Uses of Oracy Conference

Watch the sessions from our landmark 'Uses of Oracy' conference here on our site. 

In partnership with the English Speaking Union, the Speaking Citizens team hosted 'The Uses of Oracy', a landmark conference on the future of speech and citizenship education in January 2022. In the spirit of Richard Hoggart's cultural studies classic The Uses of Literacy (1957), the conference aimed to revive dialogue between the humanities, social sciences and education. 

Over three days, we brought together researchers, activists, students, politicians and charity leaders to take place in a series of roundtables on key questions on listening, citizenship and education in Britain. You can watch these roundtables and our conference's keynote address using the links below.

Plenary Lecture: Deborah Cameron (Oxford) - The Trouble With Oracy?

  For details and to view the lecture click here

Roundtable 1 - What more can be done to promote speech in schools?

   For details and to view the session click here

Roundtable 2 - What can we learn from other times and places?

   For details and to view the session click here

Roundtable 3 - What speech styles do young people use? 

   For details and to view the session click here

Roundtable 4 - How is citizenship done outside the classroom? 

   For details and to view the session click here

Roundtable 5 - How are pupil's people's spoken selves embraced within education? 

   For details and to view the session click here

The English Speaking Union

The English-Speaking Union is an international educational charity. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages and cultures, by building skills and confidence in communication, such that individuals realise their potential. Sign up to the ESU schools' newsletter for free oracy resources to use in your classroom here