AN ANALYSIS OF FIRST GRADERS' ORAL LANGUAGE AND RECEPTIVE VOCABULARY COMPARED WITH THEIR READING ACHIEVEMENT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral language and reading achievement among first grade students. Three major questions were asked: (a) Have past attempts to compare oral language/reading research exemplified valid forms of language testing and analysis? (b) Are there statistically significant relationships existing between some aspects of oral language and reading achievement? (c) Are there any linguistic patterns identifiable among above average readers?;A review of the literature revealed a paradox within research. A large proportion of learning and reading disabled children are found to have language disorders. Research studies attempting to describe the relationship between reading and oral language development have provided minimal evidence of any correlation. Analyses of these pieces of research indicate that a majority of studies have relied on formal standardized language testing and have predominantly described grammar and vocabulary, not pragmatic skill.;The research design for the study included: standardized testing, story retelling, obtaining a language sample by manipulating the context, and a combination of content analysis and content assessment. Both complex sentence use and pragmatic skill development were analyzed through the discourse sample. Eighty-three first grade children were chosen by stratified random sampling methods from a population of 2,894.;No statistical significance was found between complex sentence use and any of the five reading subtests. Receptive vocabulary and reading, especially the subtest Word Analysis, portrayed significance. The highest correlations were found among pragmatic skills and all five subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test, especially Word and Passage Comprehension.;The most significant pattern was found when comparing the pragmatic skill Interaction Quality (IAQ) with reading. The highest score calculated was a r of .597 between IAQ and Word Comprehension. Children who were able to rephrase and add information when revising statements and consider the conversational partner, appeared to find success in understanding and manipulating word meanings while reading.;This research provides both a system for measuring and scoring pragmatic skills within school-age children and a tool for aiding the teacher's awareness of and ability to facilitate the growth of classroom pragmatic skills.