Mastering Oral Communication Skills in the Classroom

Are Schools Responsible for Teaching Oral Communication?

The traditional role of the school has focused on teaching reading and writing. Oral expression has historically been the most overlooked skill in language lessons, which typically prioritize grammar and literacy. It has long been assumed that children learn to speak on their own; however, the need to speak well—or better—has been an unappreciated necessity until recently.

In a modern conception of education focused on the integral formation of children, the language curriculum must expand its objectives to cover all aspects of communication. Current life demands a level of oral proficiency as high as that of written composition. A person who cannot communicate clearly and consistently limits their professional and personal potential and risks social embarrassment.

While students are not taught to speak from zero—as they can minimally defend themselves in everyday situations like family conversations—the school must bridge the gap to formal communication.

What Should Be Taught in the Classroom?

Classroom instruction should focus on complex communication scenarios:

• Social spheres: Parliaments, public speaking, and exhibitions.
• New technologies: Telephone, radio, television, and digital media.
• Academic situations: Interviews, oral examinations, and formal presentations.

In short, it is necessary to broaden the expressive range of the student by focusing on formal applications.

Despite the availability of resources, many teachers remain skeptical about this subject. They often lack training in how to teach these skills because they were never taught them during their own schooling. However, this can be overcome with a positive disposition, practice, and a desire to learn.

Reasons for the Lack of Focus on Oral Expression

• Informal learning: Students do not start from zero, as society teaches them to speak, though often poorly.
• The school's goal: The objective of the institution is to teach students to speak well.
• Systematic failure: The lack of systematic education in schools has led to significant student shortcomings.
• Limited vocabulary: Vocabulary remains poor and limited, even at the college level.
• Lack of strategies: Students often lack essential skills such as self-evaluation.
• Institutional obligation: Schools have a duty to teach formal language uses, where students face the greatest deficits.

Instruction should be divided into three levels: personal and social development, the linguistic area, and the reform level (as required in primary education).