Children Learning to Read

This paper compares and contrasts theories about how children learn to read and what methods are most effective for teaching reading. Literacy is an essential skill in contemporary society, and considerable research has been devoted to understanding how it is acquired. Yet experts still do not agree on the use of phonics, the rote memorization of rules, or a whole-language approach, in which complete immersion leads to the ability to read. Some argue for a combination of techniques but disagree on the relative proportions of each. Experts also disagree on how early to begin teaching reading and the content of the materials that ought to be presented during the early stages. This paper examines the writings of several different researchers in the field and compares the themes and theories of each.

The publication in 1955 of Rudolf Flesch's book, Why Johnny Can't Read, touched off a firestorm of controversy within the educational community. The book showed dramatically how the traditional methods of teaching reading had failed to teach a substantial portion of America's children.

Samuel L. Blumenfeld is one of the strongest critics of the whole-word method that was once the usual way of teaching children to read. He writes, "Not only does this method not teach the child to read, but it places almost insurmountable obstacles to his ever learning to read" (31). Flesch's groundbreaking book inspired a rising interest in phonics, and Blumenfeld is one of the technique's b

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ts of phonics are a more rudimentary set of ideas and are therefore a better place to begin than is the whole-language approach. The content of what is read is also a source of disagreement. Blumenfeld is highly critical of the classic "Dick and Jane" stories, arguing that their limited vocabulary "relies heavily on story interpretation to provide clues" to meaning that is conveyed using just 17 words to talk in detail about the lives of its main characters (36). He asks, "Why spend so much time on the life details of these fictional characters if the sole objective is learning to recognize seventeen words?" (41). He argues that context is important primarily to the extent that it helps to reinforce the phonics rules that the child is learning. Itzkoff suggests that context is more important. He writes, "Reading a story with a simple line of meaning and pictures to help with the context is a good way to begin instruction for sight recognition of words" (75). He dislikes the basal readers, with their formulaic content, arguing instead for true literature, which he defines as "books written at the appropriate age levels of the child but having genuine substance and art compared to the skill-building materials one finds in bas

Category: Psychology - C