A second-grade teacher notices that students with stronger oral language…
2026
A second-grade teacher notices that students with stronger oral language abilities at school entry tend to excel in reading comprehension and writing tasks later. What does this observation illustrate about early language skills?
Answer: C. Early oral language predicts later academic success in literacy. — ConceptOral language includes vocabulary, grammar and syntax, listening comprehension, and narrative or discourse skills. These abilities form a foundation…
- A.
Complex syntax is unrelated to later comprehension.
- B.
Phonics instruction alone determines literacy outcomes.
- C.
Early oral language predicts later academic success in literacy.
- D.
Early writing skills develop independently of oral language.
Attempted by 19 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
Oral language includes vocabulary, grammar and syntax, listening comprehension, and narrative or discourse skills. These abilities form a foundation for literacy because decoding alone does not provide word meanings, sentence relationships, or ways to organize ideas.
During reading, learners use oral-language knowledge to construct meaning from text. During writing, they draw on the same vocabulary, grammatical patterns, and discourse structures to express and connect ideas.
Application
The observation describes a predictive relationship: children who enter school with stronger oral language later perform better in reading comprehension and writing. It therefore illustrates that early oral language predicts later academic success in literacy.
Contrast
Complex syntax contributes to understanding relationships among ideas in sentences and connected text, so it is relevant to comprehension.
Phonics supports decoding, but the word “alone” excludes vocabulary, comprehension, and composition skills that also shape literacy.
The predictive statement links early vocabulary, grammar, listening, and narrative resources with later reading and writing performance.
Writing and oral language share vocabulary, grammar, and discourse resources, so their development is not independent.
Cross-check
If oral language is a foundation for literacy, stronger oral-language skills at school entry should be followed by stronger performance in both comprehension and writing. That is exactly the pattern reported in the stem.
Result
Thus, early oral language predicts later academic success in literacy.