Way to go, Joy! I was stunned when I read the Sticht review, which I believe said there wasn't any research to back up the need for phonemic awareness and phonics instruction!! Kruidenier recently edited the IDA journal and cited PLENTY of research like that you quoted.
Sticht needs to see my young adult students who did not receive such instruction when they were young and have had their lives damaged possibly irreparably. It's not that they can't learn to read now with appropriate alphabetics instruction, they are learning. But, the hell their lives have been up to now will be hard to make up for. I see the victims of this strict whole language mindset every day. Whole language has wonderful qualities to offer to reading instruction, but those who need decoding instruction must get it. I can't understand how strict whole language teachers explain those who fail to learn--I imagine it's blamed on the students.
Jo Ann


----- Original Message ----
From: Joy Hunder <joy.hunder at losttech.com>
To: The Learning Disabilities Discussion List <learningdisabilities at nifl.gov>
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2008 9:38:45 PM
Subject: [LearningDisabilities 2170] Re: Fwd: Whole Language, Phonics, Adult Reading Instruction


30 Years of Research:
What We Now Know
About How Children Learn to Read
http://theroadtoemmaus.org/RdLb/21PbAr/Ed/30yr_phn.htm 
  
A synthesis of research on reading from the National Institute
of Child Health and Human Development commissioned by The Center for the
Future of Teaching and Learning with funding support from the Pacific Bell
Foundation. 
Bonita Grossen 
Research Associate with The National Center to Improve the Tools of
Educators; 
  
  
"Adults with reading problems exhibit the same
characteristics that are exhibited by children with reading problems.  
Lack of phonemic awareness seems to be a major obstacle to learning to read
(Vellutino & Scanlon, 1987a; Wagner & Torgeson, 1987).  This is true
for any language, even Chinese. 
Explicit instruction in how segmentation and blending are involved in the
reading process was superior to instruction that did not explicitly teach
the children to apply phonemic awareness to reading (Cunningham, 1990). " 
  
Maybe just better tools than what is being used for adults. 
  
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:09:36 EDT, RKenyon721 at aol.com wrote: 
Hi all, 
  
My thanks to Tom Sticht for his excellent review of two approaches that our  subscribers have often discussed - whole language and phonics methods.   This gives us a more comprehensive understanding and also includes some useful  references. 
  
I appreciate the contributions that Tom Sticht makes to the field. 
  
  
Rochelle 
  
  
Rochelle Kenyon, Ed.D.
Moderator, NIFL/LINCS Learning  Disabilities Discussion List
Center for Literacy Studies at the University of  Tennessee
RKenyon721 at aol.com 
321.637.1319 
 
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August 22,  2008

Whole  Language and Phonics Methods in Adult Reading  Instruction

Tom Sticht
International  Consultant in Adult Education

Shortly after the turn of the century, Huey  (1968/1908) published his classic volume on The Psychology and Pedagogy of  Reading. In it he pointed out that "The methods of learning to read that are in  common use to-day may be classed as alphabetic, phonic, phonetic, word,  sentence, and combination methods."  Eight years later, Klapper (1914)  published a book in which he presented a classification system for methods of  teaching reading. In his system he created two divisions, one for the Synthetic  Methods and the other for the Analytic Methods.

As Synthetic Methods,  Klapper included the Alphabetic, Phonic, and Phonetic
methods. In the  classification system that Jeanne Chall (1967) developed, these methods would be  called those of a "code emphasis" and the contemporary term would be  "alphabetics."  These methods consider the teaching of reading as  essentially a means of "decoding" the written text to recover a spoken message  which is then comprehended as usual. In these methods parts of speech sounds are  associated with the letters of the alphabet, and then with written syllables and  then with words in a synthesis of parts into wholes.

As Analytic Methods,  Klapper included the Word Basis and Thought Basis. Under the Thought Basis  method he included the Sentence Unit and the Story Unit. In Jeanne Chall’s  classification system, the Analytic Methods would be called "meaning emphasis"  and the contemporary term would be "whole language." These methods consider the  teaching of reading as essentially a means of "meaning making" and consider the  written text as a guide for the learner to use in constructing the meaning the  author has in mind. The meaning making process serves as an aid to learning to  decode the written language in a whole to part analysis  process.

