Research School Network: Speaking the Language of Numbers: The Power of Oracy in Maths (2 of 3) Speaking the Language of Numbers: The Power of Oracy in Maths (1 of 3)

Nagina Bostan, an Assistant Headteacher, Maths Lead and Year 6 teacher at Deeplish Primary Academy, reflects on how oracy has played a vital role in mathematics in her setting. Deeplish Primary Academy, part of Focus Trust, is located in a highly deprived area of Rochdale, where the pupil and school location deprivation is in the 5^th percentile. With 461 pupils on roll, the school’s pupil premium and EAL percentages are both above national average.

As Maths Lead at Deeplish Primary Academy, my aim has always been to ensure that every pupil not only grasps mathematical concepts but also has the confidence and ability to communicate their understanding and reasoning. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of oracy’s importance across all areas of education and while we often associate oracy with subjects like English or History, its impact in Mathematics is equally as powerful.

I read a statement in the Department for Education’s 2017 report, which revealed that pupils not achieving the expected standard in language in Reception are 11 times less likely to achieve the expected standard in maths in Year 6. This highlights the crucial connection between language development and mathematical achievement – if children are not equipped with the language skills to express their thinking clearly, how can we expect them to fully understand and engage with complex mathematical concepts? Reading this, made me reflect on our own practices at school to support language development, specifically in maths. It inspired me to make oracy a cornerstone of our maths teaching at Deeplish.

Recommendation 2 of Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 highlights the importance of seizing chances to reinforce mathematical vocabulary and creating opportunities for extended discussion of mathematical ideas with children. We know that talk in the classroom is great for learning; theorists like Bandura, Vygotsky, and Piaget highlight how children learn from each other and benefit from verbalising their thoughts. Vygotsky (1986) argued that children learn best through interaction and communication with peers and adults. He noted that because we are social creatures we need to use talk to internalise our own thoughts — this should be the golden thread running through every maths lesson. If we want our children to learn from each other as well as have the opportunity to try out their thinking aloud, we need to get them talking.

Dr Wing (2016) states, doing mathematics involves communication and thinking mathematically – these are two sides of the same coin. We think in the way that we communicate and communicate in the same way that we think. So, how do we help our pupils do this? Since doing mathematics requires us to communicate mathematically, both with others and with ourselves, it inherently involves talking. One way to encourage our children to communicate and think mathematically is to design purposeful, rich talk tasks. Exploratory talk tasks in maths are fantastic opportunities for children to dive into an idea, share their thinking, refine their understanding and collaborate with their peers (Talk for Maths, 2024).

By incorporating regular talk tasks in lessons, we can provide our pupils with the chance to not only practice how to talk about maths in depth but gain valuable insights from those discussions. Stay tuned for my next blog where I will dive deeper into the benefits of exploratory talk tasks and provide strategies for facilitating this in your own settings. I will share how we have implemented Benchmark 1 from Talk for Maths in our everyday practice at Deeplish Primary Academy.

References

• Department for Education (2017). Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential: A plan for improving social mobility through education [report].
• EEF (2020). Improving mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 [guidance report].
• Oxford Mastery Framework (2024). Talk for Maths Benchmarks [guidance report].
• Vygotsky, L.S. (1973). Thought and Language. Leonardo, 6(2), p.174.Wing, T, Campling, J, Tacon, R and Osborne, A (2016), Numicon: Number, Pattern and Calculating 6 Implementation Guide [guidance report].#