Meaning & use
oracy
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Meaning
noununcountabletechnical
The ability to express yourself clearly in speech and to understand and take part in spoken conversation.
Grammar: Uncountable and used without an or an: teachers promote oracy, not an oracy.
Patterns
- develop oracy
- oracy skills
- oracy in the classroom
The school launched a project to improve oracy across every subject.
Debating clubs build confidence and oracy in shy students.
Researchers argue that oracy deserves as much attention as reading and writing.
Common combinations
- oracy skills
- Group discussions help students practice oracy skills.
- develop oracy
- Drama lessons develop oracy and listening together.
- teach oracy
- Few teachers are trained to teach oracy directly.
- literacy and oracy
- Literacy and oracy both shape how well children do at school.
- oracy in the classroom
- Oracy in the classroom can include presentations and debate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- speaking skills
- Speaking skills is the plain phrase and covers only talking, whereas oracy also includes listening and responding.
- articulacy
- Articulacy means clarity and fluency of expression, so it is narrower and rarer than oracy.
- verbal ability
- Verbal ability is broader and can include words in writing, while oracy is strictly about spoken language.
Word family
Commonly confused: oracy or oracle?
oracy vs oracle
An oracle is a source of wise advice or a prophecy, not speaking ability, even though the first letters look the same.
Practice
The headteacher said that ___ matters as much as reading, because students must be able to explain their ideas aloud.
Choose one answer.
Oracy is skill in speaking and listening, which suits explaining ideas aloud. Literacy is about reading and writing, so it does not fit the contrast with reading.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “oracy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.