Oral Language and Reading for ELL Students

The development of oral language provides a foundation for reading.  Oral language provides an opportunity for students to develop vocabulary knowledge, develop knowledge about linguistic rules, and learn the patterns of English (Freeman & Freeman, 2004).  Essentially, oral language and the reading process go hand-in-hand.  Students are able to find patterns in oral communication, and use this knowledge to understand and produce messages (Freeman & Freeman, 2004).  When English Language Learners use this knowledge to produce messages they process the language more deeply, and push their knowledge of language (Gibbons, 2002).

The reading process requires skills that are taught.  Students must learn skills to decode the words on the page.  However, oral language makes the transition much easier.  Once students decode the printed words on a page, they will recognize them as words in their oral language (Freeman & Freeman, 2004).  Students who have a strong foundation of oral language are likely to have an easier time learning to read, as they will already have knowledge of words and their meanings.  In other words, oral language helps students make sense of the words they are decoding, which leads to the ultimate goal of comprehension.

Knowing that oral language and learning to read go hand-in-hand, teachers must best support their ELL students by teaching these skills together.  Students must have opportunities to practice listening, speaking, and reading skills in order to become proficient at a second language.  Classroom talk needs to be deliberately and systematically planned so that it pushes second language development (Gibbons, 2002).  Keeping oral language and the reading process in mind when structuring tasks, setting up group work, and responding to students can foster second language development.  After all, as stated by Gibbons (2002): “Talk is how education happens!” (p. 38).

Freeman, D., & Freeman, Y. (2004). Written and Second Language Acquisition. In Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach reading, ESL, spelling, phonics, and grammar. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: Teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.