Research School Network: Oral Language: in the national headlines, now to nurture it in my classroom In this blog, Hydeh discusses the practices we can embed across the curriculum, to harness the power of talk to close gaps.

Oral language is dominating the edu‑sphere right now — and rightly so. It has earned its moment.
But in the wake of the headlines, the Oracy Commission’s Report, and the White Paper, it’s easy to picture school leaders wrestling with a growing list of questions: Yes, Children need to talk — but what does that actually look like in practice? What’s the first step? How do we define it? Should we codify talk? Should we be developing Oral language documents, policies, progression maps?

It’s here that I’m reminded of the A School’s Guide to Implementation and the crucial step leaders must linger on: understanding the context of our school and staff before we ​‘make the leap’ and implement change.

Many leaders will have understandably, begun taking steps in response to the national noise, but I want us to pause for a moment and look to the systems and structures that already exist in our schools and question:

What can we do to nurture talk in the classroom through leveraging what we do already?

What needs tweaking and refining, so that talk can be consistent, developmental and a catalyst to close gaps in children’s knowledge and deepen their understanding?

Because talk is messy – it is something we are biologically primed to do, so the explicit teaching of how to talk, or the teaching of how we learn through it, or the teaching about the processes of talk can seem both second nature and bamboozling.

Through many of the blogs read, webinars watched, podcasts actively listened to, it dawned on me that leaders ought to know that whilst we wait for the new, eagerly awaited Oracy Framework to be published, there are two blueprints that already exist in our schools that with fine tuning or tweaking, will become a space which enables oral language to thrive.

1. The curriculum
2. Classroom talk

The curriculum

1. Give the children something to talk about

“You want Oracy? Give the children something to talk about!” Christine Counsell

Through a curriculum that is designed to provide knowledge alongside igniting the children’s awe and wonder through hinterland, the children will be desperate to talk!

Here, we’re talking about the day to day talk that can happen in the classroom, if we get the sequencing of the curriculum right. Children will be able to build on, disagree with, affirm or question each other on shared knowledge in the subject.

Allowing students to fully and effectively participate in productive talk begins with leaders understanding what it is we want them to talk about in maths, history, PSHE, Science…

So how can we prime our subjects for talk?

a. Develop our understanding of the key vocabulary you want children to have a deep understanding of

When vocabulary is sequenced, children’s schemata become more enriched. Words and knowledge of how to use that word is chunked for quicker access.

b. For those children who may need repeated exposure, lets pre-teach this vocabulary to in context, with rich examples and images to develop children’s prototypes of the word. We use the resource created by Pip St-John to ensure our children truly wrap their tongues and minds around the word

Christine Counsell reminds us that the substantive concepts of the curriculum, eg. Different democracies, don’t live in our long term memories as dictionary definitions, but as examples, as pictures, as stories. When children are exposed to several prototypes, they are able to talk about these concepts which a deeper understanding.Think about the your learning journeys within your subjects, what are the wondrous questions we want children to have a go at answering

• In History: How do archaeologists know about trade and travel in the Indus Valley?
• In Geography: How has drought affected people in California?
• In Spelling : Let’s take National Curriculum Objective for Y5/6 LF: To learn the spelling endings of –cious and –tious​

Can someone be pugnacious for a good reason?What about linking the new learning to the curriculumCan heroes be pugnacious?Would you describe the Indigenous people of the Amazon as pugnacious or tenacious when defending their land?​Apply shades of meaning to the word and unpick the children’s understanding of the small nuances in words that are similar, but different is a wonderful way to elicit talk. [1]

Classroom talk

2. Use talk moves to build the learning in the classroom.

“No one is a native speaker of academic discourse; we are all socialised into it” – Lauren Resnick, Sarah Michaels

All teachers ask questions which invite talk, but do we ask questions which invite the children to produce learning through their talk? Do we, through our questions, allow children to see how certain moves incite certain thoughts to flourish?

Unguided talk may drift into irrelevance, but Accountable Talk sharpens thinking and promotes disciplined reasoning.

[1] Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G. & Kucan, L. (2013) Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. 2^nd edn. New York: Guilford Press.

Here, there is the terrible assumption that you’ve read my previous blog: Creating an Accountable Classroom

Reading the beautifully accessible research of Accountable Talk will help leverage the talk in the room, so that it is equitable and no child is unheard.

The thinking process is valued over a correctly stated ​“right” answer

because it is when thinking makes it out of our brains through our voices that learning occurs. It’s this that helps close the attainment gap.

Our thoughts, our knowledge, our beliefs are formed with our peers, our families, our society.

Below I have summarised the Talk moves we enable so that children are accountable to reasoning standards, but do read the above blog and research to find out more.


Accountable to reasoning

Accountable Talk helps teachers understand what ​‘moves’ they can make to enable talk to happen.

It has made the process of talk explicit for teachers. Xris also articulates beautifully in his blog the need to model the processes of talk that are outside of the conduit of learning.

If you have the crucial job of developing oral language in your school, stop and ponder:

• What does talk mean to you? Your pupils? Your community?
• What small tweaks can be made to help all children be included in the talk that goes on in school?
  
• Do we currently run any competitions whereby talk is the vehicle: Poetry by Heart, Debate Mate, CLiPPA Shadowing scheme? This can help develop my understanding of ​‘talk’ in a wider sense.

We are in such a great space with Oral Language, let’s keep talking.

References

Education Endowment Foundation (2024) A School’s Guide to Implementation. Available at: https://educationendowmentfoun…

Michaels, S., O’Connor, C. & Resnick, L.B. (2007) Deliberative discourse idealized and realized: Accountable Talk in the classroom and in civic life. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 27(4), pp. 283 – 297. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/

We need to talk about oracy, Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher’s blog, 1 March. Available at: https://learningfrommymistakes…