Prepared as part of a series applying recent research in oral and written communication instruction to classroom practice, this booklet focuses on how children and young adults make meaning in speech and writing and on ways teachers can encourage their language development. Following a brief introduction, the first major section of the booklet analyzes communication competence according to four principles: (1) sensitivity to situational factors, including medium of communication, function, setting, topic, discourse process, and audience; (2) flexibility; (3) performance; and (4) feedback. The second section discusses the school as a communication context and examines the different speaking and writing situations students encounter daily. The third presents a model of communication development stressing social awareness, coding, and reconstruction of experience, and the fourth section examines the interdependence among these dimensions. The concluding section discusses teaching for communication competence. Examples of student work are included throughout the booklet. (FL)