ABSTRACT
Literacy and numeracy have always been given high priority in the British educational system. In contrast, speaking and listening have received intermittent and uncertain attention. But the development of literacy is grounded in a knowledge of language gained through talk in a variety of social settings. Similarly achievement across the curriculum depends on the capacity to understand spoken language. For primary school children talk is the principal medium through which they access education – talk with teachers and classmates provides invaluable opportunities to make meaning from information, articulate new ideas, and solve a range of problems and puzzles.
