Some children learn to read easily with phonics, and some do better with a whole-language approach. Principals should understand both systems and use the best of both, together with other effective reading programs. Teachers should balance their reading programs by providing structure for analytic students, reading to students, and relying on…

Reflects that the term "whole language" involves instilling a love of literature, problem-solving and critical thinking, collaboration, authenticity, personalized learning, and much more. Examines some recent research dealing with two fundamental points of contention between the two sides of the phonics and whole language debate. Finds evidence…

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…

In considering the issue of language and literacy, the following factors must be addressed: the nature of learning; the relationship between reading and learning; effective strategies and practices which promote literacy; and the responsibility of schools. Of the reading approaches and strategies which have been developed and implemented in an…

A study compared the effects of a modified whole language approach with those obtained from a pure whole language approach on the decoding abilities of 20 kindergartners, assessed using Darrell Morris's Early Reading Screening Instrument. Subjects were selected from two similarly composed schools located in Albemarle County, Virginia. Ten students…

Clarifying the place of phonics and spelling in a whole language program, this book presents classroom-tested strategies, models, and activities to help students make graphophonic connections, giving them the tools they need to become confident, lifelong readers and writers. Chapters in the book are: (1) Phonics and Spelling in Perspective; (2)…

"Between the Lions" is an award-winning PBS television series based on a comprehensive literacy curriculum that combines phonics and whole language. This guide has been created to help first grade teachers use "Between the Lions" in their classrooms to enhance their reading lessons. The guide is filled with engaging activities,…

Suggests new bases of information that need to be considered in deciding how to handle phonics effectively in beginning reading and writing instruction. Presents a description of phonics instruction in the classroom of a teacher of a whole language kindergarten. (MG)

Four responses to a paper on phonics and whole language approaches to reading instruction in fundamentalist Christian schools examine the home schooling perspective, complexities of different definitions, design of the original research, and need for continued dialog into the bigger picture of traditional education and its staying power in…

Reviews the typical approach (synthetic phonics) to teaching reading in Finland. Suggests that teachers in English-speaking countries can learn from problems Finnish teachers face and vice versa. Finds that, despite a highly regular writing system, Finnish teachers find that a heavy phonics emphasis does not solve their reading instruction…

Discusses three children who successfully learned phonics in three very different instructional settings (conventional, whole language, and tutoring in a learning center). Notes that the children developed in similar ways, yet at different rates; the teachers nudged the learners toward literacy development; and writing was a part of the curriculum…

Examines relationships between 418 elementary school teachers' theoretical beliefs toward reading instruction and their attitudes about pupil control. Uses the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP) and the Pupil Control Ideology Form (PCI) for data collection. Finds as teachers' scores moved toward the whole language end of the TORP…

Presents the story of one award-winning elementary school which shows that effective reading instruction demands a fine sense of balance. The school uses both phonics and whole language in order to teach to all children's needs. It also incorporates a balance of other techniques. After 3 years, the school's standards-based reading program is…

Discusses the move from whole language to phonics instruction in Los Angeles schools in an effort to rescue plummeting reading scores. (Author/VWL)

In Turkey, the Ministry of National Education (MONE) changed the reading instruction method in elementary schools from whole language approach to phonics emphasis in 2005. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of phonics method on reading acquisition in a Turkish sample; to understand what elementary school teachers…