This longitudinal study investigated the relationship between language and reading from three perspectives. First, we examined the reading and writing outcomes of children identified with spoken language impairments (LIs). Second, the early language abilities of children identified as poor readers were investigated. Finally, reading and language abilities were treated as continuous variables and the developmental relationship between them was studied. In general, the results indicated that language abilities (both phonological processing and oral language) significantly contributed to achievement in the early stages of reading (2nd grade) and had an even stronger effect as children acquired greater reading proficiency (4th grade).