CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
2.5 Methods of teaching literacy
2.5.2 The whole language method
Different scholars view and describe the whole language method instruction differently. For instance, Bhola (1994) describes it as a great leap from the
word method to sentence method, to paragraph method and finally to whole- language. Anna Cresswell (cited in Bhola 1994, p.82) also describes it in the following words:
It is not a programme, it is not a big book, it is not how you
rearrange the desks in your classroom... It is a mindset, an attitude...
it is truly integrated language arts. It is a way of viewing language as a whole, speaking, listening, reading and writing. It is a method
where the students are given engaging books and are encouraged to guess the words that they do not know by considering the context of the sentence or by looking for clues in the story lines and illustrations.
Hence the whole language method of instruction as described in Lyster (1992 b), Rayner et al (2002) and Bhola (1994) is associated with the following central tenets:
i) Rules of phonics should not be taught directly, rather connection between letters and sounds should be learnt incidentally through exposure to the text
ii) Students should not be corrected when making errors in reading words because learning to read just like learning to speak is natural and children can teach themselves how to do it
iii) Letter-sound patterns are too irregular and cannot therefore be transferred. Hence, students must be offered engaging books and are encouraged to guess the words that they do not know by considering the context of the sentence or by looking for clues in the story lines and illustrations rather than sounding them out
iv) Learning to read uses as many non-visual cues as possible v) Letter-sound correspondences are not regular and hence, the
production of sound does not provide any meaning to the beginner reader,
vi) Reading is a psychoanalytic guessing game
The proponents of the method argue that it makes reading instruction
enjoyable, leads to a meaningful reading and encourages the development of
other reading strategies. It promotes thoughtful reading habits and attitudes among the learners. Meek (1988, cited in Harrison 1992) stresses this point and argues that the readers must value, enjoy and in some senses possess the books they read. What this implies is that teaching must be interactive and teachers must set a learning environment in which their role is seen as facilitators and mediators (Stephens 1991). This links very well with the research findings presented by Pearson and Stephens (1998) in which reading is considered to be a social process, meaning making and collaborative
venture.
However, the critics of the whole language method argue that it puts too much strain on the learners who are expected to remember lots of visual information at once. According to them, the method only suits middle class kids and disadvantages slow learners. By emphasizing whole-word/language and not word components, the method tends to produce poor spellers as noted earlier by Rayner et al (2002). The method is complicated and requires high level of teacher commitment and skill for it to realize the intended goals.
A critical analysis of the conformist and liberation approaches to teaching seems to suggest that the teachers who tend to employ the phonic method fall within the characteristics of the conformist approach while those who employ the whole language method fall within the characteristics of the liberation approach. The characteristics of the two approaches to teaching have been described by Rogers (1996) and summarized as shown in Figure 2 below.
Figure 2. Two approaches to teaching
^Conformist7
Make student participant (S) like teacher (T) 1. There is an external reality towards which S must fit. (Subject discipline).
Truth is known
2. S can't be trusted to pursue own learning; T takes initiative
3. Presentation = learning 4. Material exists on its own, independent of both T and S
5. Process of education is to accumulate brick upon brick of factual knowledge - progression of subject is externally set 6. Constructive and creative citizens develop from passive learners
7. Evaluation by T of S's learning is necessary part of learning
8. Cognitive learning can take place without affecting rest of person 9. Learning is once-off experience and need not be repeated
"Liberation'
Make student participant (S) independent of teacher (T)
1. There is no externally Yight' way of behaving. Truth is not known
2. Human beings have a natural potential for learning; S takes self-initiative
3. Most significant learning acquired through doing
4. Significant learning takes place when subject-mater is perceived by S as having relevance for his or her own purpose
5. There is no set sequence of learning;
S engages with material in his or her own way and in own sequence
6. Creativity in learning depends on direct active involvement in learning process; S participates responsibly in learning process
7. Learning is best achieved when self- criticism and self evaluation are primary;
evaluation by others is of secondary importance
8. Learning that involves whole person - feelings as well as intellect - is most pervasive and lasting
9. The most useful learning in the modern world is learning how to leam; a continuing openness to experience and an incorporation of the progress of change into oneself are necessary goals of education
Source: Rogers (1986, p. 19)
Hence, a quick look at the differences between the two approaches in the above table, especially the first, second, third and fourth points suggests that the phonic method is conformist while the whole language is liberationist. The conformist approach makes learners dependent on the teacher who instructs them to follow the rules of learning how to read, while the liberationist
approach tries to make learners independent of the teacher since they believe that there is no set sequence of learning and the learner only needs to
engage with materials in his/her own way, pace and sequence.