Integrating Oral Language

Capin and Mesite (2026) argue that although language is a foundation skill to literacy development, it is also a skill that is continually developing and shaping literacy learning throughout childhood and adolescence. In fact, as reading and writing become increasingly linguistically complex, it needs to be matched by a similar growth in language. The following is an outline of the key points made in their article.

Importance of oral language for literacy development

• Oral language (e.g., phonological awareness and vocabulary) supports development of early literacy.
• Early language impairment is associated with difficulty learning to read and spell.
• There is a reciprocal relationship between oral language development and reading development, especially as text becomes more complex and children are exposed to vocabulary not used in everyday conversations.

Academic language demands

Capin and Mesite’s critique of the language demands of standard Grade 4 texts found that readers need to be able to:

• Understand figurative language.
• Interpret adverbial clauses.
• Understand time frames and embedded dialogue.
• Interpret multiple clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions.
• Track and hold in memory who is speaking, when events occurred and how various ideas relate to each other.
• Identify themes and how these themes are represented in the text.

Limitations of typical classroom discussions

• Many teachers pose brief questions about what students remember, which the teacher then evaluates in terms of correctness.
• Such exchanges do not provide an opportunity to explain reasoning, use newly acquired vocabulary, make connections across ideas or build meaning collaboratively.

Evidence for language focused instruction

• Listening and reading comprehension rely on many of the same language processes.
• Therefore, improvement in listening comprehension supports improvement in reading comprehension – once students can accurately decode text.
• Multicomponent interventions (e.g., targeting vocabulary and syntax) yield stronger improvement than focusing on a single intervention (e.g., just vocabulary).
• Although much of the research has focused on listening comprehension, arguably language development also depends on active usage via structured academic discussions.

An example of a language focused program (SKILL=Supporting Knowledge in Literacy and Language)

• SKILL focuses on the ability to understand and tell stories, targeting both the macro-structure of stories (character, events, internal responses, complications, consequences, ending, etc.) and the micro-structure (e.g., vocabulary and sentence structure).
• Participants showed improvement in reading and writing.
• Instruction is organised in 3 phases moving from highly scaffolded to more independent work.
• Phase 1:
  • Lessons introduce the core story grammar elements (the macro-structure of narratives).
  • Each element is associated with an icon and placed on a sequenced storyboard graphic organiser.
  • Teachers guide students in retelling the story using the icons.
  • Students generate their own brief stories using the icons.
• Phase 2:
  • Teaches students to construct more complex stories.
  • Lessons focus on linguistic structures that support richer narratives (e.g. use of conjunctions, expressive verbs and dialogues, thinking and feeling words and elaborate noun phrases).
  • New icons and more complex storyboards are introduced to represent complicated events.
• Phase 3:
  • Emphasis shifts to independence.
  • Students have multiple opportunities to retell, create, revise and evaluate their own stories with decreasing reliance on icons and graphic organisers.
  • Students use a rubric to judge the adequacy of their stories and to set goals for improvement.

Recommendations for teachers

• Teach academic language specific to reading, writing and content learning.
• Create opportunities for extended academic talk to build understanding.
• Use oral language as a bridge to writing.
• Leverage students’ linguistic and cultural resources.

Technique	What is it?	Example
Modelling	The teacher deliberately produces the desired precise, complex language	“Pam was brave because she stood up for her friend even though she was scared of how the other children would react.”
Recast	The teacher reformulates the student’s utterance so it’s more complete or complex.	Student: “The storm clouds came over the field.” Teacher: “When Tom saw the storm clouds covering the field, he ran outside to grab his science project before it was ruined by the rain.”
Vertical structuring	Recasting that links cause and effect. The teacher asks the student two related questions (e.g., What is happening? Why is it happening) and then joins student’s response into one complex sentence using a conjunction.	Teacher: “How does Mary feel?” Student: “Disappointed.” Teacher: “Why is she disappointed?” Student: “She knew she could have done better.” Teacher: “That’s right. Mary is disappointed about her performance because she knew she could have sung better.”
Extension	The teacher takes the student’s ideas and adds new, related information. This could include linking events or connecting motives or actions.	Teacher: “What important decision did the general make at the battle?” Student: “He surrendered and the battle ended.” Teacher: “Yes, the general surrendered which ended the battle and eventually led to the end of the war.”

Conclusion

If students cannot follow or express an idea in conversation, they are likely to struggle to make sense of that same idea when it appears in print or to clearly communicate it in writing.

To find out more about SKILL go to: Narrative Discourse Intervention for School-Aged Children With Language Impairment

Reference
Capin, P. & Mesite, L. (2026). Every teacher a language teacher: Integrating oral language to strengthen literacy in the elementary grades. The Reading League Journal,  3 (7), 9-19.