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Oral language has been overlooked in education, seen as something students would learn naturally. However, recent research shows that teaching oral language in schools lays the foundation for academic success.

During the edLeader Panel “Oral Language: The Hidden Barrier to Reading Success,” Dawny Hill, Speech-Language Pathologist & Implementation Success Partner at OxEd & Assessment, spoke with Anne Penn Cox, Director of Student Services and Early Learning Coordinator at Livingston Public Schools (MT), and Dr. Charles Hulme, Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Oxford, about the importance of oral language in literacy programs and how it can help student development.

Oral language refers to children’s listening and speaking skills, and their ability to understand and communicate. Early oral language difficulties are strong indicators of later literacy, learning, and life difficulties, and helping students develop oral language skills early on strengthens reading comprehension and language decoding skills.

Despite its importance, oral language hasn’t been prioritized due to a lack of knowledge about said importance and its role in the Simple View of Reading. While schools have assessments, interventions, and screening processes based on literacy, they rarely do for oral language. Identifying language delays can be difficult, especially if a student seems to have no difficulties speaking. The assumption is that if they can speak, then they have language skills.

Research shows that oral language skills developed early in school are foundational for literacy comprehension, so it’s important to have early assessments and impact strategies. A proposed new model of reading development called “Reading is Language” incorporates oral language into every part of school, even recess, with four phases:

• Phase 1 – All language skills develop, starting before school and continuing throughout
• Phase 2 – Works with alphabetical code, looking at sound and word consistency
• Phase 3 – Developing more accurate and fluent reading skills
• Phase 4 – Using those skills for better reading comprehension

This model uses strategies called “Parallel” (describing students’ activities to them), “Expanding and Expansion” (adding more words to what children say), and “Recasting” (repeating students’ speech with correct grammar, vocabulary, and structure).

In addition, it uses more open-ended questions, letting students practice language. It also helps middle and high school students by teaching more vocabulary and having a greater focus on speaking in structured situations to recast and expand on what students say. Reading to students and having them participate in joint reading is beneficial as well.

Schools can involve families by having screenings for young children, working with families to understand their children’s overall language skills, and providing them with strategies to use at home. Families can also read to children and have conversations about what they’re reading, incorporating picture prompts to help children tell stories.

While good oral language programs are beneficial for those who already speak English, they are vital for English language learners. Schools must have programs to help ELLs build language skills to age-appropriate levels so that they’re able to benefit from other literary lessons. Programs (such as OxEd & Assessment’s TEL Ted and LanguageScreen) can greatly help with this, in addition to assessing students’ language skills and progress.

Schools looking to embed oral language instruction into their curriculum require a strong literacy leadership team with ties to intellectual experts and an MTSS structure to plug it into. Should administrators not see the importance of oral language, then educators can work with speech-language pathologists in their district to procure research supporting oral language, or reach out to educators in other districts who can testify on its long-term value.

Although oral language has been overlooked for years, its benefits show why it’s more important than ever to focus on. By making it a key part of education, teachers can prepare students for success both in and out of school, setting them up for a brighter tomorrow.

Learn more about this edWeb broadcast, Oral Language: The Hidden Barrier to Reading Success, sponsored by OxEd & Assessment.

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Language and Literacy is a free professional learning community that provides educators with a place to collaborate on best practices for language and literacy instruction in K12 today.

OxEd & Assessment is a University of Oxford spinout company committed to improving early language and literacy outcomes. Founded by world-leading researchers, Dr. Charles Hulme and Dr. Maggie Snowling, OxEd leverages decades of rigorous research in language development and educational interventions to create practical tools that help districts and schools implement the most effective, science-led strategies in their education systems.

Our flagship program, The TEL Ted Program, is a complete oral language toolkit to teach everyone language and is the best-evidenced oral language intervention available globally. It includes a universal language screener, professional development, whole-class instruction, and a pull-out intervention.

Article by Jon Scanlon, based on this edLeader Panel