Approaches to Reading
Instruction
Amber Allen
Dawn Hermann
Jamie Milanowski
History of Reading
• Textbooks were created to teach reading
– McGuffey Readers – now the basal reading series
– Teacher centered – students rote memorization
• Progressive Education Movement
– Interests of students, science
• Dick and Jane books
– “Whole Word” approach
• 1955 Why Johnny Can’t Read (1955)
– Attacked the whole word approach
• Children’s stories with controlled vocabularies
• Children need to be able to sound out words.
• Whole Language started in Late 70s
– Popular in 80s/90s
– Students struggling with Whole Language approach
• Decoding of words was not taught
• Each child learns differently
• Balanced Literacy approach to reading
(Brown, 2011; Reyhner, 2008)
Whole Language Approach
• Example:
– Learning to read through Whole Language
approach
Whole Language Approach
• Focus on meaning and strategy instruction
rather than decoding
• Looks at language as a whole rather than
individual parts
• Teaches reading and writing through oral
language experiences of the child
Components of Whole Language
Approach
• Top-down approach
• Literate Environment
• Oral Language and Literacy used across all
content areas
• Student-Centered
• Reading and writing for real purposes
Cons of Whole Language
• No focus on language structure
• Literacy Sub-skills are taught as the need
arises
SLP Role with Whole Language
• Provide services consistent with school’s
approach to literacy
• Ideal program for SLP-Focus on oral language
• Assessment procedures-ongoing in natural
environment
• Service Delivery-classroom based model
• Provide teachers with suggestions for using oral
language to promote literacy learning
• Help students acquire oral language skills
• Help students acquire written language skills
Phonics Approach
• Focuses on the relationship between the letter
(or grapheme) and the sound it makes.
– Direct, explicit, and systematic teaching
• Teaches reading in a hierarchy type of fashion
– Teaches each letter sound
– Sight words also taught
• my, the, at, to
– Sentences
– Paragraphs
• Bottom up approach
(Byrd, 2008)
Phonics Approach
• Cons
– No one-to-one sound symbol relationship
– English homonyms create difficulties for spelling (even
college level)
• E.g., to, too, two; Their, there, they’re
– “Outlaw words” need to be memorized
– About half of the English language cannot be
pronounced correctly using phonics
– Differing vocabulary sizes
– Differing dialects of English that vary in pronunciation
(e.g., Minnesota vs. Texas)
– Children with articulation disorders struggle
Phonics Approach
• SLP Role
– Phonological awareness
– Teaching specific sounds
– Service delivery:
• Pull-out
• Small groups
• Collaboration with teacher or co-teach
– Speech groups or whole group teaching
Phonics Example
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BELlZKpi1Zs
• Reading Mastery
The Great Debate
• Whole-Language vs. Phonics
• California implemented whole language in the
1980s, but then offered school districts financial
incentives to return to the phonics method in
1996.
• The National Research Council made a public
statement in 1998, asking to end the “reading
wars.” The Council cited for more than two
decades bouncing back and forth between the
two methods resulted in little academic gain.
The Great Debate
• The “reading wars” were not just about
academics, they were also political.
– Conservatives saw whole language as a freewheeling
approach that was missing standards and rules
needed in education.
– Liberals said phonics perpetuated patronizing “drill
and kill” strategies which turned kids into reading
robots and turned them away from wanting to learn.
– Whole language was used in more liberal states,
phonics in conservative states.
Balanced Literacy Approach
• In 1997, Congress asked NIH to create the National Reading Panel
to consider the debate question. In 2000, the panel released its
“meta-analysis” and deduced that all children must master five
skills:
Phonemic
Awareness
Vocabulary
Phonics
Fluency
Comprehension
Balanced Literacy Approach
Balanced Literacy Approach
• Children need to learn to both sound out
words and look at context to become effective
readers.
• The 1998 National Research Council report
stated, “ If we have learned anything from this
effort, it is that effective teachers are able to
craft a special mix of instructional ingredients
for every child they work with.”
Balanced Literacy Approach
• In a balanced literacy approach how you teach
and what you teach are equally important.
• Some sound-letter patterns are more
consistent, and should be taught early as a
foundation for literacy.
• Books such as kindergarten standards like
“Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” work well to
introduce blended literacy.
Balanced Literacy Approach
• Example:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv6jKXQ6
Voo
Children with Language
Delays/Disorders
• While both methods can be effective with
normally-developing readers, choosing one
method over the other could harm children’s
development, especially those with language
impairments (LI).
• Children with LI tended to benefit most from
phonics, while gifted children did well with the
whole language approach.
– The whole language approach has been found to be
particularly detrimental to children with dyslexia.
Take Away Points
• Important to know literacy approach school
uses.
– To collaborate your services
• Not one approach works for all children
• Take both interests and skills into
consideration
References
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Brown, E. (2011). History of reading instruction. The Phonics Page. Retrieved on July 27, 2013
from http://thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/historyofreading.html.
Byrd, C. M. (2008). Reading instruction beliefs and practices of early elementary school
teachers. Psi Chi, The National Honor Society in Psychology, 13(2), 76-85.
Chaney, Carolyn. (1990). Evaluating the Whole Language Approach to Language Arts: The
Pros and Cons. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 21, 244-249.
Dahms, Joel (2006). Spelling out dyslexia: Northwest researchers shed light on spelling
problems in dyslexic children, provide hope for new treatment. Northwest Science &
Technology. Retrieved on July 28from
https://depts.washington.edu/nwst/issues/index.php?issueID=fall_2006&storyID=800.
Kolker, Robert (2006). A is for apple, B is for Brawl. New York. Retrieved on July 28, 2013 from
http://nymag.com/news/features/16775/index1.html.
Reyhner, J. (2008). The reading wars: Phonics versus whole language. Retrieved on July 26,
2013 from http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/Reading_Wars.html.
Schory, M.E. (1990). Whole Language and the Speech-Language Pathologist. Language,
Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 21, 206-211.
Strickland, Dorothy. Practical strategies to help you build a truly balanced classroom literacy
program. Scholastic Instructor. Retrieved on July 28, 2013 from
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/balanced-literacy.