Phonics vs. “Whole Language” Controversy
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“The controversy over how to teach reading is not a narrow, technical dispute. It is a broad, philosophic disagreement, with crucial educational implications.” says a new article today. The article starts with the recent discussion of the Rockford Illinois tragedy where a third grade class at a school having 80% minority and 85% poor students scored near the top in the state only being bested by a gifted students class. After a new principal did not permit these teachers to teach in this manner, the scores plumeted to pre-phonics levels. The story was mentioned earlier on this blog.
The phonics proponents maintain that human knowledge is gained objectively, by perceiving the facts of reality and by abstracting from those facts. Supporters of whole language, by contrast, believe that the acquisition of knowledge is a subjective process. Influenced by John Dewey and his philosophy of Progressive education, they believe that the child must be encouraged to follow his feelings irrespective of the facts, and to have his arbitrary “opinions” regarded as valid. The article describes the process that the ‘whole’ learner must go through.
What is the child to do when he encounters a word he has not yet memorized? He must guess. Here is what some whole-language advocates suggest the child do: “Look at the pictures” (what if the book does not contain pictures?); “Ask a friend” (is reading not a solitary activity?); “Look for patterns” (why not systematically teach him “patterns,” that is, phonics?); “Substitute another word” (is this teaching?). Conspicuously absent is: “Look in a dictionary”–because the child crippled by whole language cannot read a dictionary.
While the phonics learner goes through this process:
Spoken language is made up of discrete units of sound, called phonemes, like the b sound in “bat” or “boy.” Phonics teaches a child to break down spoken words into their phonemes and to symbolize them by written letters. The child learns how to sound out each word through its component letters. Reducing reading to a manageable set of rules quickly enables a child to read almost any word–and to experience reading as something easy and pleasurable and mind-opening.
The author Dr. Onkar Ghate conludes with “What our schools need is not “moderation,” but phonics instruction. We would consider it child abuse to add contaminated food to a child’s diet for the sake of “balance.” We should consider it the same when educators add whole language to reading instruction.”
While this topic was discussed on this blog earlier, I have come the conclusion that it is phonics that is helping me learn a foreign language. I have been studying Russian for more than 2 years. It is interesting in that I am first learning through vocal means, recordings of the language to learn the sounds, then moving to the written words. The Russian language uses Cyrillic characters and there exist sounds that would take 2-3 characters to make in a Roman alphabet. Without using this phonetic approach, I don’t know how I would learn it. I can look at a word that I don’t know. But by sounding it out one letter at a time, I can figure out it’s meaning. An example is the word in Russian 
. The first letter a sounds like ‘ah’, second letter just like an english ‘d’, the next a ‘v’ sound, ‘o’ an ‘oh’, the next a hard ‘c’ as in cat, the next an ‘a’, and we finish with a ‘t’ as in top. So it sounds like advocat or the word advocate, a noun. What is an advocate in Russian? It’s a lawyer. I don’t know how I would have done it any other way.
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Our language is a phonetic language. The whole language advocates are right, most of us recognize words in whole chunks but when one comes across a new word, that stops and phonetics kicks in. Usually as well we can figure ou the meaning from the contect but not always.
Essentially when we read (i.e. adults) we are running. Children and young readers are struggling to walk. Phonetics first.
One must have phonetic awareness in order to learn to read and write. This is the foundation to literacy. Phonics must be taught, this is where whole language advocates made a mistake. However, whole language proponents had many things going for them, unfortunately they left out one of the most important skills. I disagree with the process your “whole” child goes through. When a child is learning to read there are pictures in a book. When students have become fluent readers they tend to read chapter books and books without pictures. A fluent reader loses the “training wheels” of looking at the picture to help with an unknown word. I teach literacy using a balanced approach, I teach my students strategies to overcome unknown words and one of the first strategies we teach is looking at the picture, students look at the picture, look at the beginning sounds (phonics) of the word, chunk the sounds and have success. CONFIDENCE is the best gift any teacher can give their students, when students have confidence they can achieve most anything. Admin, you are a fluent reader and writer in english which helps you learn the russian language because you have something to refer to in your native tongue, phonics is definitely a useful tool for you to learn russian. Imagine if you didn’t have the english to fall back on you wouldn’t understand any meaning from the Russian language by just using phonics. Great post!
That was funny! I saw your first comment posted, it mysteriously disappeared. Are you saying I am turning into a conservative? Am I leaving the communist… I mean socialist… I mean democratic party?
Admin, why was Barbie’s message deleted twice?
I deemed it not germane to the discusion.
So much for free speech!
WOW, Where is Bill Danielson when you need him. The Admin doesn’t like a comment on his blog and so what does he do? He just erases it. That is easy. Kind of like living in your own little fantasy world. I kind of think that the Hudson Star Observer does a fair job, even if they are abused by the Brat PAck of Curt, Marion and Bill. At least the HSO publishes their letters. I guess the “Admin” and his anonymous boys have shown in this little act of censorship their true colors. hey admin, take your ball and go play somewhere else, at least the HSO practices free speech.
