That did it for Cloud. The 46-year-old mother of six became yet another convert to a nationwide movement to revive the phonics approach to reading. Phonics was once blamed for turning schoolchildren into repeat-after-me robots. But now, alarmed by low reading scores, state after state is trying to return to phonics, which teaches kids how to make connections between symbols and sounds. California passed the “ABC” bill last year, requiring, among other things, that textbooks include lessons on spelling and alphabet sounds. Another bill would require new teachers to take phonics courses to get certified. North Carolina is urging schools to teach alphabet sounds. Nebraska and Virginia have settled on a mix of both decoding words and reading literature. Even GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole cast his ballot for phonics, saying recently that California’s whole-language “fad” has produced “disastrous results.”
The Great Debate over reading methods has raged for centuries. Educator Horace Mann warned in the 19th century that letters of the alphabet were “bloodless, ghostly apparitions.” Still, phonics continued to dominate until the late 1930s, when Scott Foresman published its “Dick and Jane” series. These ubiquitous readers were designed to teach children to read not by repeating sounds but by learning simple words.
Proponents of whole language believe that reading is learned best when the child is immersed in real books and real writing. The theory is that children can figure out what words mean by seeing them in context. Children are encouraged to skip unfamiliar words. Overall understanding, not word-by-word accuracy, is the goal. Whole-language advocates insist that phonics were never given short shrift. Kenneth Goodman, professor of reading at the University of Arizona, says decoding skills should be taught as one of many strategies.
Like most education issues, reading methods are a political battleground. Goodman believes whole language has become just another easy target for right-wingers intent on narrowing the scope of public education. There’s more to schooling than reading, he says, and more to reading than phonics. But, critics ask, what’s more basic than learning to read? “There is strong evidence that a lot of kids just aren’t getting it with whole language,” says former California school superintendent Bill Honig, now a phonics crusader.
Most research backs the need for lots of phonics, the sooner the better. While many beginners may be able to figure out what words mean by their context, most children–particularly those having trouble–need help learning the shapes and sounds of English. The brain has no inherent knowledge of the alphabet, says Dr. Frank Vellutino, director of the child-research center at SUNY-Albany. It has to be taught.
The most successful schools are those that compromise, blending the best of phonics and whole language. Teachers at Rosendale Elementary in Niskayuna, N.Y., realized several years ago that whole language was not enough without daily phonics, so they developed a system combining the two. After just two years, the number of children needing remedial reading was reduced considerably. Children, the teachers insist, tackle literature with more confidence now that they are armed with better skills. And phonics, they’ve proved, does not have to be “drill and kill.” Second graders in Karen Hess’s class wriggle with excitement as she holds up a flashcard. First the children “chunk” it into syllables and identify the letter combinations (“au”) and spelling patterns ("-tion"). Then they rotate their arms like a steam engine to help their brains connect the parts. “Auction!” several shouted last week, and one of them added: “Like Jackie O!”
Does phonics turn kids into robots? Does whole language leave them dazed and confused? Here are pros and cons
Advantages
The early emphasis on literature makes reading fun from the start.
They learn words in context, with a goal of understanding.
Disadvantages
If they “skip” words, they may never learn them
Phonics
Advantages
Children learn strategies for decoding words they’ve never seen.
Tutoring may help bring kids with early reading problems up to grade level.
Disadvantages
Teachers may rely on “kill and drill” lessons
The emphasis on decoding practices may turn children off to literature.
