A well-known understanding across educators is ‘oracy first’. We know that oracy is the cornerstone to not only our literacy curriculum but our wider curriculum as well. It is therefore refreshing to see this finally becoming reflected in public policy, with July’s DfE Writing Framework advocating that oracy is a crucial skill for writing composition and emphasising that without it the writing process is much more challenging for young people.
In this blog we will examine how talk leads writing, exploring the importance of having good knowledge and understanding of language and how this supports children to write successfully.
How do the components of oracy lead writing practice?
When considering oracy, we must recognise that it is made up of more than one parameter. Oracy is about effective communication, listening and ideas development. It encompasses how we learn to use language, and the further development of this as a skill, the understanding of language use in context, and finally how we talk to learn. All of these nuances play a part in becoming a writer.
This foundation is highlighted as the three strands as in the Oracy Education Commission’s report, We Need to Talk (2024):
- Learning to Talk – the acquisition and development of children’s speaking, listening and communication skills.
- Learning through Talk – the use of talk and dialogue to foster and deepen children’s learning.
- Learning about Talk – building knowledge and understanding of talk and communication in its many contexts.
Credit – We Need to Talk, OEC, 2024
Learning to Talk, Talking to Learn and Learning about Talk are interrelated and mutually dependent. All of these elements of oracy are key to addressing the knowledge base for oracy leading writing.
The Writing Framework is reflective of how oracy plays an important part in a pupil’s writing development. We often hear the phrase ‘if you can’t say it, you can’t write it’ which, while acknowledging the many ways people communicate, reminds us that we need to be able to express and organise our ideas before shaping them into writing. The written form of language is not a direct copy of its spoken counterpart, and as a result, pupils must learn these differences implicitly as they learn how to use language for their own means and design.
How does the Writing Framework recognise oracy?
Oracy is threaded through any effective writing process, or indeed any process that requires collaboration of thoughts and ideas.
The Writing Framework states (DfE p14):
‘[Children] depend on interactions with adults to develop their speech and, through exposure to stories and back-and-forth talk, they develop control over their spoken language.’
We know from the data shared by The Communication Trust that there is a significant deficit with over 50% of pupils starting school lacking vital oracy skills. The actions schools take to ensure they prioritise communication and language in the Early Years is more important than ever to build the strong foundations required for language development. The adult role model is vital for speech development and it must be prioritised within school for those children who need it.
The Writing Framework (DfE, 2025 p14) goes on to say that:
‘Talk itself can help pupils to build their understanding of written language and how sentences are formed.’
High-quality interactions play a vital role in encouraging oral language development which, in turn, transfer into written language. Moreover, oral storytelling, poetry performance, repetition of songs, rhymes and presentations support the love of language we want to foster in our pupils; to develop their confidence and ability to be a confident speaker.
We must also be mindful of the distinct difference between oral and written language and make this explicit to pupils from the beginning. The idea of talk not being a direct copy of writing is further illustrated by the statement:
‘The…structures of writing are generally both longer and more complex; writing draws on a vocabulary which often requires a repertoire which extends beyond that of spoken vocabulary and requires mastery of a whole set of spelling and punctuation conventions which do not exist in talk.’ (DfE, 2025 p14).
Pupils need oracy first, but they must be taught that spoken language is a dialect of Standard English which could vary greatly from the spoken English required often in the written form. The role of the educator is to ensure they support pupils to make links and distinctions between talking and writing but use one to support the other.
Parameters for talk must also be clearly provided for pupils, so that when writing, oral ideas are re-phrased and re-structured to be better represented as written versions. In order to do this, scaffolding is paramount.
The use of sentence stems to phrase talk and written language is becoming more commonplace in the classroom, providing pupils with the language needed to structure their writing. It is important to note that when using such scaffolds for talk or writing, it is vital to explain and investigate the language to ensure understanding of its contextual use as well as to identify the benefits that these phrases can bring for the reader. Of course, we would hope that children will be exposed to this same language through reading and well-structured oracy tasks to reinforce their understanding around a text type, topic or genre. This is where the interdependence between oracy, reading and writing is paramount.
This is also referred to in the Writing Framework:
The more pupils read, or are read to, the wider their exposure to these different structures, with potential benefits to their writing (The Writing Framework, DfE,2025 p48).
Our ABC Feedback Sentence Stems FREE Resource can be accessed here which supports the purposeful use of language for effective discussion.
Listening to, as well as reading high-quality text models is particularly vital for the development of writing, more so when the delivery is purposefully taking into account the linguistic, physical, cognitive and social-emotional use of that language created by the writer, to give more meaning and understanding to the audience. The engaging storyteller brings pupils the motivation, engagement and wealth of ideas needed to deliver entertainment of others, making clear the idea of crafting speech into its written form for audience and purpose. In all its forms, written or spoken or otherwise, language requires selection for ultimate reader impact.
How can oracy support ideas development?
The cognitive demands of writing are high. Oracy is a key tool for demonstrating the thought processes needed for writing, to reduce the demand by pre-formulating ideas alongside others and making decisions around sentence structure and vocabulary.
‘[It- oracy] also gives them the opportunity to test ideas before writing them down.’ (DfE, 2025 p59).
The Writing Framework also mentions our third part of our triad, the importance of learning through talk. Linked to the concept of composition, the importance of oral collaboration through exploratory talk is outlined:
Talk itself can help pupils to build their understanding of written language and how sentences are formed. Collaborative talk can support their writing but, to be successful, it is essential that they are first taught how to engage in dialogue that enhances learning: to think critically, articulate their ideas clearly and engage constructively with others, with clear structures and routines put in place and modelled by teachers. (DfE 2025, p14)
At One Education, our practice champions the professional development of teachers to manage effective dialogic talk for learning engagement. Effective talk must be structured, following expectations for talk which cement an effective culture of talk. A uniform approach to these ‘rules’ across the setting will be the most impactful approach as talk will be celebrated, active listening the ‘norm’ and equal accountability expected.
Moreover, schools can establish effective talk practice through the introduction of hand symbols to manage talk, develop turn taking and to support the teacher-leader to organise participants more effectively using visual cues. Classroom practice can be further enhanced as children become more proficient by developing group roles and good practice for turn taking, agreement, disagreement and organisational approaches to working as a group, reducing the risk of general ‘group work’ which sometimes lacks structure and impact.
Oracy benefits writing
When reflecting on the oracy practice in your setting these key messages are an excellent starting point:
- Are there established expectations which reflect an oracy culture?
- Are staff knowledgeable about how to lead effective dialogue for learning?
- Is the message to pupils clear, that talk and writing differ, and how to use each effectively for purpose and audience?
- Do pupils realise that our identity through talk is important to recognise and reflect upon?
By considering these questions, you can begin to build strong foundations for developing a rich and purposeful culture of oracy within your setting.
Interested in developing your approach to oracy? With the One Education Oracy Award, schools use research based criteria to establish best practice across the three strands of oracy, ensuring they not only use oracy as the tool it is for learning, but develop individuals who are word aware, bringing this knowledge into their authorship as well as their talk contexts.
Showcase your dedication to effective oracy practice across the three strands of oracy by talking part in our Award process, bringing expertise, training and development to your setting through high quality research-led resources, webinars and guidance.
Go to our website for more information or contact our Oracy Award Lead, Alice Pepper Alice.Pepper@oneeducation.co.uk
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