What is the whole language approach
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Question: I have often heard of the use of the term ‘whole-language approach to reading’. What does it mean actually? How different is it from teaching to read using explicit phonics? Show Answer: ‘Whole language’ is an educational philosophy of which the ‘whole-language’ approach stems from a school of thought that children, in the learning of a language, is able to assimilate and understand the dichotomy of the language make-up through meaning making. It is often contrasted to acquisition of language through phonics. Whole language practioneers practice the belief in their teachings that learning a language needs to be contextualised and experiential. The difficulty level is secondary to a certain extent. This is quite unlike the learning of language through phonics. Practitioners of the latter believe that learning of a language needs to start right from the basics, where a strong foundation needs to be put in first. Phonics then acts like the ‘bricks’ to the house. Adding more ‘bricks’ then adds on more word count and knowledge. All said, the whole language philosophy is complex to describe as it is indicted to areas of sociology, psychology, linguistics etc. There are also critics to the approach as some experts in this area of academic learning feels that there is a limited body of scientific research. What is a concurring point for both phonics and whole language philosophy is that constant exposure, building familiarity and striking purposeful use of language are meaningful ways to make learning language constructive.  For more info, visit leapschoolhouse.com.sg If you find this article useful, do click Like and Share at the bottom of the post, thank you. Like what you see here? Get parenting tips and stories straight to your inbox! Join our mailing list here. Examples of whole language in a SentenceRecent Examples on the Web In schools of education — where future teachers are trained — some instructors fully support explicit phonics instruction, others still lean toward the whole language approach, or treat them equally. — Lelah Byron And Aimee Galaszewski, Journal Sentinel, 8 Sep. 2022 Less reliant on rote learning, the whole language approach has often been backed by progressives. — Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 June 2022 Advocates of whole language—and its wildly popular successor, balanced literacy—are generally opposed to direct, explicit instruction. — Natalie Wexler, Forbes, 12 Apr. 2022 At the time, schools were applying a literacy theory called whole language approach, which uses literature as a teaching tool and emphasizes learning through the context of words instead of breaking them down phonetically. — Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2022 The group settled on an approach that included whole language and phonics, a victory for Joseph. — Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2022 Advocates of the rival whole language approach, which means figuring out words from context or from being exposed to good literature, are in retreat, but have left many casualties. — Washington Post, 10 Oct. 2021 See More These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'whole language.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback. What is the meaning of whole language approach?Whole language is an approach to, or attitude toward. learning that sees language as a whole entity, and writing, speaking, reading, and listening should be integrated when learned.
How do you use the whole language approach?What is the whole language approach?. explicit teaching of decoding skills (how to break up a word to work out how it is pronounced). connecting the decoding of word/s to their meaning.. learning to read frequently used words that can't be sounded out or broken up into different sounds (the, were). |
