How linguistic principles can be incorporated into reading instruction was shown by examining the interrelationships of certain linguistics ideas to learning to read. First, the acquisition of oral language was discussed as to the developmental stages: phonological, morphological-lexical, and syntactic. It was suggested that reading instruction should follow the same sequencing: that is, learning letters of the alphabet, blending letters or letter clusters into whole words, and learning syntactical and semantic elements. Second, the relationship of oral language to printed language was illustrated by a graph depicting the various stages, layers, or strands of spoken and printed language. However, it was noted that many elements of speech cannot be replicated in our printed language. Finally, a graph based on principles advocated by linguists for teaching reading delineated the scope and sequence of decoding reading skills considered to be mechanical in nature. It was noted that the order of skills shown by the second graph parallels the sequence of language layers in the first graph. Tables and references are included. (DH)