Explanation:
Spoken language mastery is essential for reading and writing. Some of the most influential cognitive abilities that provide a foundation for speaking, reading and writing are: attention, verbal working memory, executive functioning and processing speed. These cognitive abilities are closely related and share common functions. For example, students need to pay sustained attention to speech sounds as well as recognize and manipulate speech sounds in words. Learners demonstrate this ability in reading while decoding words whereas in writing, this ability is revealed through spelling. Another example is verbal working memory. This cognitive skill is limited to the amount of material working memory can hold and in the length of time the manipulation of language can be expressed. When students are reading text, they often hold a completed sentence in working memory and then reread the preceding sentence to enhance their understanding. During writing while composing phrases, sentences and paragraphs, writers are using verbal working memory. A third cognitive ability is executive functioning whereby students need to plan, self-monitor and alter plans during language tasks. For instance, both readers and writers need to self-monitor for visually similar words (of/off) and homonyms (sail/sale). Last but not least is processing speed, the rate at which learners are able to retrieve information and execute plans. Proficient readers and writers are able to rapidly name several elements of a given category while students with slower processing speed may be accurate in their responses, but their production is almost always very slow. In order for students to develop fluent reading or written expression, they need structured teaching as well as enough practice using their reading and writing skills.