Throughout the 20th century, both Synthetic and Analytic methods  of teaching
reading have been favored by different adult literacy educators.  Among the major, pioneering, adult literacy educators favoring the Synthetic,  "code," or alphabetics methods are Harriet A. Jacobs (1987/1861), J. Duncan  Spaeth (1919)  and Frank Laubach (1947, 1960). Those favoring the Analytic,  "meaning making ," or whole language methods include Cora Wilson Stewart (1922),  Paul Witty (1947,1943), Septima Poinsette Clark (1962,1986), and Ruth Colvin  (1992).

Interestingly, what might be called an early "mini-war" between a  whole language and a phonics advocate took place during World War I. In this  "war," Cora Wilson Stewart, who favored whole language (word or sentence)  methods provided guidance to J. Duncan Spaeth, an alphabetics devotee, in his  preparation of the first edition (1918) of the Camp Reader for American  Soldiers. This was a Reader used for teaching illiterate, poorly literate, or  non-English speaking soldiers how to read and write English. In this Reader  Spaeth acknowledged the contributions of Stewart. Indeed, he followed the  example of using sight words at the beginning of a lesson,
followed by  reading sentences that included the words. This followed the whole language  method used by Stewart.

But Spaeth deviated from Stewart’s strict whole  language method and followed the reading of sentences with what he called a  "sound drill," a version of phonics in which the sounds of the letters in the  words used in the sentences were taught. In his instructions to teachers Spaeth  provided just one page of guidance on the word, sentence, and phonics  methods.  However, in the revised edition (1919) of the Camp Reader, Spaeth  dropped acknowledgements of Stewart’s contributions and wrote an extensive  teacher’s manual in the first part of the Reader that taught the
alphabetics  of reading instruction, and he included an appendix on how to teach non-English  speakers, too. He then went on to make combined use of whole language and  extensive phonics instruction right from the first lesson of the Reader to its  end.

An interesting joining together of phonics and whole language  advocates came about in 2001. That year two of the oldest and largest volunteer  literacy organizations in the United States – Laubach Literacy International  founded by Dr. Frank C. Laubach in 1955, and Literacy Volunteers of America,  founded in 1962 by Ruth Colvin- signed a memorandum of understanding that merged  the two organizations into one called ProLiteracy Worldwide. Laubach was  strongly committed to an a synthetic (phonics, alphabetics) method and indeed he  devoted considerable time to developing alphabets for peoples so they could  encode their oral language into a written language for communication by writing  and reading.

Writing in her book entitled A Way With Words (1992), Ruth  Colvin said: "LVA
is now committed to basing its training on whole language  theory, where all parts of language – listening, speaking, reading, writing and  comprehension – are integrated in lessons." (p. 36). Today, ProLiteracy  Worldwide provides materials through its New Readers Press that appear on  examination to support both phonics and whole language approaches which tutors  can use in either separate or integrated methods depending upon the tutor’s  understanding of their learners needs.

Very little research has been  found bearing on the relative effectiveness of alphabetics-based versus whole  language-based adult literacy education. However, Bowen (1990) presented pre-  and post-test data for 23 literacy programs in Illinois in 1988. The programs  included four LVA programs, six Laubach Literacy Action programs and 13  "eclectric" programs. The results were comparable for all the programs with no  one approach appearing to produce more gain than another.

Today, the  teaching of adult reading by either the alphabetics or whole language approaches  appears to be supported by the differences in professional wisdom of a number of  pioneers in the field of adult literacy education.  Scientific research to  support one or another approach to adult reading instruction has not been  found.

References

Bowren, F. et al. (1990, April). An Evaluation  of Reading Gains Within Illinois literacy Projects: FY 88. Illinois: Secretary  of State, State Librarian. [see data from this study in Sticht, T. &  Armstrong, W. (1994, February). Adult Literacy in the United States: A  Compendium of Quantitative Data and Interpretive Comments. Washington, DC:  National Institute for Literacy. Online at  http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/adlitUS/adlitus.pdf]

Colvin, R. (1992). A Way  With Words. Syracuse, NY: Literacy Volunteers of
America,  Inc.

Laubach, F. (1947). Teaching the World to Read. NY: Friendship  Press.

Laubach, F. & Laubach, R. (1960). Toward World Literacy: The  Each One Teach
One Way. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University  Press.

Sticht, T. (2005) Seven Pioneering Adult Literacy Educators in the  History of Teaching Reading With Adults in the United States. [see this report  for the other references included in this note. Online  at
http://www.nald.ca/library/research/sticht/feb05/seven.pdf]

Thomas  G. Sticht
International Consultant in Adult Education
Email: tsticht at aznet.net

  




________________________________
 It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. Joy Hunder
Lost Technology
http://literacypod.com
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