The Connection Between Oral Language, Foundational Reading Skills, and Writing

Oral Language

Simply put oral language references speaking and listening. The brain is hardwired for spoken language. Children have been developing their oral language since birth. Oral language starts with babies listening to the sounds around them, intensifies as they work on forming their own sounds, starting with cooing and babbling, ultimately leading to their first words. From there, children start to put their words together, using vocabulary that they have been exposed to, leading to sentences that increase in complexity.

Find out more about the Five Key Components of the Science of Oral Language for Educators

Continued exposure to new words is crucial for continued oral language growth. What are the best ways to have children engage with new words?

• Talk, talk, talk! Use new or interesting words in daily conversations. Keep the discussion going by asking questions, sharing ideas, and inviting children into the conversation.
• Expand on things that children say by paraphrasing their thoughts using some new vocabulary words. For example, if the child says, “It’s cold outside”, you might reply, “It is a bit chilly today, but it’s really cold when it snows!
• Use your body language. Gestures and facial expressions are powerful tools to express tone and emotion.
• Encourage opportunities to engage in song, rhyme, and word play to introduce them to new vocabulary.
• Read aloud to children daily. Children who have parents, guardians, and/or caregivers that read aloud and share picture books are exposed to 2-3 times as many sophisticated words and more complex sentence structures than children would be by just conversing with them.

Oral language encompasses the critical skills of speaking and listening and is deeply ingrained in cognitive development. To support and enhance this development, consistent exposure to new vocabulary is essential. Engaging children through frequent conversation, expanding on their verbal expressions, using expressive body language, incorporating songs and word games, and reading aloud are all effective strategies. These practices not only introduce children to new words but also foster a richer understanding of language, setting a solid foundation for their ongoing linguistic growth. By integrating these oral language techniques into daily interactions, we can help nurture and expand children's development into proficient speakers, readers, writers, and ultimately prepare children to be effective communicators.

Here are some suggestions for Supporting Oral Language Deficits.

Reading

The brain is hardwired to listen and speak and because of this oral language is a naturally occurring process for typically developing children. Reading, on the other hand, is not something that comes naturally. Rather, reading needs to be taught, systematically and explicitly.

An intriguing aspect of learning to read is how the brain transforms unfamiliar words into instantly recognizable ones. This process is known as orthographic mapping. The skill of orthographic mapping, functions like a pattern recognition engine within the brain, is essential for developing reading fluency and comprehension. As children master orthographic mapping, there is an increase in their ability to comprehend what they are reading, transitioning children into fluent readers.

How do we teach children to read accurately? We utilize the building blocks of the five pillars of reading, also known as the five pillars of literacy, to create a strong foundation. These five components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension play a crucial role in the development of reading skills.

Let’s take a closer look at the five pillars of reading that the National Reading Panel identified as the keys to reading success:

• Phonemic Awareness
  • The skill of recognizing and manipulating individual sounds in spoken words. Practicing phoneme blending helps students read words, while practicing phoneme segmentation aids in spelling words.
    • Did you know that the English language has 44 phonemes?
• Phonics
  • The skill of understanding how letters and letter combinations correspond to sounds that form letter-sound relationships and spelling patterns. Phonics facilitates decoding and spelling which contributes to fluent reading.
    • Did you know that 26 letters make up the 44 phonemes of the English language?
• Fluency
  • The skill of reading words, phrases, sentences, and stories correctly with speed and proper expression. As decoding becomes natural children can shift their focus to understanding the words and the text.
    • Did you know the four elements of fluency are rate, accuracy, prosody, and comprehension?
• Vocabulary
  • The skill of identifying definitions of words along with proper pronunciation. Many words are learned through reading, but oral language can also assist in exposing students to a robust vocabulary.
    • Did you know that understanding vocabulary is the key to reading comprehension? If children don’t know the meaning of the words they are reading, they will struggle to grasp the overarching ideas of the text.
• Comprehension
  • The skill of understanding and interpreting what is being read. Comprehension is the goal of reading but requires a solid foundation in the previous pillars, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary.
    • Did you know that the three key elements of comprehension are decoding, vocabulary, and knowledge?

