In this and the following two chapters, we examine the genres, prac-
tices and literacies associated with the three primary communication
mediums: spoken, written and visual. We discuss and critique the
assumptions and values associated with these mediums (such as that
speech is sincere and spontaneous, writing is distant and authoritative,
and visual texts are objective and faithfully represent 'reality'). We show
that the ways in which spoken, written and visual practices and genres
occur require particular forms of literacy.

We'll begin by discussing the social life of speech--how varieties of
speech are developed, their contexts of use, and associated spoken
literacies. We then look at the characteristics of speech versus writing,
and finally at speech as a mode of interaction (dialogue), and as a site
where power relations are negotiated, challenged or enforced.

Speech is regarded as the most basic and primary means of communi-
cation. It is the one we acquire, as individuals, before many other
semiotic systems. It is also regarded, in accounts of the evolution and
development of human beings, as having developed earlier than writing.
Speaking and listening are activities we usually perform without reflect-
ing very much about what we are doing, and which seem to 'come
naturally'. In contrast, writing is something we are very conscious of
having had to learn how to do.

As children, we learn how to mean primarily by learning how to
speak. Of course, babies also rely heavily on facial and gestural signs as a
means of communication and interaction. Beyond behavioural symptoms

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