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Although the importance of developing students' academic literacies has been well-established, academic oracy has been forgotten. There is a paucity of attention to oracy in higher education, despite the key role played by students' oral communication in academic achievement and graduate employability. This study offers a scoping review of the international scholarly literature that does exist, to explore how oracy has been framed and discussed in higher education, and whether connections have been made with the equity agenda to widen participation to traditionally under-represented groups. Following Arksey and O'Malley's framework for scoping studies, the 31 papers reviewed suggest that oracy is framed in disparate ways, reflecting disconnected understandings of the range, breadth and possibilities for oracy teaching. An oracy as product perspective prevails in the studies, with oracy predominantly explored through monologic, monoglossic activities, assessments, and graduate attributes. The review has highlighted the need to recognise an oracy for learning perspective; to establish shared understandings of the features of oracy; and to embed the teaching of oracy practices that support all students, regardless of linguistic and educational background, within their disciplinary learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enabling education is an enactment of Australia's attempts to address inequity in higher education (HE), offering free, alternative pathways to students who do not enter through the 'traditional' school–university pathway. Each Australian enabling program is different in terms of size, design, curricula and length, meaning that there is significant national variation. This is particularly the case with the entry requirements for enrolment. While many enabling programs are 'open', where no entry requirements are mandated, other programs implement prerequisite mechanisms, sometimes administered by diagnostic testing instruments. The supports and resources to meet the diverse learning needs of enabling students also vary at each institution according to program design. Access to (or a lack of) appropriate support can significantly impact on students' academic progress. Drawing from the findings of two national audits of Australian enabling programs, this article explores the benefits and challenges associated with the diverse provision and operation of enabling programs. With a particular focus on the varying approaches to entry and available supports, this article examines how specific learning needs of enabling students are identified, and what type of supports are available for them to achieve positive outcomes in their study and, hence, move on to undergraduate programs. In this article, we argue that the diverse nature of enabling program design and provision complicates understandings of what constitutes 'academic readiness' for students with implications for the transferability of their enabling qualification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the importance of academic language and literacies in students' meaningful participation in higher education has been well-explored, studies have focused on writing rather than reading. There has been a significant silence in the literature around what constitutes reading in higher education, the sociocultural complexities of reader engagement with text, and contemporary understandings of situated experiences regarding reading practices in the disciplines, especially for traditionally under-represented student groups. Scholarly interest in academic literacies, and reading in particular, has significant implications for the equity and widening participation agenda. To this end this article critically engages with research examining reading in tertiary education and describes a scoping study of scholarly work at the intersection of three domains: academic literacies, reading studies, and widening participation and equity in higher education. In asking questions of these three overlapping fields of inquiry, we map trends in existing academic literature, and argue for a research agenda that examines the experiences, perceptions and enactments of academic reading in the context of South African and Australian efforts to widen participation to higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]