I'm not sure if I would agree with the lack of importance that you seem to attribute to speech skills. I'm personally really glad that I have them. Sometimes when we are doing the most boring things using speech skills e.g getting a cheque at the bank, we can forget how useful it is to be able to speak the language of the majority when needed.
I also don't think there are many people who have good speech skills but poor literacy at the same time.
However, I would agree with you that sometimes a too great emphasis on speech skills for some children can be at the detriment of developing literacy.