Discover a more in-depth blog about the 5 Pillars of Reading

While oral language development is a natural and instinctive process for typically developing children, reading is a skill that must be taught. The brain's ability to recognize familiar words through orthographic mapping is crucial for reading fluency and comprehension, but this ability is not innate and requires explicit instruction. By focusing on the five pillars of reading—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension—we can create a robust foundation for literacy development. Each component plays a vital role in helping children transition from decoding words to understanding and interpreting texts effectively. Employing these principles ensures that children are capable and confident readers.

Really Great Reading uses these interrelated pillars in our curriculums and supplemental materials to transform emerging, developing, and struggling students into skilled readers!

Explore how Really Great Reading could enhance reading in your classroom

Writing

The focus of this writing section is addressing how oral language and reading connect to writing once a child has already learned or is learning handwriting. If you are interested in learning more about developmentally age-appropriate skills and how to teach handwriting, click here.

Writing can reinforce lessons that students are taught from oral language and reading exposure. Writing requires children to process and structure their thoughts in a way that they, and others, can understand.

Learning to write doesn’t happen overnight, it can take years for students to hone their writing technique. The process of clear articulation happens long before children pick up a pencil and start to form letters and sentences. Writing starts with oral language and exposure to reading.

How can educators and parents encourage creativity in the writing process of children? Here are some ideas:

• Read and talk! Read stories to children. Talk about the order in which events happen. Stop and ask clarifying questions while reading stories. Modeling this can help children adapt to this mentality while they are writing their own pieces which can ultimately create mindful writers.
• Use graphic organizers! Many people are visual learners. As students are learning to organize their ideas, using a graphic organizer for sequencing of events or a Venn diagram when comparing and contrasting ideas can help students be clear in their writing.
• Have a clear purpose. If students are telling a story, they should learn about narratives prior and have clear instructions surrounding expectations. Narrating, informing, persuading, describing, and comparing and contrasting will each have a different, but important, purpose.
• Establish a writing focus. Early elementary students might focus on using capital letters, punctuation, proper spacing and spelling, and rereading their story. While upper elementary students might transition their focus to pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing a final copy. The focus should be developmentally appropriate.
• Show lots of examples. Students should be exposed to excellent example pieces. This can range from professional and published texts to the teachers writing and even classroom (peer) samples. Providing students the opportunity to see different word choice, syntax, grammar, punctuation, clarity, and even illustrations help give clarity and examples that students can model their work after.
• Provide daily opportunities for children to write. This can be a time for students to write about anything! They might want to write down a question they have for the teacher, share something happening at home or school, or use their imagination. The amount of time dedicated to free writing would depend on the age group. *With an activity like free writing it will be helpful to model and use a gradual release of responsibility, so students are clear on the expectations during this time.
  • For example, in a first-grade classroom, it might be appropriate scaffold a free write by having a shared prompt that the class has gone over together. Then transitioning to independent writing where students can write anything they want relating to the prompt. Starting with 5 minutes a day and adding time for free writing as the year progresses could be more successful than starting with one hour of free writing.

Writing development is closely intertwined with the skills learned through oral language and reading. While mastering handwriting is an important milestone, the true essence of writing lies in the ability to articulate and structure thoughts coherently. To foster effective writing skills, educators and parents can implement strategies that bridge the gap between oral language, reading, and writing. Reading aloud, discussing story structures, using graphic organizers, and clarifying writing purposes all contribute to building a strong foundation for writing. Additionally, establishing developmentally appropriate writing focuses and providing daily writing opportunities can nurture creativity and growth. By integrating these approaches and positively supporting children’s writing development, we can help children become thoughtful, expressive writers who effectively communicate their ideas.