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Minola Grent

Managing Editor

You are reading this. But can you really read? Much of our ability not only to read but to process and understand the words, sentences, and paragraphs is intricately linked with how we learned to read. Since the 1940s, experts cannot settle on which of the two methods is the best, in what Lexia Learning calls “reading wars.”

On one hand, the traditional phonics method is deemed best by some. This one involves sounding out or decoding words using knowledge of the alphabet. For example, to read “dog”, the learner would piece together the individual sounds the letters “D,” “O,” and “G” make to obtain the full word. It is known as a bottom-up approach, meaning you start small and simple to build your way up the complexity ladder.

On the other hand, others prefer the whole language method introduced in the 1800s by Horace Mann, but popularized from the 1940s to the 1960s. The whole language approach teaches “children to memorize the appearance of words instead of teaching them to decode the letters,” explains Lexia Learning. This means that instead of learning that “D” + “O” + “G” spells out “dog,” they memorize what the word “dog” looks like. It is a top-down approach.

Whole language emphasizes meaning first, explaining that harping on spelling and phonics distracts children from the definition of the words behind the letters. This method pushes learners to use context clues to understand the word. Phonics, true to its bottom-up approach, holds that meaning can easily be grafted later on and that sounding out words better equips children in unfamiliar contexts.

In 1955, Rudolph Felsch released a scorching critique of America’s shift into whole language in the form of a book called “Why Johnny Can’t Read,” says EBSCO’s Research Starters page. Next, Jeanne Chall published her own conclusions in 1967 after 3 years of research in her book “Learning to Read: The Great Debate.” She found that phonics yielded better results across beginner readers and particularly in children of lower social and economic standing that had limited access to resources. Lexia Learning summarizes her findings saying that “a child must first learn to read before he can read to learn.” Essentially, the explicit reading instructions provided by phonics as opposed to whole language were more successful, with no compromised comprehension.

Despite whole language being dragged by scientists, it also has its advantages. For example, English Lessons explains that this approach “promotes learning with understanding.” It fosters a true love and appreciation for reading and encourages vocabulary curiosity naturally rather than artificially through memorization. Over time, “learners see how reading and writing express ideas, emotions, and imagination—skills that go far beyond basic decoding,” says English Lessons.

Ultimately, as long as children learn to read, does the teaching method really matter? Well… It does. Learning is an individual process that cannot simply be reduced to method A or method B. Whether phonics or whole language is better isn’t easily determinable, as each child will require a unique combination of both to succeed. This is known as “balanced literacy.”

Unfortunately, each teacher applies the method differently, adding their own spin on things. Since there is no such thing as a universal understanding of balanced literacy, its success is very inconsistent.

The field of reading is a complex one to study. Given the wide array of subjects it covers, such as educational psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, and literacy, no helping hand is to be disregarded. The next step is building a solid standardized program that can teach children with structure. According to the 2000 National Reading Panel Report, there are five critical aspects to reading instructions: phonemic awareness (the oral and auditory manipulation of sounds), phonics (the auditory and visual manipulation of sounds), fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. With these guidelines in place, it has become increasingly easy to standardize teaching reading. Later, the International Dyslexia Association introduced the term “Structured Literacy,” focusing on teaching the inner workings of language.Teaching is a form of parenting and no parenting works without adaptability. The key to raising successful readers is not to stick to a single method from beginning to end, but rather to try to understand what works. Learning to read works better in one-on-one scenarios, allowing the provider to understand the child’s needs and responses. The more recent methods mentioned above seem to work better because they mix phonics and whole language.

“When adults will be ready to stop trying to pick sides and come to a compromise for the good of children, we will have a terrific generation of readers.”