Enhancing Oracy Development in Young Learners Through Explicit and Contextualized Instruction

Oracy plays a critical role in language acquisition and development as well as for overall communicative competence in today’s globalized world. However, literature on it seems to suggest that it is less rigorously or explicitly planned out and taught when compared to the literacy areas of reading and writing. Moreover, when conducting oracy activities with learners in their language classrooms, teachers tend to largely focus on the product of listening and speaking or on activities with the specific aim of testing in mind. Young learners are also often expected to demonstrate their comprehension without receiving much real support. This could likely be due to teachers’ lack of understanding on oracy development or lack of knowledge on how they can provide learners with the support they need. Teachers themselves may also find the teaching of listening and speaking challenging when compared to the literacy areas of reading and writing and they may think that there is little they can do to teach oracy. This chapter offers insights into some pedagogical approaches that teachers of young learners should consider to better support oracy development. Explicit instruction, contextualised practice as well as metacognitive awareness aimed at strengthening oracy development are emphasized alongside reasons for doing so. This is set in the context of planning and designing an oracy-based lesson so that teachers can better comprehend how pedagogical approaches advocated can be enacted in practice. The chapter concludes with implications drawn on the need for teachers to consider avenues for enhancing their young learners’ oracy development and in the process, their learners’ overall language acquisition and proficiency.