The main aim of this study was to test the effect of an emotionally-focused educational program on the language and emotional skills of children aged 9-11. Sixty seven pupils were divided randomly into an experimental group who received teaching on emotions in an oracy context, and into a control group who completed a learning sequence unconnected with the emotions and in a traditional educational oral context. The emotional and non-emotional language skills of the two groups were assessed in the pretest and the posttest. While it is noticeable that levels of vocabulary and comprehension improved for all pupils in the post test, only those who had completed the education programme on emotions displayed significantly improved skills in general oral production. The results highlight the fact that educational practices encouraging oracy in natural situations contribute to the development of oral language and listening and empathy skills.