Should reading instruction be delayed until students have developed some fluency in oral English?

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While it is advantageous for students to be able to recognize words orally as a basis for learning to read them, a number of practitioners have found that there are certain advantages to developing literacy skills simultaneously with oral skills. If the proper approach is used, students can begin to develop basic reading skills from the very outset of instruction.

Delaying reading instruction, on the other hand, extends the period of time in which students must rely entirely on their auditory memory for recalling the things taught in class and may have the effect of eventually slowing down the learning of oral language.