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RSS FeedWhich is a better way to teach children to read: Whole language or phonics?
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| Whole | 46% | 196 votes | Total: 422 votes | |
| Phonics | 54% | 226 votes |
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Add to FavoritesOne of my fantasies is to have Antonio Banderas whisper sweet nothings in my ear. "Quiero pollo para la cena," he says in Spanish- smooth, soft and slow. I, dressed in a French maid's uniform, whisper, "How would you like it? Broiled, baked or fried?"
In order to understand the Spanish statement above, one must pay attention to its tone and its context, as well as the sounds in the words. A non-native speaker can be taught the pronunciation of the letters, but it takes a practitioner of a language, or, at least, someone pointing to a picture of a chicken dinner on a menu, to understand what is being said.
Reading is complex- neither sequential nor linear. Learning to pronounce or "sound out" the words we see in print (also known as Phonics) is only one aspect of reading. Can you say "Quiero pollo (key-air-o poy-yo)?" Sure you can. But do you know what it means?
The following terms describe the interactions that take place in the brain while you read. A good reader incorporates all of them to understand the message she is reading.
Phonemic Awareness and Phonics
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words. Phonics is the ability to attach the sounds of letters and words to the ones we see in print. An English speaker can stretch the word "chicken" to sound like "ch-i-ck-en" (phonemic awareness). When a reader sees the letters "ch-i-ck-en" together, she can blend their sounds together to make "chicken" (phonics).
Have you heard the Spanish word "pollo" before? If you know how to pronounce the letters you see in print, you can stretch their sounds to say the word- "poy-yo".
Oral Language and Vocabulary
By the time a child attends school she has heard thousands of words and phrases. A young child, even before she can speak, will fetch her shoes when you tell her she is going to the park.
A successful reader draws from her knowledge and experience with language to match what she sees on a page. She can put the sounds of the letters together to make "poy-yo", but if she has never heard it or has no reference for it (an image of chicken does not pop into her head), then she is word-calling, not reading.
Fluency
Reading speed, phrasing and intonation play important roles in reading comprehension. How quickly can a child recognize known words? How quickly can she figure out unknown words? Can she phrase her reading like "talking"? Can she imagine Antonio's smooth voice whispering, "Quiero pollo para la cena?" The reader will understand the author's true message when she reads fluently.
Comprehension and Context
The core of reading is comprehension. Without understanding, you are not "reading" but calling out words. Do you understand what you are reading? Do you have to reread a passage because it doesn't make sense to you the first time? After you finish reading, can you recall what the passage said? Can you tell someone about it later or write it in your journal? Did you learn something about a character, a piece of machinery or Antonio's favorite meal?
Where did you read the statement, "Quiero pollo para la cena?" Was it in a romance novel, on a movie poster, in a magazine article, or in a biography? Context plays an important role in a printed message. Antonio's statement means different things in different places.
Enjoyment and Motivation
Children who love books spend a lot of time with them. In most cases, these children are the better readers.
Early exposure to books and other print materials shows children how print works. Book language introduces children to more sophisticated vocabulary and provides them with experiences outside their immediate environment.
By now you may have guessed that Antonio Banderas wants chicken for dinner. I am his co-star in a movie. We are not in the kitchen.
Learn more about this author, J. Connell Moran.
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Phonics
As a parent volunteer within the school system, I saw first hand phonics vs. whole language learning.
Phonics wins every time. My kids always loved to do what mommy was doing, so I taught them a few simple rules of phonics, just like I was taught as a child myself. Most of the kids my children went to school with were taught using the whole word method repetition and memorization.
As a direct witness to the "effectiveness" of the whole word method, I can attest to the fact that the only kids being taught phonics at home by their parents could read more than a few words. These were not the only parents trying to help their kids learn reading skills. In fact, reading skills were something which most of the parents in our area took very seriously. Yet by the end of the second grade, all of the kids who were being taught only the whole word method had, without exception, fallen significantly behind the kids who were also being taught phonics at home. These were kids who not only worked hard at school to learn new words but practiced at home daily, yet they fell further and further behind.
The kids being taught phonics read better than their peers, yet spent significantly less time studying. A few simple rules and the phonics kids were ready to go, while the rest struggled trying to memorize and pronounce lists of words that grew ever longer as they got older.
By the end of the 4th grade, fully one third of the kids in my children's school needed remedial reading help of some kind. By the end of the 6th grade, there were a number of kids who were functionally illiterate, all because of the whole word method. If a child had not memorized the entire word they were lost. They did not have the ability to sound it out properly and would struggle over the same words again and again. They became hopeless spellers as they had not one single tool to work out how to spell a word. They either knew it or they did not and there was no system or logic that would help them work it out for themselves.
My children came into the school system at the same time the whole word method reached the height of popularity. Now they are in high school. Most of their friends have reading problems of one kind or another. Their friends can't spell, can't handle new words or information and are hopelessly illiterate. You have no idea how grateful I am that I was old fashioned enough to teach my kids the things that their school would not.
Learn more about this author, Sparx.
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