Oral language is a critical requirement for literacy development and a strong indicator of future academic success. Provide a brief road map of the essay. Make sure your thesis statement is relevant and clear, highlighting the main points. Provide a brief road map of the essay. Make sure your thesis statement is relevant and clear, highlighting the main points. Provide a brief road map of the essay. Make sure your thesis statement is relevant and clear, highlighting the main points. Oral language skills play a significant role in the development of literacy skills. Research suggests that there is a high correlation between language development and reading comprehension. This is because as students' oral language skills increase; they become more familiar with the phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic components of language learning (Farrall, 2012). Furthermore, the learning environment is of equal importance and should provide explicit models, age-appropriate and authentic classroom experiences to develop and encourage language. Teachers following Cambourne's eight conditions would support an environment that enriches language and literacy development (Cambourne, 2001). The recognition of linguistic diversity and suggested differentiation is also worth mentioning. The inclusion of regular, planned and unplanned listening and speaking opportunities is vital to developmental progression. Oral language development is not only critical for literacy and learning, but also for building relationships. The theme of poverty in developing countries allows students to consider and explore a reality unknown to them. Because language is an essential social tool, classroom conversation time provides the necessary practice students need to develop socially and build self-efficacy. A theorist, Vygotsky advocated the use of collaborative work. Especially, in mixed ability and age groups, as he believed this encouraged higher order cognitive processing in children, whilst providing opportunities for peer support from more knowledgeable others (Vygotsky, 1978). Furthermore, Halliday's seven functions of language are also based on "the need for language to be developed in social contexts" (Halliday cited in Campbell & Green, 2006, p. 35), supporting Vygotsky's social-constructivist theory. Therefore, by discussing poverty, students are able to compare their own situations and reflect on what life is like in developing countries, providing a more meaningful learning experience. To facilitate or participate in any classroom activity, the use of oral language is required. Conversation is very important because “the language heard must be understood before the language read can be decoded and understood” (McCandlish, 2012, p. 9). Specifically, Halliday (1975) classified language into seven different functions, each with its own purpose, allowing students to understand that language, like writing, has different genres and can be formal or informal, depending on the audience, context or purpose..