So, how do we define oracy… – Sec Ed

This piece was first published in Sec Ed as a part of their SecEd best practice guide to teaching oracy in schools.

Oracy has rarely been far from the headlines in the last couple of years. Yet, for all this debate, there has been little consensus on what oracy actually is. So, what is oracy and where did the term come from? The term was first coined by academic Andrew Wilkinson in the 1960s to raise the profile of spoken language and listening by giving oracy the same status as literacy and numeracy, which were already accepted as key objects of study in education. It captures the essential need for talk (just as one needs to be literate or numerate) and couples it with the idea that it is a skill that can be acquired through teaching. In the 1965 book Spoken English, Andrew Wilkinson defined oracy as “general ability in the oral skills”. However, he was keen to stress that he had merely given oracy a name. The task ahead, he believed, was to further define it, to discover the best ways of teaching it, and to link this to work being done in other areas, such as literacy.

Further defining oracy, however, proved more of a challenge, provoking much discussion among academics and practitioners. A significant step forward came last year with the Oracy Education Commission’s report We need to talk (2024), which proposed a working definition that oracy can be defined as: “Articulating ideas, developing understanding and engaging with others through speaking, listening and communication.”

The definition includes the term “communication” to recognise that not everyone communicates using spoken language and that some children may articulate ideas, develop understanding, and engage with others through sign language or augmentative communication devices. A focus on oracy should affirm and celebrate these differences in communication. Nobody should be excluded. Further, this definition does not privilege one form of spoken language over another, it does not emphasise “standard English” over other forms of English, indeed it does not emphasise English. Oracy skills can be developed in all languages. This is important as oracy has faced criticism from some for promoting practices which exclude young people from marginalised backgrounds who may speak in non-standard dialects. Instead this definition is broad and expansive, focusing on cultivating students’ ability to express themselves, engage with different perspectives, and learn through educationally productive talk. But what does this look like in practice?

As outlined in We need to talk, oracy education comprises three interrelated, overlapping, and mutually reinforcing elements:

Learning to talk, listen and communicate – the development of speaking, listening and communication Skills.
Learning through talk, listening and communication – the use of talk or dialogue to foster and deepen learning.
Learning about talk, listening and communication – building knowledge and understanding of speaking, listening and communication in its many contexts.

Learning to…

This element requires that students are explicitly taught speaking, listening, and communication skills in school. The Oracy Framework, developed by Voice 21 and Oracy Cambridge (2015) categorises the oracy skills young people need into four distinct but interconnected strands.

Physical strand: The physical elements of speaking and listening – your gestures, body language, facial expressions, as well as how you vary your tone, pitch, pace and volume of speaking.
Linguistic strand: The words we choose to use and how we bring these together through speech.
Cognitive strand: Relates to organising thoughts and ideas – selecting content, structuring responses, and building on other people’s ideas.
Social and emotional strand: Concerns confidence and interpersonal interactions, including how we conduct ourselves within a group, present ourselves to an audience, and listen effectively to others.

These skills require explicit teaching. However, they do not need to be confined to discrete oracy lessons. Instead, they can be effectively developed through subject teaching across the curriculum, which is why all teachers are teachers of oracy.

Learning through…

This element refers to how teachers use spoken language to enhance learning in their classrooms. Robust research evidence shows that providing children with opportunities to engage in high-quality classroom dialogue can improve attainment and deepen curriculum mastery (EEF, 2017; Howe et al, 2019). However, as Professor Robin Alexander, a leading advocate of dialogic teaching, has explained: “Although talk is a universal feature of classroom life, talk of the quality required (for dialogic

teaching) is not universal. Making it happen requires skill and training.” (Oracy Education Commission, 2024). For this reason, the commission recommended that equipping all teachers with the skills to use dialogue and discussion effectively should be a priority in both initial teacher training and ongoing CPD, across all educational phases and subject disciplines.

Learning about…

This element has traditionally received less attention. However, its inclusion highlights the importance of helping young people to make informed decisions about how they speak by developing their understanding of spoken language in all its forms. This knowledge enables them to appreciate why people communicate differently, fostering respect for these differences, while also building their critical awareness – allowing them, for example, to recognise and challenge language discrimination. At Voice 21, we embed this aspect of oracy education within learning to talk, listen, and communicate as it provides the foundation for making conscious and effective choices about our communication in different contexts.

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