Combatting language poverty: Improving oracy and dialogic skills in schools
Written By: Antony Luby
10 min read
Lessons in promoting quality dialogue within schools and combatting the poverty of language
Seven words.
‘I was born into a Celtic family.’
Seven is the number of perfection. The words encapsulate what it means to be a supporter of Celtic Football Club - heritage, culture, and belonging. On 27 May 2017, standing on a rain-sodden Hampden turf, manager Brendan Rogers spoke these words after his “invincible” team had dramatically captured the Treble – Scottish Cup, Premiership and League Cup.
With those seven words he unites, as family, millions of supporters rejoicing before their flat screen televisions sited in six of the world’s seven continents. The power of spoken words.
Primary steps
In the world of education, though, do we recognise this power? Not really, according to emeritus professor Neil Mercer at Cambridge University. Speaking about the establishment of the Oracy Project, he asserts that ‘in many ways oracy is the poor relation in education systems of literacy and numeracy’.
Mercer is not alone with his assertion. Just last year I had
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References
- Burgess, B. 2017. Oracy is an underdeveloped skill in the UK ─ here's how to help your primary class speak up. Times Educational Supplement 13 April, 2017.
- (DfE) Department for Education. 2013. English programmes of study: key stages 1 and 2 – National curriculum in England. [Accessed 30 May 2017]
- Luby, A. 2014. First Footing Inter-Faith Dialogue. Educational Action Research 22(1) 57-71.
- Luby, A. (ed) 2016. [online] Poverty and Closing the Gap. Lincoln: Bishop Grosseteste University. [Accessed 30 May 2017] MacIntyre, J. 2017 email 30 May 2017.
- Mercer, N. 1995. The Guided Construction of Knowledge: Talk amongst Teachers and Learners. Cleveden, Avon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Hi, this is a great piece! I am referencing it in an action-based research project I am completing – how would I reference this article? I cannot see when it was written!
Thank you, Martha! It was written in 2017, so I would reference it as follows:
Luby A (2017) Combatting language poverty: Improving oracy and dialogic skills in schools. Chartered College of Teaching. Available at: https://my.chartered.college/research-hub/combatting-language-poverty-improving-oracy-and-dialogic-skills-in-schools (accessed date).