Teacher training in oracy and vocabulary development in primary schools in Wales

By developing a professional learning programme for teachers, this project aims to improve oracy skills in primary school pupils, with emphasis on etymology (word origins, structure and meaning) to improve pupils' academic vocabulary. Schools tend to place emphasis on reading and writing, with oracy being a skill that is frequently overlooked. However, the Welsh Government (2024) identifies the importance of oracy as a skill across the curriculum.

Indeed, oracy skills can help pupils gain confidence, reduce anxiety and increase employment opportunities, as employers rate communication skills as their highest priority. The Covid-19 pandemic revealed that children with fewer opportunities for diverse social interactions have lower expressive vocabulary scores (Feijoo et al. 2023, p. 1). This project offers a timely opportunity to improve oracy skills post-pandemic.

On the one hand, having an awareness of etymology could make the learning of words more meaningful, effective and interesting, as pupils will be exploring, for instance, the interconnections between various languages they know (Moats 2000). Furthermore, learning etymology has been found to improve students' spelling (Greg et al. 2021), which highlights the benefits of incorporating etymology in vocabulary learning.

On the other, Gómez and Glenberg (2022, p. 83) state that some strategies of teaching vocabulary are more efficient than others, including "read-aloud" interactions, as children do not learn vocabulary effectively just from reading alone. Therefore, an oracy-led approach may increase student's confidence in using new vocabulary and improve their overall learning (Voicing Vocabulary 2021).

The new Welsh Curriculum splits oracy into three key elements: speaking, listening and collaboration and discussion. This research will focus on collaboration and discussion to enhance vocabulary acquisition. The project will take as its starting point the new curriculum's Humanities Area of Learning and Experience, which encompasses a range of subjects with rich vocabularies.

An important part of the humanities is that "learners have opportunities to discuss and explore personal perspectives" (Welsh Government 2024), such as worldviews and social inclusion issues. Through integrating an oracy-led approach by developing humanities lexis through collaboration and discussion, students may feel a greater level of self-confidence, leading to the use of richer vocabulary.

The project will focus on upper Key Stage 2 (school years 5 and 6) a critical time where oracy skills will support academic performance as well as reducing anxiety and increasing confidence around transitioning from primary to secondary school (Voice 21 2022).

Working collaboratively with teachers is important for this project, as teacher confidence and awareness of vocabulary development will be vital for this project to be successful. To effectively enhance teachers' professional development, it is important to first asses their current understanding of etymology and oracy skills. This assessment will identify areas where additional support and training are needed, allowing for the creation of targeted professional development resources, such as learning modules which will aim to build on teachers' knowledge in etymology and oracy skills.

Collaborating with the ESU will provide insight into the best approaches to oracy education including learning strategies that have been most successful to enhance communication in educational settings. The Welsh Government's collaboration will ensure that the project aligns with the new Welsh curriculum which emphasises awareness of etymology and oracy skills.