Closing the gap through Communication

In a recent article in The Time (July 5 2023) it was reported that Sir Kier Starmer has pledged that Oracy will be put at the heart of the curriculum under a Labour Government.

“Starmer says: “The ability to speak well and express yourself should be something that every child is entitled to and should master….An inability to articulate your thoughts fluently is a key barrier to getting on and thriving in life.”

Children are routinely taught a range of Oracy skills in private school, but Starmer is concerned that those in state schools are being left behind and face increased barriers in life.” (The Times, Politics, Wednesday July 05 2023)

So, what is oracy and how can practice be improved in the primary classroom?

Effective oracy is effective communication, and if communication is the root of successful interaction, then oracy is a key skill which needs to be learned,  in order for children to achieve the high aspirations which they need in order to successfully realise their dreams.

According to the MathsHubs, “Oracy is a set of skills which allow us to communicate effectively and encompasses learning to talk and learning through talk, both involve speaking and listening. Learning to talk should lead to learning through talk.”  (Oracy: Learning to talk and learning through talk, Devon Education services and MathsHubs Jurassic, Version 1.6 January 20^th 2023).

Voice 21, the creators of The Oracy Framework, have researched the impact of providing a high quality oracy education. Their findings demonstrate that a high quality oracy education has measurable impact in six areas of self-development:

• Increases confidence
• Improves academic outcomes
• Fosters Wellbeing
• Equips students to thrive in life beyond school
• Narrows Gaps
• Promotes social equity.

For socially disadvantaged children who may not be receiving a good education in oracy at home,  for those who lack confident role models, or for children whose parents do not speak English as a first language and may, therefore be unfamiliar with expressing themselves formally in English using Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary, schools provide an essential opportunity for young people to address and overcome the barriers referred to by Sir Kier Starmer.

“You are the only second chance for some children to have a rich language experience. If these children are not getting it at school, they are not getting it.” (Neil Mercer, Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge & Director, Oracy Cambridge – The Oracy Benchmarks, Voice 21)

In response to their research, Voice 21 and Oracy Cambridge have devised The Oracy Framework which sets out the physical, linguistic, cognitive and social and emotional requirements needed for successful oracy. This framework, has a necessary focus on speaking and listening skills, whilst also recognising that effective communication is more than this, and that a high percentage of successful communication is achieved through body language, practised technique, focus, confidence and audience awareness. The most educated and well-researched speaker can fail to impress an audience through a failure to ‘read the room’ or to convey confidence through their body language.

For disadvantaged children, the triple burden of low self-esteem, low self-belief and low self-worth are barriers, which may be seen as potentially damaging not only to their aspirations but also by preventing the development of good Oracy skills.  However, through practising and embedding good Oracy skills in school, the same children can gain the self-confidence, self-assurance and self-belief which can break down those barriers and enable them to thrive.

A four step start to promoting good Oracy in the classroom.

In every lesson, there is an opportunity to promote discussion in the classroom, and with that opportunity comes the occasion to promote good Oracy skills.

1. Be Clear

A key pillar of the Oracy framework is clarity: the clarity of pronunciation; the clarity of vocabulary choices; the clarity of delivering information through structure, and seeking clarity through questioning. 

When teaching children new vocabulary, we can use the ‘I say, you say’ approach to ensure that they are clear about the correct pronunciation of the new word or phrase, and subsequently a similar approach can be used to ensure that everyone is clear about the meaning of the new word by using it in a correct context and then asking the children to also use the new vocabulary in the correct context by placing it in a sentence of their own choosing.

Providing children with a selection of possible vocabulary choices for a missing word in a sentence also provides the opportunity for a discussion about the word selection. Why is one word better than another? How would one of the other choices alter the meaning of the sentence? Why would this word definitely work/not work?

In the example below, only one of the possible selections would work in the given sentence (squeeze) however, the others are synonymous in the correct context. In this particular context, a discussion might follow where the word ‘crush’ could be equated to damaging someone’s hopes; the word ‘squash’ likewise, indicates the possibility of silencing someone and ‘pulverise’ suggests something altogether more aggressive.

Asking children to explain their choices also enables them to develop the clarity of their responses and to build on their oracy skills. However, as important as it is to encourage speaking and discussion, it is also equally important to allow time for thought and measured reflection, so that when the children do respond, they are able to do so in a structured way. Giving time and space for thought, not only creates a safe and supportive space but also teaches children to organise their thoughts, and in so doing, to build clarity into their responses rather than saying the first thing that comes into their head, just to ease the pressure.

2. Be Correct

For children who are at the early stages of acquiring English as a second language, or for children who have poor role models at home, providing a correct response to an apparently straightforward question can be complicated and intimidating. For many parents, the natural instinct with early language acquisition in small children, is to repeat their words back to them in a grammatically correct way. For example, a toddler asking “Go toilet?” might receive the response, “Would you like to go to the toilet? Of course you can go to the toilet. Would you like to go to the toilet now?” This repetition and affirmation of the correct vocabulary is absorbed by the child and eventually repeated as part of the natural language development.

If that constant repetition, affirmation and encouragement is absent, there is no role model and the child is left with essential gaps in their language development. Prepositions appear to be the first words to vacate a vocabulary, with the phrase “Can I go toilet?” being a relatively common request even at the age of 10 or 11.

During class discussion, repeating a phrase correctly and embedding the correct use of grammar and vocabulary is the first step to ensuring that children are developing increasingly confident oracy skills. If children are not corrected, we are creating misconceptions that incorrect syntax and vocabulary usage is acceptable, thereby inhibiting a child’s ability to thrive through successful and fluent communication throughout their life.

3. Be concise

Successful verbal communication requires concision. A verbose, confusing ramble threatens to obscure the point, whereas a clear and concise statement will convey your thoughts successfully. In a classroom, teachers are experts at concision. Instructions, teaching points, complex ideas all need to be conveyed clearly and efficiently. Children’s explanations of their reasoning also need to achieve the holy grail of concision in order to convey their understanding. When explaining their reasoning, children should be taught how to clarify their thoughts in a structured manner. One strategy for  organising clear, concise responses is through the use of sentence stems and stem sentences.

4. Be confident.

Finally, children should be confident. In a culture where everyone’s view is valued, confidence will flourish. In a classroom where one child’s voice drowns out the others, it is easy for those who are less confident to become quieter and to feel less valued. Through peer support, partner talk and a culture where everyone is encouraged to share with equal validity being given to all points of view, all children can grow in confidence. Although an initial response might be incomplete or a misconception, through discussion with others, that initial response will be challenged and re-considered. Children will develop the ability to critically evaluate others’ opinions and ideas and to self-reflect upon their own ideas and to critically evaluate their validity.

The development and devotion of time in the curriculum to oracy may not be as high a priority as it should be, however, within the curriculum there are ample opportunities to build oracy skills and to develop the physical, linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional skills required to make a difference to those who may need a second chance, having not have had the first chance at a rich language experience.