Set within the context of national concern for achievement in the development of writing ability, it addresses the gap in understanding early teaching and focuses on the exploration of how talk and writing interface. This includes:

- Numerous examples of teaching and activities for using talk to support writing

- Using extensive data from classrooms; video and audio recordings, and transcripts of children's talk

- Exploring three aspects of talk when used to support writing: talk for idea generation; talk for oral rehearsal and talk for reflection.

This book is for students on Primary ITT courses, particularly for English specialists. Students on M-level English and literacy courses will also find it useful.