Entry 3: The relationship between oral language and the reading process

There is a strong relationship between oral language and developing the skills to become a reader. Without having the language to talk and communicate with others, reading and writing cannot take place. English language learners need to develop sufficient vocabulary in the English language to be able to comprehend a text. Even if a child can decode a word they will not be able to make sense of the word until they gain background knowledge of what the word means and experience it. That is why it is imperative that teachers allow "classroom talk" to take place. In Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning, Gibbons discusses how important the role of talk is in learning. It allows students to learn from each other and feel safe in small group conversations. The more vocabulary, experience and background knowledge that a person has the more they will be able to understand the text they are reading.