Of all the developments in reading research during the past 30 years, few have provided as much fodder for the wars over whole language as "invented spelling." Research on invented spelling led to a developmental theory of how children experiment with phonemic rules and patterns, and scholars urged teachers to allow children to spell…

Teachers using the whole-language approach to reading instruction (instead of phonics readers and worksheets) claim this practice is child centered, allows student reading choices, develops the whole child, makes learning relevant, and promotes a lifelong love of learning. Whole-language teachers should adopt a transactional pedagogy and link…

Presents some of the conceptions of balanced instruction. Provides information about the research and theory supporting each one. Describes some of the practical implications for classroom practice. (PA)

Top-down and bottom-up theories have long dominated the field of reading. Recently, interactive models have been proposed by some researchers. One model, the interactive-compensatory model, hypothesizes that a deficiency in one processing area is compensated for by a relative strength in another area. The concept of multiple intelligences is one…

No trend in education has been more exalted than "whole language," which has a following of teachers, researchers, and specialists who are almost fanatical in their observance of this teaching method. The debate is between two types of direct instruction: the "atomistic" approach encourages teachers to break down reading into…

Among the defining features of the whole language philosophy are: an emphasis on reading comprehension and extracting meaning from text; reading and writing across the curriculum; and the use of phonics instruction, subordinate to other methods (cues) of extracting meaning from text. Controversy between professional educators involved in…

Interviews Marilyn Jager Adams about her book "Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print." Discusses the critical issues of phonics versus whole language and what she hopes teachers will gain from the book. (MG)

The argument between advocates of the whole language approach and the phonics approach threatens to become so polarized and politicized that agreeing on a middle ground seems at times impossible, and the voices of reason and experience are drowned out. The debate erupted anew in California after alarming news stories about reading scores ranked…

This book serves as a resource for teachers who want to implement a whole language curriculum. More than half of the material in this second edition is new. The first half of the book updates and revises the discussion of the reading process presented in the first edition while retaining the "think-it-through-yourself" format. The…

Investigates whether teachers behave in ways consistent with their theoretical orientation to reading during reading instruction. Finds that a majority of the teachers did not teach reading in a manner consistent with their self-reported theoretical orientation. (RS)

Reports a study that examined the usefulness of concept maps for detecting differences in kindergarten teachers' theoretical orientation (whole language versus phonics). Results revealed that content but not structure measures differentiated whole language from phonics teachers. Concept maps proved useful in measuring teachers' theoretical…

The question of whether research supports a "phonics first" approach to teaching reading is not entirely answerable by factual evidence or statistical data: the issue is partly a matter of values and opinion. The debate is over whether phonics should be taught and tested in isolation, as a prelude to reading texts (the phonics-first…

Describes the controversy over phonics versus whole-language reading instruction, and cites research concluding the necessity for combining the two methods to achieve comprehension. Gives examples of practitioner techniques of combining phonemics, phonics, and whole language in early reading instruction. Sidebars highlight key resource…

A descriptive study used survey methodology to determine first-grade teachers' theoretical orientations toward reading and students' attitudes toward reading, as well as structured classroom observations to describe teachers' reading instructional practices. Subjects, 259 of the 428 first-grade teachers (61%) in 94 elementary schools of a large…

Noting that reading instruction in the last years of the 20th century is still characterized by controversy, this book presents 18 essays that examine the best available research evidence about what is known--and what needs to be learned--about the teaching of reading and how children learn to read. Topics of the essays include whole language,…