In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to Jessie Ricketts about the link between oracy and reading, the importance of vocabulary knowledge and why approaches to developing oracy and reading skills should be tailored to different Key Stages.

Professor Jessie Ricketts is based in the Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London and directs the Language and Reading Acquisition (LARA) research group. Jessie researches language and literacy in children, young people and adults. She is particularly interested in how reading benefits children’s learning and language.