ORAL ASSESSMENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL:
THE LONG ROAD TO GCSE
by Cherry Hughes, BSA Education Officer

In actual fact, these important examinations, which are usually taken in Year 11 of the secondary school, are best prepared for in the family home over many years; starting in the period when children begin to speak. If you are imagining, however, that parents are being advised to hold family readings from the GCSE syllabuses for their young children, then it really is not as bad as that.

No! What I am really advocating is a positive attitude to language development right from the earliest years, as the most helpful support which a parent can give to any child. Nowadays, with busy timetables, working parents may have to plan with care to ensure that their children have opportunities to talk in a relaxed manner about the events of their day, their feelings and worries; a little more I think than one working professional mother recently told me she and/or her husband accomplished. Their joint method of communicating to their children was to hold conversations in depth as they drove them to school; these were held on a range of topics and I can only imagine may have caused the young children of that family to see speaking as a formal duty to be fitted into the busy day of their parents.

Essentially, speaking and listening needs to be experienced as an enjoyable means of communication. Parents need to integrate it informally into the family day in a relaxed environment, where every member of the family can contribute without pressure. For the very young child who is starting to stammer, our members will know that the BSA Primary Healthcare Project has provided clear evidence that any young child who is stammering should be seen by a speech and language therapist. When this happens, the therapist will certainly advise the parents to ensure an easy and confortable environment for talking, where the child's speech is valued and listened to attentively, with appropriate responses.

Nowadays however, with televisions and computers frequently provided in the bedrooms of even young children, the temptation to allow children to lock themselves away from family talking is clear; but such isolation, if frequently allowed, will hinder the development of the social and oral skills which are such a necessary part of the learning process. This advice is really applicable right through childhood for all children, but particularly for those who stammer. A home in which speaking and listening is valued, and children are taught to appreciate its importance in a supportive atmosphere, is the best possible beginning for the child embarking on the long educational road leading to formal testing. For the child who is in therapy, the support from the speech and language therapist will include the parents and the teacher as well as the child, and many therapists now are working collaboratively with primary teachers to support these children in the classroom.

Parents need to be aware also of the value of the schools' Special Needs Code of Practice when a stammer is really causing concern. In some areas, a child receiving therapy will automatically be placed on the special educational needs register, in other areas that is discretionary and left to the judgement of the school, or the request of the parents. If the primary school has advised that the child be placed on the SEN register, parents should see this as a means of providing access to any additional provision or support. Erroneously, some parents do fear the SEN register and worry that their child may be labelled as having serious problems. The reality is that the register is merely the means of providing resources, time or support for a particular child so that s/he can fully access the curriculum. It is a response to an individual need: intellectual, physical, emotional and so forth, and gives the parents a means of ensuring that the child's progress is under review, and that they will have regular opportunities to discuss that with the teachers. The register is confidential to the staff, parents, and involved professionals. It is the means provided within schools to ensure that any cause for concern is addressed.

If the child has fluency problems at any stage, parents may find it very difficult to ask for special consideration for their child, if the s/he is not on the register. This will certainly be the case in the secondary school for formal testing of oral work in the GCSE, and it is not possible to request this just prior to the examinations.

Primary school teachers work hard to develop oral skills and children who stammer are often able to happily take part in class exercises without difficulty, as they know the pupils and teachers, and may not have developed that anxiety about their fluency which often arises later. At transfer to a secondary school, the primary school will pass on full information and, if the child is on the register, then that will ensure that the secondary school will review the child's progress and make contact with the parents.

In secondary school

Students: plan, prepare and practice: give yourself an advantage in GCSE.

In the previous section of this article, I emphasised the importance for parents of liaising with the primary school about their child's stammer, and the need to accept the advice of the school about the placement of the child who stammers on the Special Educational Needs Register

However, whether the pupil is on the register or not, the transfer to secondary school may bring with it a new set of demands, as the more formal testing of oral work really starts to impact upon children. Furthermore, if the therapist is still involved, she is less likely to have regular meetings with the teachers, although where these can take place it will continue to be very helpful. Just as they approach the sensitive and self aware stage of adolescence, the new secondary pupils become more aware of subject specialities and meets with a bigger group of teachers in a building massively larger than the small and friendly primary school, which was previously attended. In modern languages lessons, the child who stammered without embarrassment in the classroom of the primary school, where everyone knew him/her, may now feel awkward with a group of comparative strangers, a new teacher and a new subject. As modern languages nowadays is taught by the communicative method, in the language, the need for confident oral participation is really important. In the English classroom too there will be more emphasis on speaking and listening than previously, and it may have more of a feeling of formality, as the teacher begins to work on developing the skills necessary for the GCSE.

