Talking our way into writerly dispositions: relationships between oral language and authorial composition skill development

This article explores relationships between talk and authorial writing, emphasising ways to support Year 5 and Year 6 students in their verbal and written communications. Some excellent Australian texts are offered as examples for use in the upper primary classroom, as well as identification of their affordances for literacy teaching and learning. The texts are drawn from a range of genres and are considered outstanding prompts for oral language development, text response and authorial writing models where recognition of the social elements of literacy emphasise a need for clear communication that considers audience, context and purpose. This article points out that oral language can become more than a vehicle for students to talk their way into thinking of themselves as writers, thus demonstrating the potential for speaking and listening to develop hand-in-hand with authorial writing skills.