Phonics and Whole Language Instruction.
Two primary styles of elementary school reading programs, Phonics and Whole Language, are examined. A discussion of the origins of each method provides insight into the ongoing battle being fought within the educational community concerning the most effective reading program of the two. A description of the programs and review of the problems and attributes associated with each follow. An evaluation of data, found within numerous articles and two books concentrating on the issue of phonics versus whole language instruction, indicates that providing instruction in both whole language and phonics is the most effective way to teach elementary school students to read. .
Phonics and Whole Language Instruction.
During the past thirty years, a battle has been fought throughout educational communities within the United States. The battle focuses on the perceived problem of increasing illiteracy rates and why a large number of educators feel the reason for that illiteracy is directly linked to the use of Whole Language instruction in today's elementary school classrooms. On the one side stand the proponents of phonics who believe the best way to teach children to read is by instructing them in the use of decoding, or "sounding out- words. On the other side stand the whole language advocates who are convinced that the only right method of teaching young children to read is by having them memorize complete words, and subsequently through contextual cues, their meanings (Steele, 1998). .
The current controversy surrounding this issue certainly is not a new one. What causes it to be such a hot topic today is the introduction of state and nationwide testing and the possible introduction of minimum standards of acceptable school performance. However, this debate has been fought within the educational community for almost 200 years. According to Hempenstall (1997),.
