Talk and the Development of Reasoning and Understanding

Wertsch’s clarification of Vygotsky’s claims about the role of social interaction in the development of children’s thinking made an important contribution to educational research. Revisiting that clarification, I suggest that ‘talk’ instead of ‘speech’ best describes Vygotsky’s concern with the functional dynamics of dialogue rather than the language system. Reviewing research on teacher-pupil interaction and collaborative activity amongst peers, I then consider what evidence has now emerged to support Vygotsky’s claims. The article ends with a brief summary of the current state of our understanding about the role of spoken dialogue in learning and development.