Connecting Caregivers: The Importance of Oral Language

Backstory

When Stacey and I were recording a recent podcast, we talked about the importance of oral language for writers. Without hesitation, I declared that my first post of the fall would be one that addresses this critical skill and would include resources that readers could share with caregivers. As I thought about it more, I realized I could do a little series of foundational skills, connecting caregivers as partners in children’s development as writers. Please look for these posts on my upcoming scheduled dates:

• October 19- Motor Skills
• November 12- Handwriting

Why Oral Language Matters

As you communicate with caregivers, you may choose to connect the “why” when it comes to the criticality of building oral language. Some key findings include, but are far from limited to: 

• Students’ ability to formulate and communicate ideas orally is meaningfully related to their ability to compose those ideas in writing—and this relationship becomes increasingly important across development (Seoane, R. & al., 2026).
• Literacy leans on interconnected systems. As such, reading and writing don’t develop as isolated academic skills; they’re built on and interact with spoken and heard language (Berninger & al., 2019).
• Oral language/ dialogic writing intervention has a positive impact on written expression, particularly with persuasive and argument writing (Bouwer, R. & van der Veen, C., 2024).

If you want to find even more research and evidence to inform the importance of oral language, I recommend the ongoing research that Young-Suk Kim is doing, as well as her recently published book, Cultivating the Reader and Writer. You’ll find that building oral language has positive impacts on all areas of literacy. 

Connecting Caregivers– Resources to Share

While there are opportunities to build oral language throughout the day in classrooms, caregivers have the potential to play impactful roles, as well. Therefore, I have created a couple of resources that you can share almost as-they-are, tweak, or overhaul…let’s work together to connect caregivers with literacy development! 

1. Here is a letter that you can send as a stand-alone or as part of an overall family communication. It contains specific, accessible, and playful ways to incorporate meaningful language into children’s home lives. 
2. Here is a pdf document that explains the domains of language, provides some key resources, and is more specific about ways to support the oral language of young writers. 

Additional Information

We have written about oral language many times here at Two Writing Teachers. You may find some of the following posts, articles, and podcasts interesting and informative:

Oral Language- Build Your Expertise Blog Series– Lainie Levin

Exploring the Power of Oral Language: A Conversation with a Colleague – Two Writing Teachers podcast episode hosted by Stacey Shubitz (Guest: Lainie Levin)

Use Oral Language to Strengthen Opinion Writing Skills (For Writers of All Ages!) by Sarah Valter on the Two Writing Teachers blog.

Oracy: What and How– by Shawnda Fukano

Final Thoughts

Instructional minutes are at a premium, so connecting, communicating, and partnering with  caregivers has the potential to build literacy. Most families want to support learning, but don’t always know how to do it. Hopefully, some of these resources will resonate and empower them with information and strategies they can use. 

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References

Berninger, Virginia W., et al. “Behavioral and Brain Evidence for Language by Ear, Mouth, Eye, and Hand and Motor Skills in Literacy Learning.” International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, vol. 7, suppl. 1, 2019, pp. 182–200.

Bouwer, Renske, and Chiel van der Veen. “Write, Talk and Rewrite: The Effectiveness of a Dialogic Writing Intervention in Upper Elementary Education.” Reading and Writing, vol. 37, 2024, pp. 1435–1456.

Seoane, Rocío C., et al. “Unpacking the Relation Between Oral Language and Written Composition: A Meta-Analysis.” Review of Educational Research, vol. 96, no. 3, 2026, pp. 761–798.