The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of whole language instruction versus phonics instruction for improving reading fluency and spelling accuracy. The participants were the first grade students in the researcher's general education classroom of a non-Title I school. Stratified sampling was used to randomly divide…

Trains 94 first graders using a structured phonological reading method emphasizing English phonology and phoneme/grapheme correspondence. Compares to a control group who received a whole-language-plus-phonics approach. Notes that children in all groups improved their phonological awareness by the same amount. Concludes that phonological awareness…

This study investigates the effect of phonological awareness instruction on the development of word-reading ability for EFL first-graders in a Jordanian state school. Based on Chard and Dickson's (1999) phonological awareness hierarchy, a phonological awareness training program was developed by the researchers, and used in training the…

A study examined the effect of whole language philosophy as compared to a more traditional reading program on children's reading comprehension scores. The study included a review of current research indicating the importance of teachers stating the topic prior to reading as well as the importance of students' oral reading ability to assess reading…

This study compared the effects of whole language practices with the effects of a skills-oriented program on the reading achievement of a group of children from an inner-city, low socioeconomic school from the time they entered kindergarten to the end of second grade. Subjects were 22 children, all of a minority race, randomly placed in one of the…

The spelling skills of grade three children who had received whole-language instruction since they began to learn to read were compared with those of grade three children attending a phonics program. Overall, the phonics group produced more accurate word spellings than the whole-language group. In addition, the phonics children's spelling of…

A study examined two first-grade classrooms implementing the whole language approach and two utilizing the basal reading approach to determine the differences, if any, between the treatments. The hypothesis was that the whole language reading approach when combined with a phonics program would not result in higher test scores on a standardized…

Three data sets from previous studies demonstrated that children who began kindergarten with less implicit knowledge of books, as compared with well-read-to students, acquired this knowledge in kindergarten and first grade. Results suggest that those in whole-language classes progressed more rapidly. (SLD)

Examined the acquisition of decoding and spelling skills and the writing fluency of first graders who received either whole-language or traditional basal instruction. Children with high phonemic awareness outperformed those with low phonemic awareness on all literacy measures, regardless of the instructional method used. (MM)

A meta-analysis was conducted of 14 studies examining whether whole-language instruction increases the reading skills of low-SES students in grades K-3. Evidence suggested that low-SES primary school children do not benefit from whole-language instruction, compared to basal instruction. Findings indicated that there may be some advantages to the…

This study described ways in which two groups of urban, low-socioeconomic children remained the same and differed after a transition year in skills-based curriculum and a continuing year in whole language curriculum. Both groups had experienced whole language instruction in the first two years in kindergarten and first grade. This investigation…