Entry #3 Oral Language and the Reading Process

There is a great debate about the relationship between acquiring oral language skills and learning how to read. Most researchers support the idea that oral language is an innate skill built into the human system for the sake of communication (Freeman & Freeman, 2004). Therefore, children quickly “acquire” their first language through interactions with family members and the world around them. Consequently, formal instruction is not required to learn a child’s first language (Freeman & Freeman, 2004). While I agree with oral language acquisition, the question still remains: Can children acquire reading and writing in much the same way as they acquire oral language skills?
Researchers argue that children acquire their first language and they do so rather quickly without explicit instruction, however reading, writing, and second languages are much more difficult to acquire (Freeman & Freeman, 2004). The two forms of communication, oral language and written word, carry different vocabulary, as well as, different structures (Freeman & Freeman, 2004). Consequently, written language is not natural and becomes a more learned activity. While all of this seems true, I believe that a child exposed to reading and writing in an interactive setting can acquire many of the skills necessary for reading. Through reading and making meaning with an adult, a child can understand story lines, depict problems and solutions, and become familiar with character development. The children constantly interacting with books are often the children that parents talk about by saying “They just started reading, no one taught them!” These students appear to have learned how to read out of no where, but it would be fair to say that they acquired reading by reading. For these reasons, the debate continues.
Consequently, while I believe acquiring reading is possible, I also realize it is not likely to happen in our society. I believe the acquisition of reading skills can occur at an early age with constant participation in reading activities with parents or early childhood teachers. However, in our busy society, the possibility of this happening is very slim. Therefore, I feel that students that “missed out” on this interaction with text at an early age need explicit teaching in order to catch up with their reading peers. The children exposed to literacy experiences have several advantages over their non-reading counterparts that include a rich oral and receptive vocabulary, phonemic awareness, and story structure. Explicit and systematic instruction is needed to close the gap. The conclusion and result of this debate leads to a final answer…Balanced Literacy.