Examines the influence that oral language deficits exert on children's ability to learn to read and to develop reading skills. Discusses evidence that points to deficient phonological awareness as the variable that best discriminates children with reading delay. The effects of deficit phonological awareness are described. (Author/CR)

This article provides background and current information on the emergence of recently acknowledged concepts in what has been termed the "oracy to literacy continuum" and its relevance to language specialists, including speech-language pathologists, and others. Deficits of phonological processing and the need for phonological awareness training are…

A study of 141 children (ages 4-5) with language impairments and a study of 120 children (ages 7-12) with oral language and/or reading problems, indicate a relationship between the processing of phonological and semantactic linguistic information and performance on oral language and reading tests three years later. (Author/CR)