Oral language is the foundation on which reading is built. Children come to school with different levels of competence in reading and writing. Oral language development begins in infancy when adults respond to the infant’s cooing and babbling. Oral language continues to develop through childhood in a series of stages. Children progress through these stages at different rates and at different ages. The many oral language experiences a child encounters may also vary. This summary will describe the experiences in oral language that are needed prior to learning to read.
Teachers need to consider the types of oral language experiences they provide for children. This is especially true when teaching children of diverse backgrounds. It is important that the instruction children receive have meaning to the children. Children need to be motivated to learn, and learning needs to have a purpose. Children need experiences where they can apply their skills to real reading and writing (Au, 2000).
Children need to be actively involved in their learning. Phonemic awareness training, along with training in associating letters and their sounds, has an effect on later reading achievement. Young children need to have opportunities to work with developmentally appropriate oral language activities in kindergarten (Ball, & Blachman,1991).
Children enter school with varying degrees of oral language and phonological skills. The home literacy environment, along with experiences in preschool have a great effect on children’s learning. Early exposure to reading in the form of shared reading experiences followed by discussion of story has a positive effect on children’s comprehension and oral language (Burgess, n.d.).
The home literacy environment has an effect on a number of literacy developments including oral language and phonological awareness. The home literacy environments of children are different. Teachers need to bridge the gap between the home literacy environment and the school literacy environment. The home-school connection is an important factor in a successful literacy experience for children (Burgess, 2002).
Predictable books in the classroom provide children with opportunities to become actively involved in the story as they read along with the teacher. Children enjoy the rhythm, rhyme, and repetition of verse in these books. Repeated readings of the predictable verse provides experiences in oral language as children develop fluency and confidence in their reading (Chien, 2000).
Children love to share personal information about themselves to others. Teachers need to take time and talk with children about what is happening in their lives. Communicating with children on a personal level lets children know that teachers care about them as individuals. By providing unstructured time for talking and sharing of experiences, teachers learn more about the whole child (Csak, 2000).
The use of music in the classroom has an effect on literacy development. Music celebrates language. Using music to teach reading draws on the natural rhythm and rhyme of language. Music can be integrated into the curriculum in many ways. Experiences in music provide for active, hands-on participation as children dance, sing, and play instruments. Music creates an environment of learning by doing. Concepts that children are exposed to in music such as rhythm, rhyme, tone, one-to-one correspondence, and oral language are also experienced in literacy. Music also provides opportunities for creative expression (Fisher, 2001).
Observing children in relaxed settings provides teachers with first hand accounts of children’s dialogue. The dramatic corner in preschool and kindergarten classrooms is an area where children are seen in conversation. Conversations in this area of the classroom can be real or pretend. The use of props stimulates children’s creativity and imagination. Props can be used as a stimulus for generating imaginative conversation and developing oral language in play (Glover-Miller).
Measures of rhyme and alliteration are strong predictors of reading progress. Playing with the sounds of words provides children with experience in which they are in control of learning. Manipulating the onsets and rimes in word activities gives children a chance to see and hear relationships in words. These activities provide for a sense of control of one’s learning as children interact with the activities (Goswami, & Mead, 1992).
Preschool children enjoy activities with rhymes. By incorporating the rhymes into play, children are provided with readiness instruction that is fun and developmentally appropriate. Phonemic awareness activities involve listening skills. Children are taught to attend to the sounds of letters in hands-on activities as well as in chants, rhymes, and songs (Griffith, & Olson, 1992).
Chants, songs, and text can be used by teachers to develop language skills. Additional skills such as finding or creating a rhyme to extend or change a song incorporate language learning into music. Dramatizations to accompany chants and songs provide further language practice (Huffine, & Ellis, 1979).
Dramatic play activities can be open-ended or closed-ended. Open-ended activities are those without a predetermined goal. Fantasy play is an example of such activities. Closed-ended activities include those activities which have a goal or end product. Both types of dramatic play activities allow children to develop their oral language skills, creativity, and imagination through play and developmentally appropriate activities. The various learning environments available to children provide for different types of learning as well as different opportunities for language development (Kraft, & Berk, 1998).
By offering a variety of activities to children in different ways, teachers foster voluntary reading. Consideration of the different types of books in a classroom library and the structure of a read aloud program help to promote children’s interactions with books. Such interactions enhance the development of oral language skills. Kindergarten is a good time to begin to develop good reading habits (Martinez, 1988).
