This article examines recent research and developments relating to the role of phonemic awareness and phonics in early literacy education and the relevance of these findings for school counsellors and teachers. It defines and reviews the role of phonemic awareness and phonics in theoretical models of reading processes, including whole-language,…

Examines relationships between theoretical beliefs toward reading instruction and attitudes about pupil control. Uses the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP) and Pupil Control Ideology (PCI). Finds that (1) as teachers moved toward the whole language end of the TORP scale, PCI scores were more humanistic; and (2) teachers oriented…

Enlarges the phonics/whole language debate by focusing on the classroom teacher's evolving role. Whole language instruction involves a fundamental change in a teacher's belief system concerning classroom culture. A complex paradigm shift is needed from teachers' transmission of knowledge to students' transaction or engagement with constructing…

Teachers using the whole-language approach to reading instruction (instead of phonics readers and worksheets) claim this practice is child centered, allows student reading choices, develops the whole child, makes learning relevant, and promotes a lifelong love of learning. Whole-language teachers should adopt a transactional pedagogy and link…

This digest discusses some of the ways children develop functional phonics knowledge in the context of authentic reading and writing, as well as some of the ways teachers can foster such development. The digest suggests that children develop phonics knowledge by: having familiar stories or poems read to them repeatedly; discussing letter/sound…

Presently, reading is much discussed by senators, representatives, and state legislatures--the debate is on the following issues in reading instruction: (1) having all students in public school achieve at grade level as a reading minimum; (2) accountability of teachers for student achievement; (3) teachers having high achievement expectations from…

This paper explores what a reading teacher might do to guide students to achieve and be successful in reading. The paper first points out that there are selected programs of reading instruction which are individualized for optimal student success, and then discusses some of these programs, such as: individualized reading; the experience chart;…

No trend in education has been more exalted than "whole language," which has a following of teachers, researchers, and specialists who are almost fanatical in their observance of this teaching method. The debate is between two types of direct instruction: the "atomistic" approach encourages teachers to break down reading into…

Addressing the issues of how phonics is handled in whole language classrooms and the role that phonics plays in reading and learning to read, the content of this book is rooted in the language stories and literacy lessons of teachers' observations of at-risk children learning to read. The book begins with an introduction to one whole language…

A first-grade teacher explains how she uses the whole-part-whole reading model with 15 youngsters. Rereading allows students to practice recently learned skills and strategies, while developing fluency and comprehension. Other exercises include reading aloud in pairs, deciphering the daily schedule, discussions of syllable and sound similarities,…

Intended for those practitioners and parents who have heard the term "whole language" but who really know little or nothing about it, this booklet looks at the learning or acquisition of language, which includes the processes of thinking, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Chapters in the book, after an introduction, are, as…

This collection of 29 succinct information articles discusses issues relating to language arts, including whole language, phonics, student evaluation, spelling, and censorship. Some of the authors contributing to the collection are Ken Goodman, Yetta Goodman, Jerome Harste, Patrick Shannon, and Constance Weaver. Titles of articles are:…

The single most important task facing elementary school teachers today is teaching students to read by the end of third grade. Learning to read in those formative years is essential to develop the higher order thinking skills demanded in the older grades, when students are reading to learn. Beginning readers must be engaged in highly purposeful…