Although human beings communicate mainly through talking and listening, schools tend to spend little classroom instruction time helping ELLs develop their English oral language skills, writes Wayne E. Wright. In reviewing the research on ELLs' oral language development, Wright concludes that bilingual programs give ELLs the best opportunities to progress academically while they develop English proficiency--as long as these programs include ESL instruction and sheltered English content-area instruction that gradually increases across the years of the program. Teachers should bring ELLs into classroom discussions using open-ended and higher-order skills, enabling them to hear, learn, and use new vocabulary and language structures that are essential to language proficiency. To support ELLs as they participate in such discussions, teachers should provide extra wait time and adjust the way they talk, slowing down, speaking clearly, and using simple sentence structures. The most effective technique for helping students with their English language development, however, is to provide ample opportunities for them to interact with one another about meaningful curricular content.