The “L” in LETRS Is for Language! | Part Two: Early Language Development Predicts Literacy

When some students fall behind in kindergarten or first grade reading, no one should be surprised. Simple screening tests of language development, given at age 3, can predict the course of students’ later literacy. Pre-K screening assessments of vocabulary, verbal comprehension, and expressive language tell us who is on track to perform better on tests of phoneme awareness, letter naming, and rapid automatized naming (RAN) of objects, colors, letters, and numbers when students enter kindergarten. Those basic alphabetic skills and the ability to decode and spell simple words predict and enable progress in word reading in first and second grade, and subsequently, for reading comprehension in third grade. 

Thus, early language development precipitates a chain reaction whose links are well established, and we know how to strengthen those links.

Readiness Evaluation

Before the current body of research existed, assessments of “readiness” for school tended to focus on general maturation and tasks that we now know have only a minimal connection to literacy learning. Before studies that clarified how reading develops, we would screen three-year-olds’ ability to draw and name shapes; perform motor tasks such as jumping, hopping, coloring, and tracing; and articulate speech sounds. Although children entering pre-K will likely practice those same skills, they are not the abilities that have the closest relationship to reading and writing development. Educators can now obtain and use well-validated screening instruments that reliably assess key aspects of language development and identify children who are good candidates for early intervention.

Intervention programs in pre-K that target vocabulary, narrative skills, and expressive grammar (sentence generation) can close language gaps and substantially reduce the risk for reading and academic failure. One example of an evidence-based early intervention program is the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), which was developed to support young children with weak language skills. In the United Kingdom, this 20-week program has successfully bolstered students’ verbal skills, improved their social communication and behavior, and prepared them to learn to read. The program can be delivered by trained paraprofessionals working with supervision and is relatively inexpensive to implement.

Effective Intervention

Given the evidence, states have every reason to fund and support pre-K for three- and four-year-olds and implement a program such as NELI. The cost savings for society and children’s lives are significant. Yet only a minority of states have committed funding and infrastructure to this most obvious opportunity to elevate children’s language, cognitive function, and social development.

Lexia® LETRS® for Early Childhood Educators (Hart Paulson & Moats) and Lexia® LETRS® (Moats & Tolman) position language as the foundation of learning, not only for reading and writing, but for thinking, reasoning, and social interaction. Both courses provide educators with knowledge they can implement in classrooms. Our Early Childhood course of study includes the “three Ts”—tune in, talk more, take turns—all critical for language development.

LETRS elevates children’s language, cognitive function, and social development by equipping educators with a deep, research-based understanding of how language works, how learning happens, and how instruction shapes student outcomes. By strengthening teacher knowledge and practice, LETRS improves the quality of language experiences that students encounter every day—fueling literacy, thinking, and collaboration across classrooms.

References

1. Hulme, C., West, G., Rios Diaz, M., Hearne, S., Korell, C., Duta, M., & Snowling, M. J. The Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme is associated with lasting improvements in children's language and reading skills. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 66(9), 1357-1365. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14157