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Differentiating Literacy Instruction for Culturally, Linguistically and Ability Diverse Students

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Oral Language

"Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about."
--Benjamin Whorf

"Language is a city to the building of which every human being brought a stone."
--Mark Twain

"Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind"
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

This section addresses the functions and domains of oral language. The functions of oral language are (1) form (2) content, and (3) social function. The domains of oral language are (1) listening and (2) speaking. Following a discussion of each of these, you will find some strategies that can be incorporated into the classroom.

Almost all children develop spoken language without formal instruction. In developing oral language, students need not only to form speech, but also to develop an awareness of how language is used, an ability to think about and play with language, and to judge when and where to use various forms of language. Students with disabilities, however, may have difficulty developing the requisite literacy skills of listening, speaking, and oral expression. The problem is that oral language development is crucial for the development of literacy and consequently for progress in school and life. Furthermore, much of what goes on in classrooms involves the oral transmission of academic content.

Oral Language: Functions of Oral Language

Oral language development occurs in three functional areas: form, content, and social function. Each of these functions is distinct, but all three are interrelated. Students with learning disabilities may have problems with one specific area of oral language, but because these three functions are so closely connected, they more often have trouble with all three components.

• Form
• Content, or semantics
• Social function, also referred to as pragmatics
  

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