Morrow (2012) states that there is a "dynamic relationship among the
communication skills (reading, writing, oral language, and listening)
because each influences the other in the course of development." Children acquire oral language beginning at home and continue vocabulary development and language acquisition throughout their lives. Children who begin school with a strong oral language base have a better chance of becoming good readers.
Being read 'to' helps children form both oral language and vocabulary, especially when the text is discussed during and after reading. Children who enter school without a strong oral language base, who have not been read 'to,' need extra help and instruction in order to become readers. ELL's need specific modeling and scaffolding as well as independent work in order to obtain the skills in oral language necessary for reading in English.
Conversational language is how we learn the conventions of reading and writing. Those students that understand the "dialogue" of any language are far more likely to read and write in that language.
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