Providing a context for discussion rather than an insider's point of view, this report discusses the current state of reading research. The report reviews differing visions of educational reform of reading instruction espoused by supporters of phonics and by supporters of the whole language approach. The report then proposes four criteria for use…

The book, designed for teachers of both beginning-level and transitional students of English as a Second Language (ESL), outlines the Guided Language Experience Process (GLEP) model for planning ESL instructional units using the whole language approach. The first section summarizes research that has influenced this model and its implications for…

This study designed a music program for improving academic skills of first grade students after the teaching staff found the students doing average work in the classroom. The school involved in the study was located in an urban, middle class community in Northern Illinois. Results of standardized tests showed the extent of the academic problems of…

This book is designed to introduce active or preservice teachers to the new advances in understanding of the reading and writing processes and to show them how to apply this knowledge to enhance literacy skills in elementary through high school levels. An introduction opens with two case illustrations of different classes with different approaches…

Sharing both collective and individual experiences and insights about whole language, teaching, and educational change, this book explains whole language instruction and its implementation on a school-wide basis. Each chapter moves from research to theory, and from theory to application in classrooms that actually exist. The book explains why…

Using a dinosaur unit as an example throughout the chapters, this book presents an organizational plan for developing a thematic unit for literature-based instruction for grades K-6. The book is designed as a resource for preservice and inservice teachers new to literature-based instruction. The book shows how a content topic can be used as a…

Practitioners and researchers argue about how reading should be taught, about what students should read, and about how best to organize reading instruction in the classroom. Diverse methods are used to teach reading. These range from isolated skills-based (intensive phonics/basal reading programs) to integrated, whole language approaches that…

This document consists of the two issues published during 1997 of the newsletter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching's national special interest group (N-SIG) on foreign language literacy. The major articles in these two issues are: "How To Develop Reading-To-Do Skills in Engineering Education" (Esko Johnson); "Key…

In response to the restructuring of a school's literacy program, a study was designed to address three research question: (1) What levels of concerns are raised by teachers in the areas of "self,""task," and "impact"? (2) What responses do these concerns elicit from university researchers and other participants? and…

After a decision was made at a Texas elementary school to adopt a whole language philosophy toward literacy instruction, a study was designed to address three research questions: (1) What levels of concerns are raised by teachers in the areas of "self,""task," and "impact"? (2) What responses do these concerns elicit…

This discussion examines the reading and writing processes of persons with hearing impairments, particularly those leaving school and in transition from school to work. The reading/writing act is viewed from three perspectives: (1) cognitive science or information processing; (2) text organization and its functions; and (3) the processes whereby…

This descriptive study looked at the provision of differentiated language arts instruction for gifted students by means of whole language instruction approaches in regular classes. Two classrooms in each of two elementary schools were identified as exemplary whole language classrooms and each contained several students identified for school gifted…

Noting the fragile relationship between parent participation and school reform, this book tells the story of the Charquin Program, an alternative public school program in Hayward, California, dedicated to parent participation and notable for its open classroom structure and intensely democratic practice. The introduction relates the history and…

A study of two teachers and four secondary level English classes examined how traditional methods of teaching literature were replaced by more interactive and integrated approaches to text, based primarily upon a whole language philosophy. Intervention aspects purposely remained open-ended to accommodate each teacher's understandings and…

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…