Concluding Thoughts

Phonics, simply stated, emphasizes word and sound analysis. Children learn letter sounds (b=buh) first and then blend them (bl=bluh) to form words. They also learn strategies to figure out words they don't know.  The knock on phonics is that programs use low-interest reading material and too many boring worksheets.

Whole language, in contrast, emphasizes literature and word meanings. In the early grades, children use invented spelling to write their own stories, and students are generally encouraged to use critical thinking strategies. The drawbacks to the whole language philosophy is that too little emphasis is placed on word analysis or phonics.  Absent phonics, young readers may guess or skip over words they don't know and some children may not learn how to read.

The debate between  the two approaches took center stage in 1990s as the “reading wars” emerged as a cultural and political divide between whole language and phonics advocates.  Those who favored traditional values tended to lean towards the phonics end of the debate while those with more progressive values favored whole language. When reading scores declined, private citizens, the media, researchers and politicians took aim at the whole language approach and the reading war had begun.

Today, after more than a decade or research and debate, the clear consensus seems to be that that the ideal approach is to strike a balance between literature and phonics. Neither "phonics" nor "whole language" in isolation is a sufficient teaching tool. Teachers clearly need to use both approaches beginning at the youngest of ages. The relationship between speech sounds and the alphabet, i.e., phonics is key, but reading good literature is also important. At this point, most of the research and discourse seems to be about exactly how and when phonics gets implemented into a reading curriculum.  One of the issues I see in the language/phonics debate, is the question of what to teach first—which is the “whole” and which is the “part.” It seems to me that there is almost a “chicken and egg” issue involved. In any case, I think that my original thesis that a combined and balanced approach is best, but I think that what is paramount for educators and parents alike, is to awaken and develop the child's joy of learning by encouraging their imagination and curiosity.