Orienting Oracy: empowerment or enslavement

Abstract

article concerns the issues raised as a result of my intervention in the oral skills of a student teacher following a BA (Ed) programme at the College of Higher Education in the university sector where I teach. Communication skills are of utmost importance in the HE sector of education and are essential attributes of those about to enter the teaching profession. Moreover, it seems to be generally assumed that students starting Higher Education will already be equipped with whatever degree of communicative ability their course requires. However, it is becoming evident a large proportion of such students are unable to cope with the communicative demands made on them. Accordingly, the case study examined has taken the student's needs as a springboard for the development of innovative and appropriate strategies which should promote the extension of oral skills on an individually tailored basis. Although the individualised oracy programme was devised by myself, it arose and developed as a result of a teaching and learning relationship, with the student's observations and response playing a major role in his own intervention. The implications are that oracy is an extremely important and sensitive issue. Consequently, students classified as having difficulties with communication need to be involved in their own oracy development in order for any support to be relevant to their needs.