In this chapter, Debbie Newman, CEO of the education charity the Noisy Classroom, highlights the often overlooked role of listening in oracy. Despite oracy frameworks’ focus on speaking, listening remains undervalued. Drawing from experiences throughout her career, Newman underscores varied talk cultures among schools, from concerns about articulation to speaking reluctance. Arguing for a balanced approach, she stresses listening’s importance alongside speaking in academic, social, and professional contexts. To her this does not mean superficial "listening behaviours" but instead the broader understanding of listening as a cognitive skill. Newman explores how schools cultivate listening, citing examples from Modern Foreign Languages and drama departments, as well as through debate and discussion techniques. By championing listening skills, Newman contends, schools can enhance students’ abilities, fostering empathy and critical thinking for success in academic and real-world settings.

In this chapter, Qamar Shafiq, an experienced teacher of English from Staffordshire, assesses the practical implications of critiques of oracy education for ethnic minority pupils. He urges nuanced perspectives and practical strategies for academic success across backgrounds. He challenges low expectations, advocating fluency in standard English for societal integration and equal opportunities. Drawing from personal experiences as someone whose first language was not English, he stresses educators’ role in enhancing linguistic skills while respecting cultural diversity. Shafiq promotes a balanced approach supporting both oracy and standard English proficiency, rejecting hindering radical ideologies. Ultimately, he asserts the pragmatic case that marginalized groups require a solid foundation in oracy and standard English for success in education and beyond.

In Chapter 9 Harriet Piercy, Head of English at Haggerston School in London, turns her attention to the Unites States. Drawing on her experience as a Fulbright scholar Nashville, Tennessee, Piercy explores the challenges of promoting spoken language in English classrooms, citing time constraints and exam pressures as significant obstacles. She compares the oracy practices in the US, where policies like the Common Core State Standards prioritize speaking and listening skills, to the UK’s less-defined approach. She discusses how US classrooms vary in their implementation of oracy teaching despite clear guidelines, emphasizing the importance of professional development and pedagogical approaches. Additionally, she examines the role of assessment in shaping classroom practices, noting the absence of formal speaking and listening assessments in Tennessee. Piercy concludes by advocating for inclusive oracy practices across schools, highlighting the need for sustained investment and shared understanding among educators.

In this chapter, Neil Mercer engages with some of the criticisms of oracy education. He looks back over his career as a key figure in the oracy debate and re-affirms his current understanding of oracy education. Engaging productively with the observations of Cushing, Cameron and others in this book, he re-asserts oracy’s importance for social equality and democracy, and its role in empowering young people for diverse communication scenarios. Unity among educators in pursuit of inclusive practices, he argues, will be crucial in ensuring equitable opportunities for all students.

In this chapter, evidence from past social movements highlights oracy education’s role in empowering marginalized communities in 19th-century Britain. Critics argue that oracy education diverts attention from socio-economic issues, exerting coercive control over the powerless. However, grassroots oracy within movements like Chartism and Suffragettes challenges these notions. The struggle for articulacy, I show, underpinned the struggle for the vote. These examples underscore grassroots oracy’s historical significance and potential implications for contemporary policy debates.

In this chapter, Deborah Cameron, University of Oxford’s Professor of English Language tackles head on what she calls ‘The Trouble with Oracy’. She identifies several key contradictions and tensions within the oracy movement, including the lack of consensus on goals and definitions, the issue of social class, and the enduring clash between traditional and progressive education philosophies. Despite a contemporary shift towards business-centric goals, she notes, defining essential spoken language skills remains problematic, reflecting broader societal divisions. Though supportive of the aspirations of the oracy movement, she concludes on a sceptical note. To Cameron the complexities in defining "good" communication and the enduring influence of class divisions on educational discourses, will continue to hinder equitable oracy education.

In ‘Releasing Civic Voices’, the political scientist Stephen Coleman proposes a radical new understanding of oracy. He lays out a framework addressing power directly, emphasizing communicative justice. This shift moves beyond cultivating individual voices to a relational view of expressive efficacy. Communicating is seen as a product of social relationships rather than personal eloquence, involving addressing and listening within mutual attentiveness. All members of society engage in a continuous performance of self, vulnerable to interpretation within social interactions. Expressive agency is either realized or hindered within these relational dynamics. From this theoretical basis, Coleman concludes that oracy must offer resources beyond elocution training to navigate and potentially challenge these dynamics if it is to transcend its current limitations.

In this chapter, Amy Gaunt of the educational chairty Voice 21underscores the vital need for oracy education, particularly in empowering disadvantaged youth. Despite increasing recognition of oracy skills, ambiguity persists regarding the speech types valued in classrooms. Gaunt advocates for explicit oracy teaching using Voice 21’s Oracy Benchmarks and Framework, emphasizing physical, linguistic, cognitive, and social abilities. However, she notes a gap in prioritizing speech types, often favoring "standard English" and perpetuating linguistic biases. Gaunt challenges this deficit view, proposing an inclusive pedagogy that celebrates linguistic diversity. She urges an asset-based approach, fostering pride in students’ authentic voices while teaching standard English within its historical and social context. Gaunt ultimately makes the positive case for how inclusive oracy education can prepare students for academic and life success, and calls for educators to engage in dialogue to ensure oracy education benefits all students.