Reading intervention for children with language learning diffi culties

It is now widely recognized that oral language skills provide the critical foundation for literacy development and, therefore, that children with spoken language diffi culties are at risk of literacy problems (Catts & Kamhi, 2005). Moreover, since literacy skills are required in order to access the curriculum and most frequently are the means by which children are asked to demonstrate their knowledge, educational underachievement is a common scenario for children with a history of speech and language diffi culties (Nathan, Stackhouse, Goulandris, & Snowling, 2004a; Snowling, Adams, Bishop, & Stothard, 2001). This chapter begins by outlining a model within which to conceptualize the relationship between reading and language impairments before turning to a review of effective interventions. We then discuss the issue of children who fail to respond to demonstrably effective interventions and pro-

vide preliminary evidence that language-based interventions may be useful for supporting their literacy development. This evidence suggests that language-based interventions at the foundations of literacy development should be helpful, and two such interventions are discussed. The chapter closes with a summary of what we still need to know about reading intervention.