Carry on talking : promoting oracy in the primary curriculum

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to analyse how speaking activities in the primary classroom can help learners develop their language skills and how beneficial it is to introduce oral skills across the primary curriculum and not solely during language lessons. The study was carried out in a state school and focused on four mixed-ability classes at grade 4 and 5 levels. Taking into consideration the primary syllabi and related literature, a cross-curricular resource of speaking activities for different subjects was created by the researcher and piloted among teachers of year 4 and year 5. The lessons were observed and the teachers were interviewed for their views on the usefulness of the material presented. Results show that teachers are aware of the educational benefits that derive from Oracy skills. Moreover, they believe that teaching oral skills across the primary curriculum is advantageous. However, the participants argued that certain factors constrain them to reduce the amount of time they allocate for Oracy activities and at times even hinder them from teaching Oracy. To this end, most of the findings confirmed that oral skills are most effective when integrated in a cross-curriculum approach rather than as a self-standing part of the curriculum.