Literacy and Language in the Primary Years

Primary school teachers are now being asked to set special goals for children at 7 and 11 to be able to demonstrate confident and convincing talking, listening, writing and reading skills. How are they to achieve this? In this book, David Wray and Jane Medwell provide a set of strategies for the teacher to understand oracy and literacy development, to promote these essential skills in collaboration with their pupils and to create a classroom environment in which talk and literacy are central. The book responds to recent changes in a very positive and constructive way. It is written not only in the context of the nationally-prescribed curriculum, but in response to other recent developments in language and literacy research – particularly the renewed emphasis on the collaborative social context of learning and the whole language approach which stresses the interlinking of reading, writing, speaking and listening processes. Included are chapters on the phenomenon of language, the role of stories, literacy across the curriculum and new technology and assessment.
Each chapter is linked to a component of the national curriculum programme and contains a selection on points of interest, sources of further information and suggestions for follow-up activities in the classroom.

Author Biography

David Wray entered higher education after several years’ teaching and lecturing experience. In 1988 he took up his present position as Lecturer in Education at the University of Exeter., Jane Medwell currently teaches at The Grove Primary School, Devon, and prior to this has held a number of teaching positions. She has also been a Lecturer in Education at the University of Wales, Cardiff.