It is now common knowledge that successful literacy development in children is built on a foundation of strong oral language skills. Yet while recent government reviews emphasise the importance of developing early language skills, relatively little information is available on how to build these skills effectively.

List of Figures. List of Tables. List of Boxes. About the Authors. Foreword (Sir Jim Rose). Acknowledgements. Chapter 1 Theoretical Framework: Foundations of Learning to Read. Chapter 2 The Importance of Evidence. Chapter 3 Principles of Intervention: Screening, Assessment and Monitoring Progress. Chapter 4 The Nuffield Language for Reading Study. Chapter 5 The Phonology with Reading Programme. Chapter 6 The Oral Language Programme. Chapter 7 Adapting the Programme for Children with Different Needs. Chapter 8 Programme Delivery: Training, Implementation and Feedback. References. Glossary. Appendices. Appendix 3.1 Reference List for Assessment Tests. Appendix 5.1 List of Books Used for Group Work. Appendix 6.1 Example Sessions from the OL Programme. 6.1.1 Introduction Session. 6.1.2 Instruction Session. 6.1.3 Consolidation Week Session. Appendix 6.2 Nursery Rhyme Time. Appendix 6.3 Resources Used to Develop the Programme. Appendix 8.1 The P+R Programme Manual. Appendix 8.2 The OL Programme Manual. Appendix 8.3 Handout for Describing Segmenting and Blending. Appendix 8.4 Examples of Inconsistent Letter-Sound Correspondences. Appendix 8.5 Handout to Support Individual Book Reading. Appendix 8.6 Individual Book Reading Strategies. Appendix 8.7 Guidelines for Developing Sight Word Reading. Appendix 8.8 Handout on Speech Production. Appendix 8.9 Example of a Narrative Task. Index.