Language-literacy; the speech-language pathologists role.

Language-literacy are closely related to the other. In fact it could be said that the terms literacy and language are two sides of the same coin.

When we refer to language-literacy we are essentially talking about reading and writing skill.

Reading and writing skills are reliant on a solid language knowledge base.

In years past reading skill was assumed to be mostly a visual perceptual skill. We now know that this view is mostly false.

Certainly the visual system has a part to play in literacy learning, but recent research indicates that reading disability is primarily linguistic, not visual. Paul, (2001)

It has been suggested that speech-language pathologists are not trained in teaching literacy skills to students, so perhaps shouldn't intervene in literacy.

After all, literacy is seen as the natural domain of the teaching profession. I would argue that speech-language pathologists are experts in oral and written language, and both are closely linked to language-literacy development in the school-age child.

For instance, recent research indicates that children with language disorder are at risk of developing reading problems due to poor phonological processing ability and poor vocabularies.

A child with poor phonological awareness often has a difficult time decoding text. I believe speech-language pathologists are well suited to work with children who have phonological awareness and vocabulary difficulties.

But that's only part of what we have to offer...

Speech-language pathologists also have a wealth of knowledge in other key literacy skills, such as semantics, syntax, and pragmatics.

Put simply, oral language skills lay the foundation for literacy skills. If school-age students have poor oral language skills this can have a real impact on their reading, and also their comprehension of what they have read.

Text based intervention

Research indicates that shared book reading is a very important tool for change in the language impaired child. Shared reading strategies is a useful method of creating language skills for language impaired students.

Shared book reading can provide a context for learning that is designed to develop a student's inferencing ability, a vital skill for understanding hidden meaning behind both fiction and non-fiction text.

Language-literacy. Are speech-language pathologists equipped to support literacy?