Written by teachers for teachers, this book on language in the classroom is concerned with the various ways children are taught and the various ways they learn in response to that teaching. Chapter 1 analyzes the prewriting discussion of a group of 16 year olds to provide a model of language in use, and suggests four factors affecting the quality of the discussion. Chapter 2 uses this model as a basis to suggest specific problems arising in discursive work relating to these four factors. Using the same model, chapters 3 and 4 examine the teacher's role--both in group and in class discussion--to outline the teacher's contribution to learning. Chapters 5 and 6 look at reading across the curriculum, first considering small groups of children discussing a prose passage and a cloze comprehension test, and then outlining the teacher's role in the development of children's reading. Chapter 7 explores the teacher's role in helping children to make useful notes, while chapters 8 and 9 examine the teacher's role in the development of children's writing--first story writing and then discursive writing--using examples from one pupil's work over five years. The conclusion draws together the different discursive activities of talking, reading, and writing in relation to the development of the child and the work of the teacher. References, a reading list, and a brief index of a pupil's activities are appended. (EL)