Findings and Publications
Below are a series of the outputs and publications by project members and links for how you can read our findings. More are forthcoming or in the works.
Oracy: The Politics of Speech Education (Cambridge University Press, 2025)
Edited by Tom F. Wright (University of Sussex) | With a foreword by Alastair Campbell
Oracy has become one of the most prominent ideas in modern education. But where has this idea come from? Should speech education be seen as positive, or does it hold unintended consequences? How can problems over definitions, teaching and assessment ever be overcome?
This book brings both positive and sceptical arguments for oracy together in one book. Experts from education, politics, academia and the charity sector consider the benefits and risks of speech education, place it in global context, and offer practical guidance for those trying to implement it on the ground.
Contributors include: the political commentator Alastair Campbell; the linguist Deborah Cameron; the educationalists Neil Mercer and Alan Howe; teaching leader Qamar Shafiq; anthropologist Karin Barber; sociolinguist Ian Cushing; political scientist Stephen Coleman.
Read the book’s introduction here and Tom F. Wright’s chapter on the history on our blog here
‘Oracy and English Studies’: special volume of English: The Journal of the English Association, Summer 2022
Edited by Arlene Holmes-Henderson and Tom F. Wright
In this special issue of the journal English a Classics professor and an English professor bring together voices from speech-writing, poetry, political science, and education to explore how English as a subject might evolve in an age of renewed attention to speaking and listening. The collection asks what it would mean to make oracy central to the future of English studies.
Including essays from Alan Finlayson (Political theorist, University of East Anglia); Jennifer Richards (English, Cambridge); Peter Howarth (English, QMUL) Stephen Coleman (Political ethnographer, University of Leeds),
Read Alan Finlayson’s piece on our blog page here
Read the introduction ‘Making the voice matter in English Studies teaching’ here
How People Talk About Politics (Bloomsbury, 2021)
By Stephen Coleman (University of Leeds)
In How People Talk About Brexit, leading political communications expert Professor Stephen Coleman investigates how ordinary citizens talk about divisive political issues—and how we might learn to do it better. Drawing on seventy in-depth interviews with people from all walks of life, he reveals the struggles, emotions, and small triumphs involved in finding and using one’s political voice. Coleman shows that the quality of democracy depends not only on voting, but on how we speak and listen to one another. His findings carry vital implications for oracy policy, suggesting that the skills of dialogue, empathy, and disagreement should be taught as civic competencies essential to a healthy democratic culture.
Read the chapter ‘We Need to talk - but how? here
‘I am very sensitive on the subject of accent’: Children, young people and attitudes to speech in inter-war Britain
by Hester Barron (University of Sussex), Modern British History, Vol. 36, Issue 1, 2025 | Read it here
In this article, social historian Professor Hester Barron examines how interwar Britain became preoccupied with children’s speech. Teachers, parents, and policymakers all sought to “improve” young voices—through schooling, family influence, radio, and film—blending class prejudice with hopes for social mobility and good citizenship. Her research shows that speech became a measure of aspiration across society, with clear lessons for today’s oracy policy: that teaching speech must avoid reproducing social hierarchies and instead empower diverse voices to be heard on their own terms.
Special edition of The Use of English : The Journal for Teachers of English , Spring 2024
Edited by Arlene Holmes-Henderson and Tom F. Wright
In this special edition of the Use of English team members Arlene and Tom bring together a remarkable set of classroom-based studies showing oracy in action across the curriculum.
Contributors include Kate Burton on vocabulary growth among Jersey Premium pupils, Emily Thomas on talk-driven reading comprehension at Key Stage 2, and Rahel Abebe on bridging spoken and written expression in disadvantaged secondary classrooms. Leala Amiri gets Year 9s talking about Macbeth; Dr Matthew Shaw explores oracy’s effect on GCSE Science attainment; Sam Clark and Catherine Michica de Oliveira test how teacher CPD can build “talk-rich” practice; and Rachel Higginson and Harriet Piercy situate oracy within global and cultural perspectives, from “authentic voice” to lessons from the U
Read the edition here
‘Oracy Education: Perspectives from Research, Policy and Practice
edited by Arlene Holmes-Henderson (Durham) and Tom F. Wright (Sussex)
In this special summer edition of the English Association’s Newsletter, Tom and Arlenebring together leading voices from education, research, and policymaking to reflect on the growing importance of spoken communication in schools and universities. The collection showcases new thinking on how oracy can bridge classroom practice, democratic participation, and the future direction of English as a subject.
Pieces include: ‘Oracy’: what are we talking about?! (Catherine Pape); Oracy: an integral part of any classroom (Freya Odell); Oracy takes time but is well worth the wait; (Emily Frontain); Oracy and the FE learning environment (Nicola Wigmore); Amplifying oracy: navigating classroom change in the AI era (Stephanie Miller); Oracy, AI, and authentic voices (Lin Goran); Oracy in the Deaf classroom (Tracy Irish); Reversing democratic decline through oracy (Ed Sweett)
Oracy and ideology in contemporary Gaelic: conceptions of fluency and its perceived decline subsequent to immersion schooling
By Stuart Dunmore, Journal of Celtic Linguistics (2022)
Despite major investment in Gaelic-medium education, many former pupils rarely use the language once they leave school. In this article, sociolinguist Stuart Dunmore draws on new interviews with 46 adults to explore how they understand oracy, fluency, and language loss. The findings reveal striking attrition of spoken Gaelic and raise hard questions about Scotland’s current strategy for revitalising the language. They also suggest that oracy policy must move beyond classrooms to sustain speech communities across generations.
You can read the article open access here
Rhetoric, oracy and citizenship: curricular innovations from Scotland, Slovenia and Norway,
By Arlene Holmes-Henderson et al. Literacy, Vol 56.3 (2022)
In this article, Classics professor Arlene Holmes-Henderson explores how rhetoric can act as a bridge between oracy and citizenship education. Comparing curricula in Scotland, Slovenia, and Norway, she uncovers shared ambitions—and shared challenges—in teaching young people to speak, listen, and participate democratically. Her findings suggest that effective oracy policy must integrate rhetorical education more fully into civic and citizenship programmes.You can read the article open access here