Responding to a message by Dan, to Charles on ...
DT>These articles were written by by people who are against Whole Language.  
DT>The reason some of the groups you cited exist is to combat the inclusion 
DT>of Whole Language in the schools.  Yet when I read articles in 
DT>professional journals and when I go back and read the text book on whole 
DT>language, when I go to work shops on whole language, none of what the 
DT>opponents of WL are saying is being taught.  
I understand.
DT>I'll get into more about these groups later as I uncover their hidden 
DT>agenda (Such as the Action Reading people you mentioned....they have a 
DT>stake in all this controversy and it is a bit self-serving).
Uncovering their agendas won't really impress me very much - many people 
who have a bias still have legitimate points to make.  I *WOULD* be 
impressed with articles citing (describing) research in which children 
taught using whole language programs have excelled in reading, 
especially if they are on the same scale as the results from Great 
Britain or California.
DT>Then ALL of these authors don't have a real understanding of WL.  They 
DT>are simply commenting on what they have seen in their respective school 
DT>districts which was, I would guess, literacy programs in the name of WL 
DT>which were anything but.
Much of what I have read suggests that the devotion of whole language 
theorists to their program is remarkable, especially given the lack of 
credible evidence that the process can be made to work on a large scale. 
 I continue to marvel that you would suggest that *ALL* of those who 
disagree with you are wrong, but that you are right in defining whole 
language.
DT>The concepts contained in WL are research based.  One such concept is 
DT>the psycholinguistic view of the reading process.  I mentioned this in 
DT>my original post.
And two of the articles I posted soundly refuted that claim, including 
one which quoted a study by the American Federation of Teachers, which 
noted that no such credible research exists.  And as noted in the 
article I posted, "What is Whole Language?", 
     "Psycholinguistics is a relatively new branch of science which
     studies the psychology and physical development of oral language
     in young children.  It does not deal in any direct way with
     reading acquisition."
Chuck Beams
Fidonet - 1:2608/70
cbeams@future.dreamscape.com
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* UniQWK #5290* "My God," exclaimed the tagline, "I'm in the wrong joke!
--- Maximus 2.01wb
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