Oral language skills provide the foundation for early literacy development.

Children learn language best by interacting and talking with other children and adults. Children use these oral interactions to build their knowledge of the world around them, describe events, and extend their vocabulary.

Research shows that young children's oral language, especially vocabulary development, has a strong relationship to later reading achievement. Children who get off to a good start in learning to read and write tend to do well the rest of their academic careers. Children whose language skills are behind in kindergarten tend to stay behind throughout their lives.

The ELS assesses this item across 2 strands. The next two pages will provide more detailed information about these strands.