The power of speaking to maximise potential as a solid building block of literacy and foundation of reading.
‘Speech is a child’s oral passport to life.’ Speaking and listening is the foundation upon which early readers base their knowledge of language which they consequently apply to the written word. Research has shown that students with sound oral capabilities, are at an advantage in learning to read.
Despite the fact that speaking and listening skills are the building block of literacy, they are frequently overlooked with a stronger focus being placed on reading and writing. It appears that there is there is an assumption that these crucial life skills will simply be realised as the students progress through life. It has become more apparent though that both these skills need to be intentionally and constantly reinforced as a lack of cultivation of these crucial skills will also have an effect on attainment in reading and writing across all subjects.
One of the biggest barriers to developing skills in this area is confidence. Speaking up in public still remains one of the biggest fears that most people have and so the goal is to ‘catch them young’ and to inspire children and young people to value the power of their spoken words before they are overtaken by the fear.
AUTHOR: Ronke Kokoruwe
Ronke trained as a barrister and qualified as a solicitor, having obtained a Masters degree in International Environmental Law from the London School of Economics. She was a school governor and is passionate about impacting the next generation. She launched iVerbalize to promote public speaking skills in state schools.
Website: https://iverbalize.co.uk/
Email: ronke@iverblize.co.uk
Twitter: iverbalize
LinkedIn: Ronke Kokoruwe
