Oracy
Oracy is about explicitly teaching pupils to use their spoken language skills productively, to work things out together, and think creatively and constructively with other people.[1] The evidence for Oracy Education is strong, showing a significant impact on learning including closing the gap for those pupils who struggle.[2]
Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)
Children with SLCN need support to develop these foundational skills for learning, which we know can make a huge difference to their learning and wellbeing.
Support can be direct or indirect with a speech and language therapist, targeted through small group intervention, or universal support within the classroom. A balance of all three is the ideal, giving children bespoke and targeted intervention alongside working with teachers to support inclusion and access across teaching and learning.
In my work with Oracy Cambridge[3], I find schools that focus on Oracy are well placed to provide universal support as they already have a focus on spoken language in the classroom. They can also more easily see the challenges pupils with SLCN are facing. This is a good thing. We are still struggling with identification of children with SLCN, with less than half of all children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) currently being identified.
As a speech and language therapist, I want the children I work with to benefit from the robust evidence for supporting oracy skills. So where do we start?
When people think about Oracy, they might think about presentational talk or debate, though for me, the most powerful aspects of oracy for children with SLCN are Exploratory Talk and Dialogic teaching. This is often my starting point.
Exploratory talk
Exploratory talk supports children to have productive conversations. Importantly, it teaches them how to do this and to reflect on their own oracy skills, building meta skills around talk. High quality conversations are fundamental to children’s language learning and exploratory talk gives the children both guidance and practice to do this well.
Dialogic teaching
Dialogic teaching means a greater focus by adults on how they use their language as well as on how children respond. Often children with SLCN can go unseen or can struggle to engage in classroom talk. A dialogic teaching approach aims to engage all children in classroom discussions, it encourages children to listen and respond to each other and to build on each other's ideas. This allows teachers to see more clearly where children with SLCN might be struggling and to make adaptations for their inclusion. Teachers also encourage elaboration and questioning, supporting pupils to take their ideas and create further discussion and deeper learning. This practice of building purposeful conversation around learning is a powerful one for all children, including those with SLCN.
When done well, the principles that underpin oracy education can work extremely well for pupils with SLCN, though as with all teaching, adaptations can make a significant difference.
Building Awareness
Children tell us that when adults understand the nature of their difficulty, it makes a big difference, so increased awareness is a good place to start. Professional learning for teachers can build awareness and confidence in supporting pupils with SLCN, for example, sharing key information about Developmental Language Disorder.[4]
Adaptations
In addition, simple classroom adaptations can make it easier for pupils to access learning and build their oracy skills.
Be aware of children’s language levels, ideally through collaboration with speech and language therapists or if waiting for support, using resources such as the universally speaking tools[5] which give information on typical development. The oracy framework is another useful tool which shows some of the components of oracy and can help teachers see more specifically where children might be struggling.[6]
Adapt adult language based on what you know about the children’s levels so that they can get the best out of oracy teaching and learning. Often children disengage because they don’t understand, though when teachers can adapt their language it supports greater understanding and learning opportunities for children with SLCN.
Use visual aids to support understanding – photos, gestures, symbols can all help as can simple demonstrations. When working in groups, sharing visual reminders for ground rules can help children to understand their role in the group discussion. Use a visual symbol or gesture to support the ABC of elaboration – ‘do you want to Agree, Build or Challenge’.
Offer structures or planning tools such as talking frames to support sequencing and organising thoughts and language. We often use visual structures to support summarisation skills or colourful semantics to support both understanding and use of sentences. Task managers can help children understand what is required and keep on track.
Check understanding – by asking children to tell you about the task. Break it down and give additional time for them to process instructions. Children with SLCN will take more time to both process and formulate responses. Being explicit about giving more time - ‘I’m just going to give you some thinking time’ - can be extremely helpful. We often teach pupils how to monitor their own understanding and to request additional time or clarification when they need it, which gives them great independence in their learning.
Model what you want to see so pupils know what’s expected. In tasks like ‘talking partners’ or ‘think, pair, share’, give guidance or structure to make sure both children share their ideas in the discussion or in feeding back e.g. ‘say one thing you agree with and one thing you disagree with,’ ‘decide on 3 important points’. We might also give timers, tell them when to swap talker and listener to provide some scaffolding if needed.
Consider robust vocabulary teaching for key vocabulary – sometimes the difference between understanding a task or not is just a couple of key words. There is strong evidence to support robust vocabulary teaching and the difference it can make[7]. We often explicitly teach key tier 2 words linked to oracy, such as ‘summarise’ ‘clarify’ ‘elaborate’ etc. This ensures frequently used words are not a barrier to learning. Integral to this is teaching children to recognise when they do and do not understand a word so they can seek clarification.
Ask pupils to elaborate – just saying ‘tell me more’… can get pupils to think and explain more and works well for pupils with SLCN. Give options for pupils with SLCN to enable easier access – e.g. ‘do you want to build on Jack’s idea or challenge?’ You can also narrow your questions if pupils are struggling e.g. ‘what do you mean by X?’
Don’t worry about children speaking in full sentences – exploratory talk is about sharing and building ideas together. It’s productive with children working towards problem solving together. Expecting children to speak in full sentences during exploratory talk can inhibit the learning rather than support it. For children with SLCN, it can put additional pressure on a skill they find difficult. Focusing on what’s said rather than how it is said is key to learning through exploratory talk and much more inclusive for those pupils who struggle.
Teach children how to work and talk in groups - develop ‘ground rules’ for talk together with the children.[8] Check that everyone understands and give children with SLCN clear roles or tasks to help them contribute. Group work can have additional benefits, giving pupils lots of opportunities for using their language with peers. We have developed targeted interventions, such as our Language Legends intervention to combine exploratory talk strategies with more typical language work we would do as speech and language therapists, with great outcomes for children with SLCN.[9]
As a speech and language therapist, I’ve found building my knowledge of Oracy through working with Oracy Cambridge has had a positive influence on my practice. We’d love to hear whether you have a focus on Oracy Education in your schools or practice and how your approach to Oracy includes pupils with SLCN.
[1] Mercer, N (2025) Oracy The Transformative Power of Finding Your Voice
[2] Mannion, J & McAllister, K 2020 Fear Is The Mind Killer: Why Learning to Learn Deserves Lesson Time
[3] https://oracycambridge.org/
[4] https://learningcentre.speechandlanguage.org.uk/dld-educational-support
[5] https://shop.speechandlanguage.org.uk/products/universally-speaking-5-11
[6] https://oracycambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/The-Oracy-Skills-Framework-and-Glossary.pdf
[7] https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/deepening-knowledge-through-vocabulary-learning/
[8] https://thinkingtogether.educ.cam.ac.uk/resources/5_examples_of_talk_in_groups.pdf
[9] For more information visit https://www.lingospeech.co.uk/category/all-products