We think in words. Speaking and listening help students develop and clarify their ideas. If we don't have words for something, it is very difficult to express that thought, that feeling. For our first language, we all learned to speak before we learned to read and write. For subsequent languages, we typically develop all areas of language at the same time. We must give students time to speak, listen, question, wonder, explain, and think. Are they talking more than we are?