An organizing framework is presented that can help integrate the large mass of apparently disparate work on written language. The starting point of the paper was collections of articles of reading, writing, and literacy, which seemed not to have a conceptual framework. Ways are discussed that knowledge from linguistics as an academic discipline and from other sources might be transformed into an educational research program. The problem of how the discipline might be reorganized into something new by linguists and educators working collaboratively is examined. The proposed organizing framework is referred to as the constituents of an educational theory of language, with specific reference to the British Association for Applied Linguistics conference. Two sets of points are identified as axiomatic: (1) the distinction between written and spoken language is an extreme idealization; and (2) a particular cluster of language characteristics (standard, written, formal) is fundamental to the British education system. It is suggested that the relationship between the social institution of the education system and the concepts of written and standard language must be analyzed. An educational theory of written language must include the following components: an institutional basis, a sociocultural basis, a developmental aspect, a way to handle descriptive information, a theory of language variation, a language policy and planning component, and ways to relate language studies to pedagogical and classroom practice. Each of these aspects of the theory is discussed in some detail. Contains 70 references. (LB)