Girl’s progress in verbal communication (9)
I believe the answer is:
discourse
'verbal communication' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'girl's progress' is the wordplay.
'girl' becomes 'dis' (I've seen this in other clues).
'progress' becomes 'course' (I have seen 'Routine progress' mean 'course' so perhaps 'progress' could also mean 'course').
'dis'+'course'='DISCOURSE'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for discourse that I've seen before include "Speech - conversation" , "(Formal) talk" , "Conversation, dialogue" , "To hold a conversation" , "Engage in conversation; debate" .)