‘Why oracy skills are vital to children’s development’

Professor Neil Mercer  (University of Cambridge, and Director, Oracy Cambridge) in conversation with Barbara Firth, governor, the English-Speaking Union.

Research has shown that children’s spoken language experience is very important for the development of their reasoning skills, their subject learning and their life chances in general. It is also known that many children’s out-of-school lives will not provide the kinds of experience they need to develop a full repertoire of spoken language (oracy) skills. This session will focus on ways that schools and teachers can respond to those needs, and how parents and grandparents can help.