In this article, we will explore the principles behind the wholelanguage approach, its advantages and limitations, and how it is applied in classrooms to support reading development.
Grounded in the belief that learning to read is a natural process closely tied to meaning-making, wholelanguage approaches emphasize the use of authentic texts, student choice, and reading and writing for real purposes.
Wholelanguageteachers emphasize the role of comprehension in reading, the process of writing, as well as students’ motivation and engagement. While these skills are tremendously important, they don’t include the far more critical ability to decode print.
Instead of providing instruction on the structure of written English, whole-language materials focus on reading behaviors, asking beginning readers to emulate skilled readers. But researchers estimate that just 35% of students learn to read with such broad instruction.
The wholelanguage approach teaches reading by helping learners understand how words work together to form meaningful sentences. Instead of breaking words down into sounds, students learn to recognize them as complete units—within context, stories, and real experiences.
Learn how the WholeLanguage Approach enhances your child's reading and language skills. Discover its benefits in fostering comprehension, creativity, and a love for learning through context-based learning.
Whole language is a discredited [8] philosophy of reading and an educational method originally developed for teaching literacy in English to young children. The method became a major model for education in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK in the 1980s and 1990s, [7] despite there being no scientific support for the method's effectiveness. [9] It is based on the premise that ...
WholeLanguage is an educational philosophy centered on teachingreading and writing through meaningful and authentic experiences, rather than through traditional direct instruction methods.
WholeLanguage works. The proof is massive and overwhelming. Sixty years of research—yes, real scientific research—conclusively show it to be a superior way to help young people become skillful, lifelong readers and writers.
Wholelanguage educators believed phonics and skills-based teaching were dehumanizing and disconnected from how real language worked. Instead, they wanted children to learn to read and write the way they learned to speak—through exposure and use.
