Introduction

Talk is a wonderful ready-made resource that each child brings to the first day of school – unlike the resources for reading and writing that the school provides. The danger is that we take talk for granted; we don’t think we have to do anything. This book aims to give talk a voice, to highlight it and give it the attention it deserves. For at the heart of literacy is oracy, and the way we access literacy is through oracy. Teachers and researchers are developing ways to assess speaking and listening, to find out how children are learning and to structure opportunities for language development. Recent government initiatives have had an impact on the way we understand and approach the teaching of speaking and listening. These will be constantly referred to throughout this book.