Oral Language: the system through which we use spoken words to express knowledge, ideas, and feelings. Developing oral language means the developing the skills and knowledge that provide the foundation for their listening, speaking, and writing

• Kids who hear more spoken words at home learn more words and enter school with better vocabularies.
• It is never too early to start talking to children.
• It is important to listen and respond to what young child are communicating.

Milestones Related to Speech and Language

3-4 Years

• Uses most speech sounds
• Able to describe the use of objects such as car, fork, etc.
• Expresses ideas and feelings.

4-5 years

• Understands complex questions
• Describes how to do things
• Answers "why" questions

5 Years

• Understands more than 2,000 words
• Engages in conversation
• Uses compound and complex sentences

Problems Associated with Oral Language

• Personal, social, vocational
• May not be phenically aware
• May not understand the alphabetic principle
• May not be able to apply these skills in a rapid and fluent manner
• May not possess strong vocabulary
• May not be able to relate reading to their own experience
• May be delayed in learning to read
• May not be able to communicate.

Oral Language's Impact on Reading

• The more limited a child's experience with language and literacy the more likely they will have difficulty learning to read
• Oral Language is the foundation of literacy development
• Strong relationship between vocabulary development and reading achievement.
• Oral language impacts all aspects of reading.

Research Based Strategies

• Establish collective efficacy about reading
• Interventions made without systematic data collection may result in targeting inappropriate interventions
• Systematic observations and a student interview is a great way to start.
• Scaffolding: necessary support needs to be given to a child and gradually faded once the child approximates independent functioning
• Term coined by Wood, Bruner, and Ross
• Shaping: to elicit reinforcers for successive approximations toward completing an objective. Delivering reinforcers for efforts made toward achieving a goal can be considered as ways of providing support to students. This is important when working with students with reading disabilities.
• Term described by Skinner
• Other: connecting prior knowledge, motivating, providing opportunity to practice skill
• Teacher facilitation and feedback are crucial
• Word Study Phonics
• Semantics mapping
• Reciprocal teaching approaches.