Best Practice

How do we define oracy? And how do we teach it?

Oracy education Lesson planning Pedagogy Curriculum
What do we actually mean when we talk about oracy skills and education? And how can we teach these in our lessons? Amy Gaunt considers the three mutually reinforcing elements of oracy and how they might be weaved into a typical lesson
Three elements: Oracy education comprises three interrelated, overlapping, and mutually reinforcing elements – Learning to talk, Learning through talk, and Learning about talk - Adobe Stock

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.

A SecEd best practice guide to teaching oracy in schools

This article by Amy Gaunt is among 18 best practice, advice-driven pieces published in SecEd's recent free-to-download supplement focused on the teaching of oracy skills. The practical 21-page supplement takes a deep dive into everything that oracy education entails, with lots of ideas, advice, lessons learned, and school case studies. You can download your free pdf via www.sec-ed.co.uk/content/downloads/a-seced-best-practice-guide-to-teaching-oracy-in-schools 

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 on-going 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.

 

Now, let's weave all of this into a lesson

It is year 10 computer science – not a lesson where you would typically expect to see oracy take centre stage. Even the layout of the classroom poses a challenge, with banks of computers forming physical barriers between students.

The lesson starts: “I’d like you to look at the tier 2 and 3 words – efficiency, maintainability, constructs, functions. You’re going to discuss that in your small oracy groups.”

Students break into small groups. They are clearly used to talking to each other. There is a low hum as students talk together to decide on the most appropriate definition for each term.

The teacher brings the class back together: “Let’s see what we’ve got then. So ‘efficiency’, who can go with it? Go for it Kaelan. What did your group say?”

Kaelan loves to talk: “Solving a problem with the least amount of steps.”

But the teacher is not satisfied with this definition. He asks whether anyone can develop Kaelan’s idea further.

A short, detailed discussion ensues in which students discuss how they can solve a problem with the least amount of code. The teacher challenges them to develop and extend their thinking and explain their reasoning, providing a solid basis for the learning students will be doing for the rest of the lesson.

The talk does not end there. The teacher quickly reminds students of the conventions of group talk in his classroom: “Remember the rules. Remember you can’t talk over each other. I’m looking at you two in particular! Remember to build on what someone’s saying. Clarify if they are not understanding.” (See further information for Voice 21’s Discussion Guidelines and Talk Tactics resources.)

The teacher shares two extracts of code: “They’re both lovely programs but they’re not perfect. I want you to decide what programming techniques have been used. Which program is more efficient and what maintainability techniques have been used as well? Which is the better program?”

The students break off and begin talking in trios. You can hear students applying their subject knowledge to the problem at hand, pulling out features of each program and evaluating each one based on the key concepts explored at the start of the lesson. I am drawn to a group where a lively discussion has broken out.

“Guys, I need your clarification. Why is the function unnecessary?”

Another student responds, pointing to examples in the code to support his explanation. 

“So the second is useless is what you’re saying to me,” clarifies the first student. It is clear he has misunderstood and so the second student provides an alternative explanation.

“Ah I get that now,” the first student replies.

After several minutes, the teacher brings the class back together, inviting summarisers to share each group’s reflections on each code. These students are required to make their reasoning public, comparing each program and articulating which one they think is better overall.

This is not a standalone oracy lesson, yet students have learnt both “to” and “through” talk. Through carefully planned and thoughtfully structured discussions – both in small groups and as a whole class – they have had opportunities to apply, refine, and deepen their understanding of key programming concepts and develop their oracy skills.

When you see a lesson like this in action, it is easy to miss the expertise, decisions, and strategies that make it work.

This is why Voice 21 developed the Oracy Benchmarks (2019) – to guide and empower teachers to develop oracy in their classrooms and make the principles behind effective oracy practice accessible for all students.

There are five benchmarks for schools and five for teachers. Let’s explore how the five teacher benchmarks were brought to life in the lesson I describe here. 

  • Benchmark 1: Sets high expectations for oracy: The teacher establishes and models ambitious norms for talk, encouraging students to use technical vocabulary and articulate their thinking with precision. High expectations are evident as the teacher challenges students to explain and refine their reasoning. Established routines ensure that students confidently engage in educationally productive discussions.
  • Benchmark 2: Values every voice: Every student is encouraged to participate, first in small groups and then in whole-class discussions, allowing them to refine and develop their ideas before presenting them more publicly. The teacher fosters a collaborative culture, prompting students to develop and challenge each other’s ideas rather than immediately offering his own.
  • Benchmark 3: Teaches oracy explicitly: Oracy is intentionally taught in this lesson. The teacher reinforces the conventions of effective discussion, emphasising turn-taking, building on other people’s contributions, and seeking clarification. He scaffolds talk by modelling discussion strategies and encouraging students to justify their reasoning.
  • Benchmark 4: Harnesses oracy to elevate learning: Oracy is integrated into the lesson as a tool to deepen knowledge and understanding. Via discussion, students critically engage with key ideas, challenge misconceptions, and articulate their reasoning. Structured opportunities for dialogue refine their thinking and help them apply their knowledge.
  • Benchmark 5: Appraises progress in oracy: The teacher actively monitors discussions, listening to students’ language and the quality of their reasoning. He provides immediate feedback, prompting them to clarify points and extend thinking. The final task requires students to articulate their reasoning publicly, offering opportunity to assess subject knowledge and oracy skills. 

 

  • Amy Gaunt is director of learning, impact and influence at Voice 21, a national oracy education charity. Amy is co-author of Transform Teaching & Learning Through Talk. Find Amy’s previous SecEd contributions via www.sec-ed.co.uk/authors/amy-gaunt or visit https://voice21.org/ 

 

Further information & resources