In the United Kingdom at present, there is a rift between leading authorities who stress the use of oral language in helping children learn to read and those who focus directly on the teaching of reading and writing. This paper identifies five phases in educational development from 1870 to the present; for each phase, indication is given of the significant features or events that have contributed to the present controversy. The paper then considers the following controversial issues, which are current sources of confusion for British school teachers: how to deal with linguistic differences among children, whether to use an oral language base for literacy acquisition, and how to organize the school and the classroom. The final section of the paper discusses proposals that, if implemented, may heal the damaging effects of the rift between leading authorities. (GW)