Why Do Some Children Learn to Read in Whole-Language Classrooms?
by Susan Wise Bauer
If you’ve read our newsletter before, you know that we believe in explicit phonics instruction, which teaches children the sounds of individual letters and combinations of letters, as well as the technique of blending those sounds together to “decode” words. “Whole language instruction,” in which children are immersed in language (by constant exposure to reading) and encouragement to guess at the meanings of words, assumes that children will learn to read naturally, as they learned to speak, without explicit phonics instruction.
This method has produced wretched literacy rates — but its proponents still insist that children can learn to read when whole language methods are used. As it turns out, they’re partly right. Award-winning journalist Andrea Neal, writing in the Indianapolis Star, cites scientific research for the following conclusions:
Most of us, 60 to 70 percent, learn [skills in sounding out printed words] naturally in much the same way we learn to talk. But as many as 40 percent need specific instruction to help break down words and syllables into sounds or phonemes, the reading method commonly called phonics.
That’s roughly the same percentage failing to meet state standards for language arts on Indiana’s ISTEP test [the state evaluation examination]. In fact, research suggests that the two groups of students — the poor readers and the ones who don’t naturally develop phoneme awareness — are the same. (Indianapolis Star, December 1998. Read the entire article at Andrea Neal’s Indianapolis Star column site.)
In other words, nearly half of all students turn into problem readers if they are not given systematic phonics instruction. And since it is impossible to tell, early on, whether a child will “naturally” sound out words or not, Neal wonders why Indiana schools have not instituted a systematic phonics program for all children. South Bend teacher Anita Holten, who has been teaching phonics to first graders for years, graduates classes in which every child has learned to read. She says that if phonics is taught, only a few children — those with “genuine learning disabilities” — will need “special intervention.”
But since Indiana does not currently require phonic instruction, up to 40% of first graders are diagnosed with reading problems — when all they need are a few months of phonics. “Why won’t Indiana give our kids what they need?” asks Neal. “Any reader who would like a copy of the report [giving these facts], 30 years of research: What we know about how children learn to read, may call me at 317-633-9177.”
Even those who learn to read under whole language instruction will find spelling easier if they are given the structure of systematic rules, instead of having to figure out how to reproduce sounds back into print. So if you have one of those “natural readers,” be glad — but invest in a good, sound, phonics-based spelling program to reinforce that natural ability.
Go back to article index
