Walking Towards Infinity: Oral Language Development and Reading

It was wonderful to welcome Professor Pamela Snow to speak as part of the Spellcaster Implementing Evidence Aligned Practice in Education webinar series last week.

Professor Snow delivered a powerhouse of a talk spanning the theoretical, historical and practical when it comes to understanding and unlocking the powerful relationship that existed between oral language and reading.

The Symbiotic Relationship

Professor Snow began by distinguishing how we should think about language and literacy: oral language is biologically primary, we have it preinstalled. Reading and writing are different, both are relatively recent in human evolutionary terms and are therefore biologically secondary, meaning they must be explicitly taught.

Nevertheless, while oral and written language are separate, Professor Snow described them as symbiotic. Writing systems had emerged as "an add-on to the fact that we had spoken language," because of "cultural, social, and in many respects, commercial advantages to being able to write language down rather than just transact it in that very momentary sense," through speech.

Importantly, the relationship between oral language and reading is bi-directional. Professor Snow highlighted an important, yet often overlooked, feedback loop - how reading enriches oral language development. As Professor Snow noted, "reading ability pays it back to our oral language development", particularly through exposing readers to immense amounts of vocabulary.

This reciprocal relationship becomes critical around Year 3, when children typically transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Here reading becomes an important accelerant for vocabulary and, in turn, oral language development.

This virtuous cycle goes beyond just vocabulary. Through reading, children are also exposed to more complex vocabulary, sentence structure and opportunities to expand their background knowledge.

The Lexical Bar: Vocabulary and Language Development

One of the most significant challenges in bridging oral and written language lies in what David Corson terms "the lexical bar." As Professor Snow explained, this concept highlights a fundamental divide in English vocabulary that has important implications for literacy development.

The lexical bar separates what Professor Snow describes as "the familiar homely-sounding and typically very short words that we learn very early in life" from "the more learned foreign-sounding and characteristically long words that are used for academic purposes." This divide reflects the historical development of English vocabulary, particularly following the Norman invasion of 1066 and the later influences of the Enlightenment and Renaissance.

Understanding this divide helps explain why some students struggle to access academic language. On one side of the bar lies what Professor Isabel Beck and colleagues call Tier One words - "the bulk of the words that we have and use in everyday life... that children learn through conversations with adults." These are often short words with transparent spelling patterns that form what Professor Snow called "a starter pack."

But academic success requires crossing this lexical bar to access Tier Two and Three words, the "expansion packs" to continue Professor Snow's metaphor. This is what school needs to provide access to.

The task for teachers lies in building bridges across this divide. There are many ways that can be approached, Professor Snow shared one simple example of effective practice: "I've been in a prep classroom and seen fantastic modeling of Tier Two language, 'Can you please put your bags adjacent to the door - adjacent means next to.'" This is one simple, yet powerful, way we can integrate sophisticated vocabulary into everyday instruction to help students gradually cross the lexical bar.

A Gateway to Opportunity

When it comes to oral language development, as well as reading and writing, the stakes couldn't be higher. As Professor Snow noted, once you can decode efficiently and effectively, "you're walking down the corridors of power into infinity." This mastery became "a hugely important social justice imperative that allows all children to be part of the social and economic mainstream regardless of their starting point."

Understanding the complex relationship between oral and written language isn't just academic - it is fundamental to ensuring all children can access these corridors of opportunity.