For the child who stammers, this transfer to secondary school can be very difficult, and in a previous article I did stress the need for parents to carefully choose the secondary school to ensure that support would be provided. Assuming that this has been done, the parents should at a very early stage ensure that the school is fully aware of the nature of the difficulties which the stammering child may meet, even if the child is on the SEN register. It is especially important to stress the intermittent and variable nature of stammering, and the role played by stress and anxiety in exacerbating it for many children.

As well as talking with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, who has responsibility for the pupils who have individual educational needs, I would advise all parents to talk individually with the form tutor, and the individual subject tutors in English and Modern Language(s), where oral work is so important. The problem can be of course that subject tutors can change and information may not always be passed on, which is why regular and ongoing personal contact is so valuable, with a request for contact to be made by the school with parents should any problems arise. It is especially important now for the parents to continue to have an open relationship with their son/daughter and be able to talk about fears and anxieties so that the lines of communication are always kept open.

As the secondary child gets older and hopefully develops more confidence, the ideal scenario is for the young person to be able to talk with the individual teacher and, if a speech and language therapist is involved, for her to make contact with the teachers as well. It is at this stage that the pupil's attitude to the stammer is of over-riding importance. A young person is more likely to have a confident and accepting attitude to the stammer if s/he who has grown up in a home where speaking and listening has always been valued, where the stammer has been accepted and parents and therapist have co-operated to ensure the child has not developed a sense of shame or embarrassment. It is the fear of stammering, and the psychological problems connected with that, which may cause the teenager who stammers to have problems with oral work in the classroom and come to dread those demands.

Parents, don't blame yourself!

Parents must continue to give their support and understanding to their teenage stammerer. However, sometimes, even when the parents and the therapists have provided the best possible environment in which the stammering child can develop, parents may find that their teenage son or daughter still becomes worried, anxious and suffers severe dysfluency when taking part in oral activities. Additionally, teenagers are sometimes reluctant even to talk about the problem. If this happens, parents must not blame themselves, as occasionally these sensitive young people may be reacting to their own need to be part of the peer group, and feel that the stammer excludes them from that.

A helpful therapist, provided that the teenager will continue with that support, will be able to assist with overcoming these feelings, but if that cannot be arranged parents need to remember that the teenage years are often not easy ones and they must continue to make the young person feel valued. The support of the teachers should be enlisted to ensure that there is nothing happening at school which could explain these feelings; teasing or worse, for example, always needs to be borne in mind and immediate action taken. All schools now are directed by the Department of Education and Employment to have a formal policy on bullying and a worried parent should take steps to invoke this if there is any concern at all.

Sometimes, a problem solving session at home can help the young person to work out strategies to help improve the situation and parents can contribute to this by approaching teachers when the pupil finds it difficult to do so. What must be avoided, at all costs, is the suffering in silence which some young people are led into by their own self consciousness and anxiety, and parents may need to be prepared for a lengthy but gentle chipping away at this attitude, perhaps encouraging their son/daughter to have a confidential chat with the BSA counsellor, so that their innermost fears can be brought out into the open and confronted.

Remember - it is your communication skills which count

It is often helpful for the young person to speak with others who have met similar problems, and it is worthwhile mentioning this to the local speech and language therapy service to see whether any self-help groups for teenagers are being held in the area. When these groups do operate, as in one area with which I am familiar, they do help young people to develop confidence and prepare for school work in oral activities. Assuming that the teenager reaches the stage where s/he is ready to recognise and discuss the problem, a tremendous amount can be done to assist with the oral work necessary for GCSE. In my view the courses for adolescent stammerers run by therapy departments which I have participated are actually able to advantage a young person who stammers because the skills of communication are continually emphasised. Teenagers who stammer will be very aware if they have attended such a course about the importance of eye contact, good turn-taking, pacing of speech and so forth which for many other young people will not have been explained or understood.

GCSE oral assesments: what they are and how to cope

In spite of some rationalisation, there are still a number of examination boards and schools usually choose with care the board which they prefer for the individual subject.

However, whichever board is selected, the requirements for English and Modern Languages do include a significant oral assessment. Preparation for this work has of course been continuing at home and in the schools for many years, and the GCSE is for many young people just the culmination of the oral work which they have been doing over that time. They therefore find it possible just to take it in their stride. For the young person who stammers however, this formal testing of speaking and listening may pose serious problems.

