To answer important questions for educators concerning language skills, this paper argues that children must acquire new skills in order to process written language, and that the need for developing new skills stems from differences between oral and written language that are more fundamental than differences in mode. The paper first describes how oral and written languages differ in terms of background knowledge, shared knowledge, multiple channels, feedback, and shared time and space, and how the absence or presence of these features is a matter of degree. It then focuses on examples of children confusing the strategies in their language activities, and problems they encounter in each one. Finally, it discusses the implications for instruction that these strategies suggest, including talking on the telephone, dictating narratives about experiences not shared by teacher or class, journal writing, and show and tell. The paper suggests that teachers need to help children acquire a repertoire of written language strategies and, at the same time, help them become aware of the pragmatic differences between various types of oral and written discourse. (CRH)