Despite more than 25 years of research there is still dispute about the growth curve of referential communication. It is usually maintained that this capacity is in place by 7 years of age but a few studies have uncovered deficits in the later stages of primary school. The issue is important given the role played by verbal information processing in education. This study examined referential communication in Italian and English children at 6 and 9 years, tested individually. Sex and socio‐economic status (SES) were also main variables. A sensitive scoring system allowed the effects of feedback to be examined. The group data showed that 9‐year‐olds were significantly better speakers than 6‐year‐olds and that Italian children produced considerably more redundancy in their descriptions. As listeners, all children handled adequate messages well but with ambiguous messages age, sex and SES were significant main effects. Subject‐by‐subject analysis showed that less than 10 per cent of 6‐year‐olds and only 20 per cent of 9‐year‐olds were consistently able to detect ambiguity in messages, unaided. Cultural differences in the ability to profit from feedback were also revealed. The implications of the results for theoretical positions in referential communication and for the processing of verbal information in the classroom are discussed. It is concluded that there is a strong case for developing a standardized test of speake