National centre of articulacy needed to beat the mumblers

Britain needs a national policy for articulacy to help re-educate a growing generation of monosyllabic mumblers, according to some of the nation's leading exponents of the spoken word.

Prompted by concern about diminishing use of English in favour of street slang, text chat and email argot, the call is being spearheaded by Sir Peter Hall, the director, and his successor as artistic director of the Rose Theatre, in Kingston upon Thames, Stephen Unwin.

Their conviction is backed by a feasibility study conducted by Dr Andrew Tucker, of University College London and Birkbeck College. "We found that there is a distinct communication skills deficit, acknowledged by government ministers, business leaders and teachers," he said.

"Thousands of jobs a year are not being filled easily because applicants can't communicate effectively. Large companies complain of having to spend thousands of pounds on training call centre staff in basic communication, and in a survey two months ago91 per cent of primary school teachers said speaking and listening skills – the

twin pillars of oracy – should be the priority for schools in 2008."

The design of the £11m Rose Theatre, which Sir Peter opened in January, is based on the 1587 Rose Theatre unearthed at Bankside, south London, almost 20 years ago. Senior figures at the theatre believe it would be a perfect focus for a new campaign. The plan would be to turn the Rose into a centre of excellence for the spoken word. The management is looking for support for a proposal to involve theatres, actors, directors and playwrights across the country. They believe such a centre would fit perfectly with the call made last week by Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture, for schemes to encourage young people's appreciation of the arts .

Sir Peter, one of the country's leading experts in verse speaking and Shakespearian delivery, said: "When I came into the theatre it was a great privilege to be able to speak Shakespeare. Now any actor under 40 is scared stiff of Shakespeare because he requires you to speak, and it's unfashionable to be able to speak now. It's because communication generally has become visual, not verbal, and we need to act to reverse that trend."

Mr Unwin added: "It's not elocution classes – it's much bigger than that," he said. "It's about confidence, about empowerment, and fundamentally there's no contradiction between the highest end of high art and everyday life. Speaking, cadences, verse – it's what actors do."

Julian Fellowes, the writer and actor, who won an Oscar for the screenplay of Gosford Park, expressed support for the idea, saying: "One of the greatest misconceptions of recent decades has been that it is some sort of invasion to teach boys and girls how punctuation, pronunciation and how to communicate properly. I see education as a tool of empowerment, the chance to empower them to make the best of themselves and to increase social mobility."

The art critic and TV presenter Brian Sewell was caustic about theatre's ability to help with the problem: "I've given up going to the theatre because the problem is so bad. It is the same with television, with these young actors who are just mumbling. We have the same problem with the staff in the offices of the Evening Standard."

But Professor Roland Rotherham, an education scholar, was enthusiastic: "What an absolutely wonderful idea. We are fortunate that in Britain we have one of the most beautiful spoken languages in the world. But there now also seems to be an 'estuary speak' which has become the lingua franca of city and street children who, for some reason, think it makes them sound like ethnic yardies and gives them credibility, but it doesn't. It is rather amusing, but most worrying, too."

Additional reporting by Ian Griggs

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