The Theoretical Basis For Relationships Between Language and Literacy in Development

Abstract Considerable research now suggests that, in addition to the phonemic awareness skills which support early decoding, skilled reading also requires more general oral language competencies, particularly those involving the use of decontextualized language. The basic hypothesis of the Home-School Study of Language and Literacy development is that early development of skill with decontextualized language will be related to reading comprehension abilities when children are in the middle grades of school. A model is presented which illustrates this theory and an overview of the sample, the data collection techniques, and the types of analyses are described.