ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapters we saw how children’s use of literate language was predictive of subsequent standardized measures of school-based literacy. From our perspective, a crucial aspect of literate language is the use of ‘meta’ talk, or talk about linguistic (e.g. This doll can’t read!’) and mental (e.g. ‘I forgot to do that’) states. The predictive power of talk about the mental and linguistic processes surrounding literacy teaching suggests that school-based literacy involves some level of cognitive decentering, or perspective taking.
