From the January/February 2024 LATA newsletter: here
If research shows that young students with “larger oral vocabularies show greater reading and mathematical achievement, increased behavioural self-regulation, and fewer externalizing and internalizing problem behaviours at kindergarten entry” (Morgan et al., 2015), it seems critical to explicitly teach vocabulary and create deliberate experiences for students to develop oral language skills.
Oral language is a critical component of literacy development. It is the foundation onto which all skills are built.
Students who know more, do more. Vocabulary is very connected to oral language and, again, is a critical building block for developing both reading and writing achievement. Learning words and owning them, helps students to become more efficient and effective communicators. Students who struggle with oral language (including speaking and listening) struggle to learn to read and write because they struggle with expressing themselves and sharing ideas
Research indicates, “Even after extensive covariate adjustment, 24-month-old children with larger oral vocabularies displayed greater reading and mathematics achievement, increased behavioral self-regulation, and fewer externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors at kindergarten entry.”