ABSTRACT
For many years it has been recognized that reading is, at least in part, a language-based skill, and that there is a close relationship between children’s spoken language skills and their reading development. Most discussion concerning the link between language and reading has focused on phonology-the aspect of language concerned with the structure of speech. Since the pioneering work of Liberman and colleagues (1977), over three decades of research has described the vital role that phonological skills play in reading development. In contrast to this large body of work, the potential importance of other language skills to the development of reading has been less well documented. Yet as children acquire literacy skills from a foundation of spoken language, it is reasonable to expect that the nature of the reading system they develop will depend on the relative proficiency of all aspects of language, not just phonology.
