To learn to read well, children must be aware that spoken words can be divided into separate sounds. Children learn about the different sounds in words through experiences with spoken language. Activities that highlight sound categories in spoken language, such as listening to stories with rhyme and alliteration, singing rhyming songs, and playing word games, give children an awareness that words are made up of separate sounds. This provides them essential knowledge on which later reading acquisition is based. Experience with spoken language also provides children skills that support later reading comprehension.
Contextualized language is tied to the immediate environment.
This kind of language is simple, and it omits important features of language that are important in reading. When we write, read, and have conversations, we often use decontextualized language. This is language that is not tied to the immediate context. It may reflect past events, future events, or fictitious events. For example, decontextualized language is used in everyday dinnertime conversation, when adults tell stories of their childhood, or when children tell about their school day.