A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE ON WHOLE LANGUAGE

Whole Language (WL) is impacting reading education and causing some teachers to significantly change their instructional procedures. While instructional twists and turns contribute vitality to classroom procedures, a philosophical change which could possibly impinge negatively on students’ reading abilities demands scrutiny. Although WL is a popular topic at conferences and in journals, the treatment is usually descriptive rather than evaluative. WL speakers and writers have formed emotional attachments to this philosophy, and they enthusiastically present things to do in classrooms. However, ebullience does not preclude the obligation of academics, curriculum decision makers, and teachers to transcend emotionalism to examine research, particularly experimental evidence, as they form value judgements. The purpose of this article is to raise reading educators’ conscience levels to the necessity of objectively appraising the WL instructional philosophy in relation to what is known about reading methodology. “A critical perspective on whole language” is meant to be catalytic.