Barbie, this one won’t last long either! : )
I was disappointed as well, it’s funny to me that teachers on this blog can take shot after shot, educators (including our school board members) can be called everything from crooks to incompetent yet when someone cracks a joke it is deemed not pertinent to the discussion. If this doesn’t prove to any neutral observers where and what these people want to do with public education just take note of two deleted posts. That is what they want to do with public education, delete it!
The policy of the blog is that any legit registered people may post germane to a topic. #1. The comment was not germane. #2 I tried contacting barbiedollwig via the email address that was bounced back to me as bogus. That allows me as admin to delete it.
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If blatant censorship is any indication of ‘Free Speech’ violation, then the HSO does not practice free speech.
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If you want to comment, keep it on the subject. Your chit chat can be emailed to whomever you want. This is no place for it. It’s just like TV, Bob, just turn the channel.
Admin, use the email as #1, I can go back and pull a lot of posts that have been less germane to a topic so don’t use that, Barbie at least was discussing phonics and fluency of reading and writing. If his/her email is bogus that is another story, although I have seen posts from this person before so I am not sure if that is going to hold weight either.
Hindsight is 20/20. There were no written rules to guide me when I started this blog. Should I have done it earlier, maybe. I am new to blogging, less than 6 months. There was never anyone trying to hide that most of the members lean to the right. Even the Hudson Star Observer makes you register to view their site along with the St. Paul Pioneer press. I make no claims to publish ‘anything’ anyone sends me, it has to be germain and unoffensive. If you want, I can send you a host name and show where you can get a domain name for a reasonable price. Everyone here appreciates your participation. I am simply exercising my rights to publish whatever, whenever, however I like.
Now this is very interesting, Admin states that “The policy of the blog is that any legit registered people may post germane to a topic. #1. The comment was not germane. #2 I tried contacting barbiedollwig via the email address that was bounced back to me as bogus. That allows me as admin to delete it.”
#1 the point was just as or more germane than most comments seen here. (to refresh your memory, you admin were talking about a Russian word in the context of phonics. I simply stated that it might note be your great phonics skills, but rather that you MAY have a Russian wife) that seems very much on point.
#2 you stated that you could delete the comments because I didn’t have a legit email address. THAT IS A TOTAL LIE, In fact, I just got an automated email for changing a password just to prove it.
Looks like were back the that old arguement that those playground bullies of yours use. I don’t have to if I don’t want to, its my blog. Real mature admin, So much for free speech, and you and your boys looking for the truth. The truth is you and your “Thugs” just don’t want a public education system that educates ALL students.
By the way, I am not Bob, nor an educator, Just some anonymous blogger who is interested in education.
I did a search on several reverse email lookups. None came back. I see you did get your password though. I am not going to argue anymore about it. I started this blog. Me. No one else. There are no ‘playground bullies’ putting me up to anything. That is your fantasy life. To characterize editing on a blog as ëfree speechí is preposterous. By the way, the editing I did do was only the 2nd time it has occurred. The other time is was profanity. I will stand behind my decision. I blog about other topics than education by the way.
On and on he (or she) goesÖ. Hey, this is a no whining zone and I can actually hear the whining as I read. I think admin made his point long long agoÖ Also, I am a thug now? Cool. I will wear that monicer with pride. I think being an intellectual thug is rather flashyÖthis is going to be more fun than ever! I think a bumper-sticker is now in order: Proud To Be An Intellectual Thug! Or, maybe a personalized plate: MINDTHUG. FYI for all, let me know how many bumper stickers you want, I know a guy in the nut business who can make a bunch. Maybe even a retail outlet would be possible: Thugs R Us.
barbiedollwig is trying to take a little bit of ?social ownershipî in this blogÖ.look, this blog is the work of individual minds – not some mysterious collective. Admin has gone to great lengths to keep this blog running AMAZINGLY WELL. He has also been very gracious with invites to those with various views. There are some very compelling arguments coming out of this blog site, and I have yet to see a single intellectual argument from you to logically refute anything I (or anyone else)have said or written – it appears you simply donít have the mental ability to fight back with ideas because you donít have any that sell – small bell, no clapper. Defending a flawed and failed ideology (socialism), regardless the venue, is a nullus initium.
Like I said before, game on – I am damn proud to be a thug!
Now this is an interesting debate. Censorship on a privately owned blog? How about censorship at a publicly paid for school board meeting? Now that is something to be alarmed about. I would direct the readers/writers back to the January 2004 school board where Annette Cook refused to allow me to address the board about a letter that I received from a school district attorney. In addition school board member Dick Muenich called for a 5 minute recess to “restore order”. Where were the free speech advocates like barbiedollwig then?