This study investigated the effect of distracting linguistic background noise on children's ability to perform three-part commands. A total of twelve first grade subjects, six "normal" and six reading delayed, were individually administered a series of twenty, three-part commands. Each child performed once in quiet and once in a noise environment, and the performances in those two conditions were compared.The results of the study showed a significant difference (p < . 0005) between following the directions in quiet 2 and in noise, with all children's level of accuracy decreasing under conditions of noise. The difference (p. >.05) between ''normal" subjects' and reading delayed subjects' ·performance levels was not significant in either quiet or in noise conditions. The presence of noise, then, appeared to interfere with both groups' performance equally.