ABSTRACT
Speaking and listening are gradually afforded greater status and made a compulsory part of the assessment of English at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). It became the first attainment target for English in the National Curriculum. Surveys into the development of oracy conducted by the Assessment of Performance Unit (APU) in the 1980's pointed the way to the development of assessment criteria and to exploring what constituted progression in speaking and listening. An important topic on Dialogic Teaching makes clear where the teacher's and the pupils' responsibilities lie. Transcribing recorded speech is an activity that can be adapted readily for use in the classroom, with any age group, as long as there is sufficient recording equipment available to make it practicable. Collaborative poetry writing involves poetry writing and using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to draft and edit, moving text around on the screen, deleting and inserting as necessary.
