LISTEN, SPEAK, READ AND WRITE! NOT READ, WRITE, LISTEN AND SPEAK! : AN IDEAL ORDER OF TEACHING ENGLISH

The topic of oral language has generated excitement and interest among language researchers for many years. While most educators are convinced that language plays a central
role in academic learning, the notion that oral language is a prerequisite for reading and writing skills has increasingly gained support from many authors.
This paper will discuss a number of justifications for oral language as the foundation for building literacy skills. Taking the relationship of oral language and literacy as a point of introduction, the paper reviews the literature on what teachers should know about oral language and moves on to provide an outline of oral language problems before finally suggesting a number of useful ways for promoting oral language development in a language rich environment.