Language research over the past two decades has revealed that language is not something children "acquire," but rather a system they build. A key factor in this linguistic construction is children's interaction with parents or other caregivers. The studies reveal further that children's repeated interactions with books and stories and their concepts about print on entry to school are also factors in their success in learning to read by the time they reach seven years of age. Most striking in all of this research is the active role children play in their own learning. They discover, hypothesize, test, approximate, invent, and correct their utterances and intentions on the basis of their interactions with more knowledgeable and skilled partners. The purpose for action, the relationships among participants, and the particular roles people play, all influence the language and learning that occur. Consequently, teachers and administrators should work together to create learning environments that encourage children to collaborate in exploring ideas and thus in developing mathematical, scientific, and literary concepts alongside social linguistic skills. (HOD)