We know that many children who stammer have very sensitive temperaments, and will in the normal course of events react to stress by becoming more dysfluent. At the particularly sensitive adolescent stage therefore, the young stammerer is confronted with an emphasis on speech within a testing environment, little wonder that for many of them oral work is a source of dread.

First of all the problem must be confronted, it will not go away, and the marks awarded for oral work are too substantial for this work to be ignored. Most English exams award 20% to the oral component and in modern languages it is usually 25%. In Scotland it is 30% for English. To put these marks in some perspective, the marks awarded to speaking and listening in the GCSE English are the same as those given for the written course work for most of the exam boards. Parents whose older children brought the household to a halt, as they struggled with written course work, may be amazed by this comparison.

Furthermore, the mark for the oral work is recorded as a separate grade on the certificate for English by many of the boards, as well as contributing to the final grade. This separate recording of the grade highlights for colleges and employers the oral competence of the student and is intended to make an assessment of what is now seen as an important skill. Such a development is a response by the exam boards to the growing emphasis in employment patterns on service industries, where communication skills are especially valued.

Steps to take

Towards the end of Year 9, parents should ask for details of the oral components of the various exams to be taken in Year 11 by their son/daughter. Every school now runs a very professional examination system and will have a member of staff responsible for arranging examinations and distributing material to departments. This person is a good contact to make and hopefully will still be responsible for that work two years later. Copies of syllabuses certainly could be provided by the school on request, or a parent can purchase them directly from the exam board.

At the beginning of year 10, the pupils embark on the GCSE work, and parents must make contact with the teachers of English and Modern languages at this stage and share their concerns with the teacher. A sympathetic and supportive teacher is so helpful to any young person who approaches oral work with trepidation, and many do, whether they stammer or not. Again a request should be made for the teacher to contact the parent and pass on any concerns which they have.

A Year 10 or 11 pupil should be involved in all this activity, and feel able to discuss the situation with the teacher. After all most pupils regularly seek assistance with their written work, and concerned parents are very likely to raise that issue with the teacher, why should it be so much more difficult to discuss the oral work?

That is the crux of the issue of course and a feeling of shame or embarrassment is the real enemy to be defeated for many students. I cannot over-emphasise the need for that psychological element to be closely monitored in all young people and intervention sought wherever possible from parents, therapists and teachers.

The pupil should themselves take the trouble to check what are the tasks to be required for the oral work, and most teachers will be only too happy to supply the information. If this seems too public the parents can look at the syllabus with their son/daughter and begin to forward plan at home for the activities required. If there is a therapist involved she will be able to support this and also talk with the teachers.

Practice at reading aloud is always valuable, and it might reassure a teenager to know that many famous speakers endlessly practice their speeches in advance, even using a mirror to watch their body language. There is nothing odd about this, it is just common sense. Sometimes a recording could be made of the reading , so that the young person gets used to hearing his/her own voice, and working with a friend as if on a radio programme can also help to build confidence.

What I am saying is that all students have to work at their oral work, whether they stammer or not. Many marks are given for planning , standard of vocabulary, organisation, research, knowledge of the subject and a sensible and intelligent opinion. Some oral work consists of role plays and marks are awarded for entering into the spirit of the character, listening and participating sensibly, using appropriate body language for example. The emphasis is upon the communication skills of the candidate, and an awareness of this fact should help the teenager to worry less about the stammer, and more about content and presentation.

As it is the pupil's own teacher who will probably conduct the tests for English, s/he should know about your worries, and those of many other pupils and will help you to tackle them, provided you have explained how you feel. Busy teachers do not have crystal balls and cannot see into your mind, you must approach them yourself. The exam boards leave it to the schools usually to work out appropriate tasks for the oral work in English and your teacher can plan with you, and with any pupil who wants to take advantage of any extra advice, how best for you to do as well as you can. Do not worry if you stammer, just carry on and remember that you can always try again when you feel more confident because the teacher only has to supply marks to the board for 3 assessed activities, and is allowed to select the best ones which you did.

In modern languages a teacher from the department, probably but not necessarily your own teacher, will conduct some of the oral work as required by the board. This is quite formal and you need to be well prepared for this. The tapes will then be sent to an examiner for marking. Again, forward planning and preparation are so important. Learn vocabulary, prepare opinions and practise talking in the language at home, or with a friend. Working with friends is quite common for written work or for research, it is a good method and worth trying for the equally important oral work.

