Classroom Promotion of Oral Language: Outcomes From a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Whole-of-Classroom Intervention to Improve Children’s Reading Achievement

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam

Research on classroom oral language learning is examined through a whole-of-classroom cluster randomized controlled trial involving 1,360 students. The teacher professional learning intervention combined face-to-face professional learning with ongoing support, aiming to improve oral language in early school years and strengthen reading achievement. The primary outcome measured reading ability at Grade 3, while secondary outcomes covered oral language, reading, and mental health at Grades 1 and 3. No differences emerged between intervention and control groups; implications and future directions are discussed.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

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Importance of Language Skills for Student Literacy and Learning and Outcomes

Oral language as a foundation for literacy

Reciprocal links between language and reading

Long-Term and Broader Impact of Oral Language and Literacy Difficulties

AERA Open January-December 2022, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 1–21 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584221131530 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2022. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) Classroom Promotion of Oral Language: Outcomes From a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Whole-of-Classroom Intervention to Improve Children’s Reading Achievement Sharon Goldfeld Murdoch Children’s Research Institute The Royal Children’s Hospital The University of Melbourne Pamela Snow La Trobe University Patricia Eadie John Munro The University of Melbourne Lisa Gold Ha N. D. Le Deakin University Francesca Orsini Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Beth Shingles Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Judy Connell Catholic Education Melbourne Amy Watts Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Tony Barnett Murdoch Children’s Research Institute The University of Melbourne Children need rich language learning experiences in school to build language and reading skills. Research suggests that various effective ways to support teacher provision of these experiences. The Classroom Promotion of Oral Language cluster randomized controlled trial (n = 1,360 students; 687 intervention, 673 control) examined whether a teacher professional learning intervention targeting oral language in the first years of school led to improved student outcomes compared to usual teaching practices. The intervention comprised face-to-face professional learning and ongoing support. The primary outcome was student reading ability at Grade 3; secondary outcomes included oral language, reading, and mental health at Grades Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). Goldfeld et al. 1 and 3. No differences were detected between the intervention and control arms. Implications of results and future directions are explored. Keywords: children, classroom instruction, elementary schools, experimental design, intervention, language comprehension/development, literacy, professional development, reading Importance of Language Skills for Student Literacy and Learning and Outcomes Oral language has been defined as the “ability to engage successfully with a range of communication partners via the spoken word, in order to conduct a wide variety of personal, social, educational, commercial and professional relationships. Such engagement should be reciprocal at the level appropriate to the nature of the interpersonal relationship and should confirm to a range of developmental, cultural, and socio-linguistic norms”(Snow, 2009, p. 102) . Oral language competence is central to children’s learning (Dickinson et al., 2010) . It is a predictor of future learning and the primary tool by which learning takes place in the classroom; part of the process and the product of learning (Dubois et al., 2020; Snowling & Hulme, 2012; Young et al., 2002) . In the early years of schooling, wide-ranging oral language skills (across phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics) need to be engaged synergistically as the foundation for the acquisition of literacy skills, 1 including the ability to decode, understand text of different types, write, spell, and learn from text across the curriculum (Castleset al., 2018; Konza, 2014; Munro, 2011; Nation, 2019; Snowling & Hulme, 2012) . To actively engage in educati

FAQs

What was the main goal of the classroom oral language intervention?

To determine whether a teacher professional learning program targeting oral language in early school years would improve student outcomes, especially reading achievement.

How was the study designed and how many students participated?

A whole-of-classroom cluster randomized controlled trial included 1,360 students divided into intervention (687) and control (673) groups.

What were the study’s primary and secondary outcomes?

Primary outcome was reading ability at Grade 3. Secondary outcomes included oral language, reading, and mental health at Grades 1 and 3.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam