ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a short discussion of oral language and identifies the connections between oral language and writing. Oral language, and specifically increased control over literate discourse, is critical to children's ability to create texts in the early years of schooling and beyond. The development of oral language allows children to share ideas and communicate what they know. Indeed, oral language development is critical to children's ability to think and learn and forms the foundation for all literacy learning. There is clear evidence in children's earliest utterances that purpose and audience drives young children's language learning. Children's developing control over the patterns and forms of language are evident in their early speech, with the complexity of children's learning reflecting their experience of everyday language use. Children's earliest utterances show an awareness of word order, as they combine words that enable them to communicate their needs and ideas.
