Teaching reading: whole language and phonics

Phonics emphasizes the alphabetic principle – the idea that letters (graphemes) represent the sounds of speech (phonemes). It is taught in a variety of ways, some are systematic and others are non-systematic. Phonics approaches include synthetic phonics, analytic phonics, analogy phonics, and embedded phonics with mini-lessons. It is taught in many countries.

• Systematic phonics is not one specific type of phonics instruction; rather the term refers to several phonics approaches that are taught directly, explicitly and in a structured, systematic manner. They are systematic because the letters and the sounds they relate to are taught using a specific sequence and methodology, as opposed to incidentally or on a "when needed" basis. Systematic phonics is supported by several major studies and used in many countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom and some parts of the United States. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

• Analytic phonics has students analyze the connection between letters and their sounds, but does not use blending. [6]
• Analogy phonics is a sub-set of analytic phonics in which students analyze phonic elements according to the speech sounds in words. [7]
• Embedded phonics with mini-lessons is the type of phonics instruction used in some whole language programs. [8]
• Synthetic phonics teaches students to read by sounding out the letters then blending the sounds to form the word. It is reguired by law to be used in all (local-authority-maintained) primary schools in England. [9]

Whole language has the reputation of being a meaning-based method of teaching reading that emphasizes literature and text comprehension. It discourages any significant use of phonics, if at all. Students are taught to use context and pictures to "guess" words they do not recognize, or even just skip them and read on.

As of 2020, "Whole language" appears to be still used in many parts of the US and Canada. However, in many other countries, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, it has lost favor or been abandoned because it does not appear to be supported by evidence. [10] [11]

Balanced literacy is not well defined, however it is intended as a method that combines elements of both phonics and whole language. While some profess to use balanced literacy, it has received criticism from researchers and others suggesting that, in many instances, it is merely whole language by another name. [12] [13] [14]

Specific concerns are expressed by critics such as neuroscientist Mark Seidenberg who state that struggling readers should not be encouraged to skip a challenging word, nor rely on pictures or semantic and syntactic cues, to "guess at" a challenging word. Instead, they should use evidence-based decoding methods such as systematic phonics. [15] [16] [17]