BESA CORNER
This month in our ongoing feature highlighting the work of the UK education suppliers’ trade body BESA, we hear from OxEd
The critical role of oral language in learning to read
language is essential not only for reading comprehension, as shown by the Simple View of Reading, but also for the development of foundational decoding skills.
This expanded model comes from a long-term study. It showed that language skills at 3.5 years strongly predict children’s pre-reading skills (letter knowledge, phoneme awareness and rapid naming skills) at school entry, which in turn predicts how well they can read words at the end of their first year in school. In other words, early language skills, before a child has even started to learn to read, are strongly related to how well they will learn to read words once they enter school. Furthermore, these early language skills are also strongly related to children’s understanding of what they read at age 8.
Oral language is the heart of literacy and learning. It’s fundamental to a child’s educational journey, serving as the foundation for reading, comprehension, communication, and social interaction. Pupils need to understand and be understood to thrive. Yet despite the significant attention given to phonics, and literacy more generally, oral language often remains overlooked.
Language delays are common. According to DfE data, 1.6 million pupils have a Special Educational Need, with speech, language and communication needs being most common. While any child can experience a language delay, a significant correlation exists between such delays and socioeconomic status. Language difficulties, unsurprisingly, are also common among English language learners.
Critically, oral language skills are essential in learning to read. The Simple View of Reading states that you need two skills to understand what you’re reading: decoding and language comprehension. Decoding is crucial, but it won’t get you very far without a solid grasp of language. You can know how to pronounce every word, but if you don’t understand the meaning of what you’re reading, the whole point is lost.
However, there is research that takes this model further, demonstrating that language underpins the whole process of learning to read. Oral
These findings led Snowling and Hulme to propose the Reading is Language model. This model can be viewed as an extension of the Simple View of Reading that takes into account developmental processes. According to this model, early language skills form the foundation for both decoding words, and for language skills that form the basis for comprehending text after it is decoded.
In other words, we can think of reading development as involving a series of waves of development, with each subsequent wave depending on all earlier waves, with the first wave being language.
With 26% of pupils not meeting the expected standard in reading in 2023-24, investing in language intervention as early as Preschool and Reception is essential for ensuring all students have the foundation for success. Although managing the complexity of needs in schools can be challenging, an intensive focus on oral language has many long-term benefits. By focusing on early intervention, schools can reduce the number of children needing SEN support and lighten the administrative and managerial burden on schools, allowing resources to be allocated more effectively and provide scarce specialist resources to those pupils with the most complex needs.
By proactively identifying and addressing language difficulties, we equip students with the tools they need to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Learn more about this research here: https://oxedandassessment. com/news-and-insights/language-is-everything-for-literacych
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www.education-today.co.uk July/August 2025
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