A strong relationship exists between language development and reading ability in the primary grades and beyond.

Books contribute in many ways to children's ability to learn language. To understand what is happening in a story, the child must focus on language more than he or she needs to in real-life context, and this may help to promote language learning. A history of story-reading experience may also be associated with good language development because a story has the potential to prompt discussion.

Simply talking and hearing lots of talk from adults promotes children's language learning. Talking with children and listening to what they are saying, then expanding on this in any context, promotes more talk from children.

Adults help to clarify words that children do not understand. Adults can also ask questions about children's comments as they try to verbalize about stories and happenings. Hearing lots of adult talk promotes children's language learning.