Issues in the Development of School Discourse

English instruction for children with hearing loss has traditionally focused on teaching about language conventions, with much less attention to learning language, or to learning through language—especially its discourse features. The author argues that language intervention, through the collaborative efforts of speechlanguage pathologists and teachers, should promote communication interactions that emphasize English discourse that facilitates interpersonal and school language learning. Particular focus in this article is on issues of teacher talk, talk around print, self-talk in problem solving, and the uses of narrative and descriptive discourse in interpersonal and school contexts.