A total literature program includes regularly prepared literacy activities, a time when children can have the opportunity to enjoy books, and a well developed classroom library. The classroom library needs to include features such as a felt board, stories on tape, and puppets in addition to books. Hands-on activities such as these enhance oral language development through interaction with the materials (Morrow, 1982).
Retelling a story provides interaction between teller and listener. It provides for participation in literature. Retelling provides information on the child’s understanding of the story as well as their understanding of story sequence. Additional oral language opportunities are provided when the retelling is followed by a question and answer period (Morrow, 1988).
A daily read aloud experience presents opportunities to interact with text. Children question and comment during read alouds. They are thinking out loud. There are many factors which influence children’s comprehension of text. The amount and type of interaction with adult readers are two factors. The size of the group is another. Reading to children in small groups encourages more interaction with text and also appears to lead to greater comprehension of material (Morrow, 1990).
Interaction with adults influences the amount of involvement in play activities. Teacher behaviors can have an effect on children’s spontaneous literacy behaviors such as book browsing and sharing, pretend reading, and writing. When teachers show enthusiasm for the literacy aspects of the play centers, children also develop an interest. Collecting literacy materials with children and bringing such materials into the play center is another way of motivating children to explore the literacy aspects of the play center. Bringing literacy materials from home is also encouraged (Morrow, 1991).
Literacy offers many ways for families to share learning experiences together .Storytelling is effective in developing language as well as cultural literacy. Families can share stories of their heritage through storytelling. Storytelling makes the past come alive as children learn about their culture and their identity in their family (Palmer, Leiste, & Ellis, 2000).
Children develop their identity in many ways. Play is one way. The types of toys children use in play helps to shape their identity. The types of toys also effects children’s oral language development. Children’s talk about language is important for early literacy learning (Pellegrini, & Galda,2000).
Expressive language includes the ability to communicate a message to another individual, as well as the use of language to convey feelings and emotions. Through expressive language, children participate in the story. Children’s responses to books can be an emotional outlet when children identify with the characters in the story. Discussion oprovides meaning and guidance in responding to the story (Remaly, 1990).
Oral language and written language develop together. Oral language can have an effect on written language as children talk with each other during their writing activities. Verbal interactions provide guidance and encourage continued production of written material (Schrader, 1986).
The computer is a useful tool in literacy. It is used in classrooms beginning in pre-kindergarten. The computer can be used for the development of various literacy skills including rhymes, sound-letter association and letter knowledge. It can also be used for the development of thinking skills. This is especially true in the area of comprehension as children become involved in literal, interpretive and critical thinking skills activities involving oral language (Tancredo, 2001).
Children who have the most developed use of language functions have the best understanding of the writing and reading processes. Teachers need to listen to the children in their classrooms to determine developmental progress in oral language. Children who are frequently read to have better oral language development. Children who spend more time actively engaged in talk with adults have a heightened sense of language development (Thomas, & Rheinhart, & Wampler, 1992).
Parents play an important role in their child’s literacy development. By tapping prior knowledge, children become involved in the story. Parents can recall experiences their child had that may be similar to the experiences of the characters in the story. In such a way the child identifies with the character. When children make such connections in a story, their interest in the story is sustained. Oral language skills are developed through these parent-child storybook readings and discussions (Tracey, 200).
Family literacy programs such as Storymates encourages the use of shared reading to develop literacy skills. Repeated readings to family members, friends, and peers is an integral component of the program. The repeated readings are encouraged as a means to develop fluency increase comprehension, and to share literature with family and friends (Tracey, 2000).
Sharing literacy with others is an important part of oral language development. When children are provided with activities to work with peers, learning is enhanced. Literacy tasks which are most meaningful to children are those with more than one (open-ended) correct response. Such activities tend to be seen as more open to interpretation and meaningful by the children (Turner, & Paris, 1995).
Reading aloud to children provides an opportunity for oral language development as children comment and ask questions about the story. Children’s questions tend to center on the pictures in the book. Questions may also be about story meaning and word meaning. Child initiated questions help build cognitive and linguistic skills as children become involved with the story (Yaden, 1989).
Children’s literacy development begins in infancy and continues to grow along with the child. Early literacy provides children with the experiences they need to develop basic oral language skills prior to beginning to read. A literacy rich environment fosters a love of reading and creates life long learners and readers.