Language and communication are essential in the classroom: essential in children’s learning, essential in teachers’ communication with children, and essential in children’s understanding of themselves and their world.

This book is a guide for trainee and beginning teachers on how to support and develop talk in the classroom. It explores the theory behind the teaching of language and communication skills and includes lots of practical advice on how to translate this into the classroom. It tackles the challenges and issues of managing talk in the classroom setting, and explores the role of language in children’s learning.

The book addresses the challenge of language difficulties and delayed language development among children entering school. The crucial role of adults in supporting early language development is explained, and the book also considers the needs of children for whom English is an additional language.