• Back to Menu
  
  
• Home

Grunting Teenagers

Communication skills are going to be tested at school to root out the monosyllabic grunts used by many teenagers. Under plans about to be released, sixth-formers will have to prove their verbal skills in a series of oral presentations before they can graduate.

The move comes amid increasing concern about teenagers' poor verbal skills. Parents despair that their youngsters' vocabulary rarely extends beyond 'Yes', 'No' and 'What?'

Poor communication skills are already being addressed in primary schools. Five-year-olds are now being given lessons in how to conduct formal debates, adapt their conversation to any situation, disagree politely and tell stories.

But former schools chief inspector Mike Tomlinson believes teenagers' speaking skills also need to be developed.

Many pupils are being put at a disadvantage by the time they finish their sixth form studies because they are not able to conduct a good interview. In contrast, American students are well trained in presenting pieces of work and holding debates.

Mr Tomlinson hopes to match this level of language skill in Britain. His proposal for sixth-form communication tests is outlined in a report to be published next week.