Two main points are stressed in this essay: (1) Reading literature aloud to students is not only educationally sound, but for many youngsters, necessary; and (2) In order to help his students become critical listeners of the literature that is read to them, a teacher must build bridges between the youngsters' experience and that in the literature. Three types of spoken language are listed: reading aloud, monologue, and real conversation. The differences between the first two and conversation include: (1) The intonation patterns of spoken prose are highly standardized; those of conversation are not; (2) Spoken prose is even in tempo; conversation is not; and (3) The pauses of spoken prose are closely related to the grammatical structure of these sentences; in conversation, they are frequently unpredictable. To attune his ear, a student not only needs to hear his teachers read aloud a great deal, he also needs occasional practice himself. Listening comprehension in slow-learning children far exceeds reading comprehension for the following reasons: the speaking voice brings to interpretation pitch, stress, pause, rhythm, tone--audible clues to meaning which slow youngsters are unable to infer from print alone. It is suggested that television and film be used more often than they are to help slow learners, as these media combine visual and auditory clues to meaning. (CK)