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Ψ The "reading Wars" pit advocates of phonics against advocates of the whole-language approach.
Ψ Phonics: Teaching reading by training beginners to associate letters with their sound values.
Ψ The philosophy underlying the Whole Language approach is that reading is a natural process, much like learning to speak, & that children exposed to a great deal of authentic, connected text will naturally become literate without much in the way of explicit instruction in the rules & conventions of printed text.
Ψ Answer: Use both!
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Ψ FYI:
• Greenough & Black (1992) distinguish
between two aspects of the environmentally dependent maturational processes of the brain. They describe one aspect as experience-expectant, that is, development that will not happen unless a particular experience occurs during its critical period. Talking is experience-expectant.
• The other aspect of brain maturation has been termed experience-dependent. Experience-dependent processes generate new synapses in response to environmentally determined experiences, which vary between individuals. Reading & writing are experience-dependent.
• Neuroscientists have divided synaptogenesis (the growth of new synapses) into two major categories. Category 1, is experience expectant plasticity, which is characterized by learning that occurs species-wide & within predictable periods. Category 2, is experience dependent plasticity, which is not constrained by age or time but does require relatively high degrees of motivation & effort to master. This latter type of learning is undertaken by pre-schools & schools & requires a structured curriculum & regular, specific feedback.
• Critical periods apply to the development of certain abilities, but not others. The brain plasticity that occurs during critical periods – enabling the development of abilities such as vision, hearing, & the capacity for language – has been called “experience-expectant,” because it is responsive to stimuli that are so common in human life that they are practically guaranteed to be available (Greenough, 1987). Yet, because of experience-expectant development, when health problems such as cataracts occur during the critical period for the development of vision, or when chronic ear infections occur during the critical period for the development of hearing, the child may not develop normal sensory abilities. The critical timing issues associated with experience-expectant development of the brain are one of the most important reasons that children require early, prompt & timely access to health services when developmental problems are detected.
• For other abilities – such as the ability to learn a new language, to improve our native language vocabulary, or to learn a musical instrument – the window of opportunity appears to remain open for a longer period of time if not throughout a person’s life. This type of brain plasticity has been called “experience dependent.” It is responsive to experiences that are not necessarily present in everyday life (Greenough, 1987), but that instead depend on an individual’s unique life circumstances.
Growth & Development
Robert C. Gates
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