It certainly can, unless it's literally a class about public speaking. The english teacher's job is to teach you Shakespeare. There's almost certainly no requirement that you *read Shakespeare aloud* to pass a class about Shakespeare. Take it to the extreme... what if a person who literally couldn't speak was taking the class? Maybe someone who was deaf from birth, but was really good at reading lips, so they could otherwise participate normally in the class. Would they be required to read out loud? Would they be failed if they did not or could not? I am sure that would not happen. Stuttering is the same thing, just on a less extreme basis. Reading out loud is not a method by which you show your knowledge of the subject. Or certainly there are other methods by which you can show your knowledge, such as essays. I am sure there's no educational standards that list "able to read Shakespeare out loud" as a criteria for passing.