas to support your professional development, as well as games and classroom strategies to raise students' word consciousness, increase classroom talk and develop students' oracy.
- School leaders and teachers can explore ideas for vocabulary and oral language interventions in Closing the word gap: activities for the classroom, including a whole-school approach to language development.
- Tutors can help to close the word gap and develop students' oracy skills by inspiring students with a curiosity about words and encouraging more classroom talk. 20 ideas for closing the word gap and developing oracy skills in tutor time is a resource featuring displays, form quizzes, games and word sharing activities.
Classroom resources to develop students' oracy and language skills
Oracy templates for any subject or key stage
Try these flexible and engaging oracy templates, designed for KS3-5 students, to build oracy skills across all subjects. The templates provide students with a solid foundation in communication skills for academic and professional progress, including:
- structuring coherent and effective ideas and arguments
- listening actively and responding positively to different points of view
- developing critical thinking skills
- building confidence in public speaking.
Oracy resources for English teachers
For English teachers, this selection of KS3-4 English speaking and listening lesson resources provides engaging methods of supporting students as they develop oracy and language skills.
- For year 7s, use Dragon's quest - lateral thinking discussion tasks for vocabulary and oracy development over a series of lessons with imaginative quest activities.
- Try Chat cards for a talkative first lesson or ice-breaker activity that builds language and oracy skills.
- Use Speaking and listening assessment cards to help students become attentive listeners and give constructive feedback after presentations.
- Make a better speech can help students develop their speaking skills and confidence with speaking.
- Pair Controversial topics with Debate flashcards to engage students in debating and persuasive language skills.
