Teacher Challenges Overuse of Phonics
Recently, Maurice Wolfthal, an experienced teacher and librarian, wrote an article for the Arizona Republic newspaper on the issue of phonics education.
He starts out, pointing up the ethical problems that have marked and marred the No Child Left Behind Act--the quintessential government act that makes intensive phonics the law of the land. The problems include a whole range of serious questions about the selection of contractors and publishers (those who receive the money).
But his criticisms extend far beyond administrative misuse. He challenges the entire approach, saying, "intensive phonics promises much more than it delivers."
He states that phonics is besieged by problems because it "relies on two flawed assumptions. The first is that written English is a phonetic language, and therefore readily accessible through phonics. Instead, like many others before him, he points out that "phonics is a very imperfect guide to sounds."
To illustrate his point, he raises questions such as
How does phonics differentiate the first sound of "thin" from "this"?
How is the vowel sound to be decoded in "move," "love," "more," and "gone"?
How does phonics distinguish the first sound in "apple" from that of "appear"?
The second flawed assumption is believing that comprehension will emerge as a result of decoding letters and re-encoding them into sounds enough times until the brain finally recognizes the word ...." The dismal showing in comprehension from the latest No Child Left Behind results shows this not to be the case.
Still and all he does not say that phonics should be eliminated. Instead, he concludes "All of which is not to say that phonics should not be taught. But its utility is vastly overrated."
Nevertheless, his comments have evoked strong responses from phonics adherents. As typically occurs, any argument to strengthen the base of reading instruction is viewed as an enemy assault. And as usually occurs, no evidence is offered to show Mr.Wolfthal's ideas are invalid. Phonics adherents simply assert --with a kind of religious fervor-- that traditional phnics has to be THE route to teaching.
So, the READING WARS continue with millions of children still spending unproductive hours "on boring drills and continuous testing" that fail to move them into the realm of effective reading.
For more information, you can go to
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/07/13/20080713edreadfirst0713wolfthal.html#comments
In addition, to view the response of the chief government official in charge of No Child Left Behind, you can go to
http://ednews.org/articles/27246/1/Response-by-Reid-Lyon-to-Use-of-phonics-overrated-as-way-to-learn-to-read/Page1.html
