In teaching reading, educators strive to find the balance between a code-emphasis approach and a meaning-oriented literacy approach. However, little is known about how different approaches to literacy can benefit bilingual children's early reading acquisition. To investigate the novel hypothesis that children's age of first bilingual exposure can…

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 paper reviews the history of whole-language versus code-emphasis approaches to reading instruction. The paper concludes that students with severe learning disabilities may learn to read in a whole-language, mainstream classroom, if provided with supplemental instruction, a variety of instructional techniques, and appropriate intensity and…

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 literature review contends that whole-language approaches to reading are not well supported by scientific analyses of reading and reading instruction. The paper argues that whole language is not the preferred approach of outstanding primary and special education teachers, who favor instruction which balances decoding instruction and…

The debate among major theorists of the whole-language approach (Kenneth Goodman and Frank Smith) and their critics (e.g., Philip Gough) is summarized. It concludes that the Goodman/Smith theoretical position has not stood the test of time, though some of their instructional recommendations may be valid for other reasons. (Author/DB)

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)

Describes how primary teachers can use decoding strategies within a literature-based, whole-language setting. A three-stage approach involves the book stage (real reading), the word stage (learning words), and the letter-sound stage (learning sounds). The article provides sample activities. (SM)

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)

The Whole Language (WL) approach is sweeping across classrooms in the United States, bringing with it motivating and innovative ways to teach language arts skills to primary school children. With its emphasis on individual discovery, language as a social activity, and diverse "literacy events," the approach employs many techniques that are used in…

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…