A study investigated the decoding automaticity of elementary students when receiving rule-based instruction (as a process of applying syllable and structural analysis rules and limited phonics), and when receiving holistic instruction in a whole language program (exercises in listening, reading and writing, integrated with classroom instruction…

Discusses development and implementation of an approach to decoding in which students use words they know to decode those they do not know. Discusses how an analogy approach was implemented in a tutorial setting. Offers guidelines for how the approach can be used in regular classrooms, including whole language classrooms. (RS)

Suggests that a new perspective is needed on the "great debate" in literacy instruction between whole language and phonics. Proposes an approach that integrates comprehension and decoding into a system designed around the principles of student-centered, authentic instruction in a socially engaging context. Considers the advantages of…

US government mandates to implement intensive phonics instruction in elementary classrooms invoke an alleged scientific superiority of this approach over more meaning-centered models. But curiously absent from this scientific enterprise is a study of the phonics system itself. Advocates of intensive phonics have not demonstrated that the commonly…

This review of research on reading instruction uses an interactive model to identify learner characteristics, learning conditions, and language processes that are best treated through a meaning-oriented or a code-emphasis instructional program. Resulting instructional guidelines are offered. (Author/DB)

This article describes PHAST (for Phonological and Strategy Training), a research-based remedial reading program that focuses on the primary obstacles to word identification learning and independent decoding that most students with reading disabilities face and the steps necessary to help these children achieve independent reading skills.…

The debate between the whole language approach and the word-centered skills approach to beginning reading instruction is likely to continue into the next decade, so it seems crucial that educators at all levels understand thoroughly the views held by the participants. Advocates of the whole language approach believe effective readers see meaning…

Examines the research on the central role of decoding in reading, concluding that the position that whole language proponents take in equating learning to read with learning to talk and their reduction of decoding to an incidental place in the curriculum are wrong. The authors argue for a balanced approach to reading instruction. (GR)

This study evaluated the transfer of decoding skills from a code-emphasis program that used a controlled text to a literature-based basal reading series consistent with the whole language approach. Participants were 11 elementary students with learning disabilities who received reading instruction in a resource program. Results found students…

Including revisions and updates in all areas, this book functions as a pre-service and in-service teacher self-instructional manual in word recognition skills. The first part of the book discusses the controversy concerning early phonics instruction versus use of the whole language approach, and then discusses consonants, vowels, reading…

"Decodable text" devotees say phonics is scientifically superior to the whole-language approach, which supposedly lacks research validation. However, 60 years of research supports holistic, literature-based approaches to literacy. Whole-language instruction is further validated by research on independent reading, cooperative learning, Reading…

Examines the problem of children not learning to read well enough for reading to have a positive impact on their lives. It shows that while a large body of research exists on reading instruction, much of this knowledge has not made its way into the classroom. Five points about the reading problem and teaching effectiveness are addressed. (GR)

Developed as the basic text for preservice teachers in an elementary reading methods course, this book aims to develop insightful teachers empowered to make logical reflective decisions about reading instruction. The book is an integrative text, based on the assumption that effective teachers of reading must understand both what to do during…