Enquiries about managing oral work for GCSE come in very frequently at this time of year and I am always happy to talk with parents, teachers ,therapists, and of course the young people themselves, if they approach me. My contact number is available at the bottom of the page, and a concerned pupil or parent could pass this on to the teachers concerned and ask them to contact me for further advice.

Special consideration in the GCSE for the young person who stammers

There is a provision for what is called special consideration, as it is known, for candidates who cannot fulfil an examination task without additional support. The support may be extra time, the use of a lap top, the assistance of a reader and so forth where such an educational need can be proven. The school may only apply for this within very prescribed circumstances, which do vary with the different boards. As some schools do use different boards for individual subjects, such applications can be quite complex and may vary in form for each board.

However, some helpful general rules do apply. First of all, the candidate cannot suddenly claim special consideration unless there has been a trauma near to the examination which was unforeseen; this proviso covers the pupil who has been injured or becomes ill. When the condition claimed for has not arisen from such emergencies, the school must provide clear evidence from within the last two years that the pupil has needed support to access the curriculum, and this must be supported by professional reports, usually from the educational psychologist, and any other relevant agency involved. Most schools will only process claims for this where the pupil has already been diagnosed with an educational need and is placed on the special educational needs register, and certainly the boards would normally expect that to be the case.

Pupils who stammer are, in these circumstances, likely to be granted extra time for modern languages orals, up to an extra 25%, and the certificate will indicate with a symbol that special consideration was given for that part of the examination. In English oral work this does not apply, because the school is given such wide discretion in planning oral work and is expected to manage the situation effectively.

There is a proviso, which I never recommend, for the separate grade which is awarded for oral work to be omitted from the certificate for English, with a symbol which denotes that work was not submitted for separate assessment. Although the student may feel that s/he has been spared the ordeal of the oral work, the certificate will indicate that no oral work has been presented for assessment and that the grade has been awarded on the components of the work submitted. This indicates an omission which obviously will be noted and is a course of action that examining boards and schools are only likely to pursue in the case of such significant dysfluency that speaking is quite incomprehensible and the student is not able to communicate at all.

Action plan for students approaching GCSE

Keep a sense of balance in your life between school work and leisure, do not get over tired and find time to relax. Sometimes relaxation exercises can be helpful.

Remember that there are many things at school and in your life which you are good at. Take some time to remember these, and build up your confidence. Look at the BSA leaflets, and contact our counsellor for a chat. Think about all the successful and clever people who stammered and how they got on.

Remember that you may know more about communication skills than other students in your class because you have had speech therapy. It is your ability to communicate, which is being tested.

Enlist the support of individual teachers in planning for oral work, and try to work with a friend(s), with whom you feel comfortable whenever possible.

Get as much information as you can about the examination requirements, and work hard at forward planning and preparation. Use a cassette recorder to help you practise and when you feel more confident try out your talking on family and friends.

If you are allowed to choose your own subject, find one in which you are interested and take in some pictures or other visual aids to illustrate it.

If you are talking about a text, make sure you really know it well.

Plan out your talk in writing first, and then make a list of headings or key points on small cards. It is best to use these, rather than to read your talk from a script. Practise at home using these, recording your talk if you can and listening to your own presentation.

Remember that many pupils may feel like you do, and that some of them will find it very difficult to speak fluently when they are being tested. Just remember that teachers do not expect young people to be totally fluent and perfect speakers, what they want is to hear you communicate your ideas and prepare your work thoroughly, showing good research, and appropriate listening skills and body language.

The teacher will be on your side and will be valuing what you say just as much as how you say it.

Talk to your therapist about any feelings you may have of embarrassment, and work with her to try methods such as slow speech, which may help you. You will probably find that other pupils, who you think are quite fluent, may deliberately speak more slowly when they give a talk because it helps their confidence.

If you feel that there is a chance that other pupils may tease you, or you meet with any bullying at all:
    Tell your parents.
    Make sure that your teachers know.
    Ensure that it is stopped.
Every school has a policy on this now and must take seriously any complaints.


Cherry Hughes, Education Officer, BSA
Tel: 01606 77374
e-mail ch@stammering.org

We now have a CD-ROM for GCSE students preparing for oral testing in English.

Full version of an edited article published in two parts in Speaking Out Spring and Summer 2000 editions