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…

The purpose of our study was to compare the effectiveness of two song-teaching methods: holistic and phrase-by-phrase. Thirty-two first-grade children (n = 32) from two music classes in an urban elementary school were taught two folksongs. The first class (n = 16) was taught one song through the phrase-by-phrase method and another song through the…

Seikatsu tsuzurikata is a grassroots movement in Japan that has many parallels to the whole language movement, but it developed completely independently, beginning in the late 1920s. Our research into this movement was conducted in 1984 and described in Kitagawa and Kitagawa (1987). We are now updating our earlier research. Seikatsu tsuzurikata is…

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…

Compares the rationale, design, use, and effectiveness of approaches to literacy education: natural, whole language, learner centered, and particpatory. Provides guidelines for literacy programs: create a community of learners, make literacy learning meaningful, help learners see how language evolves, and connect literacy to life. (SK)

A study explored the nature of whole language as compared to the basal program for the years 1990-1991 and 1991-1992. The samples of pupils involved were from the eight elementary schools, housing grades kindergarten through grade five, in East Brunswick, New Jersey. The students have been instructed for many years in the basal approach. Since…

Examines the results of the National Reading Panel's (NRP) comparison of skills-based and whole language approaches through the lens of reading comprehension. Reveals that the research does not show that skills-based methods are superior. Concludes that the NRP's interpretation of the results is not the only possible one and should not be the…

Students individually need to experience success in reading, be it a systematic approach in phonics or in whole language procedures. Quality action research, conducted within the local school/school system, needs to be conducted to notice which of these two procedures of reading instruction best meets student needs. Each student needs to achieve…

Noting that existing research reveals considerable diversity among researchers' philosophical stances toward literature-based reading instruction versus traditional basal reading instruction, a study determined what effects literature-based instruction had on the reading achievement of fourth graders. Subjects, fourth-grade students of the John P.…

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…

A study examined two methods of reading instruction, the whole language literature-based approach and the traditional basal approach. Eighty teachers from four diverse school districts in two midwestern states were surveyed to find out which method was the most widely used. Results indicated that 84% of the 50 teachers who responded used a…

A study critically reviews the practices and purposes of the new basal reading series and the whole language philosophy. The study explores the possibility of a comprehensive adoption of either program or a combination of both. Results of the review indicate the desirability of using the whole language philosophy and creating a classroom that is…

Compares the effects of basal and whole language approaches on the reading achievement of first grade students. Finds no statistically significant differences in reading achievement between classes taught with a basal approach or with a whole language approach. (RS)

Discusses literature-based classrooms and influences on students' reading habits. Highlights include beliefs about learning and teaching, including a comparison of the transmission model and the transactional model of education; the importance of literary experiences for language development and literacy learning, including phonological…

Compares whole language, literature-based, and basal reader literacy instruction in terms of the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey, the Reader Self-Perception Scale, and the Writer Self-Perception Scale. Finds that a literature-based approach to reading and writing appeared to exert superior impact on intermediate-aged children's affective…