Table Of Content

DOCUMENT RESUME CS 011 581 ED 366 905 AUTHOR Smith, Carl B., Comp. Whole Language: The Debate. TITLE ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and INSTITUTION Communication, Bloomington, IN. Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), SPONS AGENCY Washington, DC. REPORT NO ISBN-0-927516-39-X PUB DATE 94 CONTRACT RR93002011 405p.; Published with EDINFO Press. NOTE ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and AVAILABLE FROM Communication, Indiana University, 2805 E. 10th St., Smith Research Center, Suite 150, Bloomington, IN 47408-2698 ($24.95 plus shipping/handling). ERIC Clearinghouse Products Information Analyses PUB TYPE Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Books (010) (071) Papers, Essays, etc.) (120) MF01/PC17 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Annotated Bibliographies; Debate; *Educational DESCRIPTORS Research; Elementary Education; *Instructional Effectiveness; Literacy; Reading Instruction; Reading Teachers; Theory Practice Relationship; *Whole Language Approach Controversy; *Educational Issues IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT This book presents a debate between "reasonable" educators who either claim that there is evidence for the effectiveness of whole language, or who challenge the claim that whole language works across the broad spectrum of learners. The book presents the debate in the torm of formal debate resolutions. opening "statements," transcripts of a "face-to-face shoc*-out" at a convention of the National Reading Conference in San Antonio, Texas, further written responses, and commentary on the debate. Contents of the book are: "'And the Winner Is...!' The Context of the Debate" (Carl B. Smith); "Call Me Teacher" (Susan Ohanian); "Whole Language and Research: The Case for Caution" (Michael C. McKenna and others); "Moderator's Comments" (Carl B. Smith); "The Answer Is Yes..." (Patrick Shannon); "Unlike Patrick, We Do Accept Reality..." (Michael McKenna); "Who the Hell Are You?" (Susan Ohanian); "Let Us Not Permit Ourselves to Be Forced into Bitterly Polarized Positions..." (Richard Robinson); "Audience Participation" (moderated by Carl B. Smith); "People Who Live in Glass Houses..." (Patrick Shannon); "Emerging Perspectives on Whole Language" (Michael C. McKenna and others); "Whole Language: Now More Than Ever" (Shelley Harwayne); "Is Whole Language 'The Real Thing'? Advertisements and Research in the Debate on Whole Language" (Steven Stahl); "New Questions, Different Inquiries" (Jerome Harste); and "Commentary on the ERIC Wh-le Language Debate" (Michael Pressley). A selected, annotated bibliography of approximately 1,000 items from the ERIC database concerning whole language is included. (RS) %Ars - 0 a q U II DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION °Mice of Educational %march and Improvitment EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION :17 CENTER (ERIC) raproduc.ed as 0 This document has bean °ionization receivsyd from tha parson or originating it made to improve 0 Minor chanos have been nePrOduction Quality docu- Roods of vte* r opintens stated in this ' official ment do not necessarily rePIsent OERI position or policy OttirMlny AVau,im F Whole Language: The Debate moderated by Carl B. Smith oc..) ;t4 3 ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, EDINFO English, and Communication © 1994 by EDINFO Press Published by EDINFO Press and ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication Carl B. Smith, Director Smith Research Center, Suite 150 2805 East Tenth Street Bloomington, Indiana 47408-2698 Editor: Warren I,ewis Design and Production: David J. Smith Cover: David J. Smith Copyright © 1994 by Carl B. Smith. All rights reserved. This publication was funded in part by the Office of Educational Re- Department of Education, under contract search and Improvement. undertaking such projects under govern- no. RR93002011. Contractors freely their judgment in pro- ment sponsorship are encouraged to express fessional and technical matters. Points of view or opii lions, however, do opinions of the Office of not necessarily represent the official view or Educational Research and Improvement. 1,ibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data the debate / moderated by Cad B. Smith. Whole language : p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. $24.95 ISBN 0-927516-39-N : I. ReadingI 'nited States--1.anguage experience approach-- I. Smith, (:arl Bernard. Congresses. 1,B1050.3!1,W46 1994 93-3;86 ' (:1I' 4 hole Language: The Debate Contents Moderator's Introduction and Resolutions for Debate " "And the winner is: The Context of the Debate ix Carl B. Smith First Affirmative "Call Me Teacher" Susan Ohanian First Negative Whole Language and Research: The Case for Caution 17 Nlichacl C. NIckenna, Richard D. Robinson, John NV. NI iller The San-Antonio Shoot-out: National Reading Conference Proceedings (3 December 1992) 43 Moderator's Comments 44 Carl B. Smith, Jr. "The answer is yes 48 . Patrick Shannon .9 "Unlike Patrick, we do accept wality Nlichael NIcKenna "Who the hell are 'ou'!" 58 Susan Ohanian iv "Let us not permit ourselves to be forced into 62 bitterly polarized positions Richard Robinson 65 Audience Participation moderated by Carl 13. Smith Second Affirmative "People Who Live in Glass Houses 81 Patrick Shannon Second Negative Emerging Perspectives on Whole Lans:uage 101 Michael C. NIcKenna, Richard I). Robinson, John NV. Miller Erudite Commentary Whole Language: Now More Than E-oer 112 Shelley Flarwaync Is Whole Language "The Real Thing"? Advertisements and Research in the Debate on Whole Language 124 Steven Stahl New Questions, Different Inquiries 143 Jerome I larste Commentary on the ERIC Whole Language Debate 155 Nlichael Pressley The Whole Whole Language Debate: a select, annotated bibliography from the ERIC database 179 the speeters for Whale Language Susan Ohanian taught school hr 20 years at all levels, grade 1 through college, including high-school drop-outs. After being a staff writer for Learning Magazine for some years, she has now gone free-lance. Her award-winning articles have appeared in publications ranging from the Phi Delta Kappan, Education Week, and Atlantic, to Washington Monthly, College English, and USA Today. She is a member of the CEE Executive Committee of NCTE and of the I ntellectual Freedom Committee. She guests on radio talk shows because she thinks that "educators make a big mistake in talking only to each other and not to the public.- Patrick Shannon is Professor of Education at The Pennsylvania State niversity, State College, where he is Coordinator of t'ndergraduate I. Studies and Professor in Charge of Language and Literacy Education. I le is active on editorial boards of professional journals and in commit- tees of professional organizations, among others, the Teacher As Re- searcher Committee of the IRA, and the Reading Commission of NCTE. I Ie has demonstrated expertise in the fields of literacy, reading, and reading instruction; assessment and testing; and the social implications of His most telling work is being done in his paradigmatic education. revisioning of the socio-political agenda of education in America, address- ing questions of control in the educational enterprise, censorship, the rights and powers of teachers andtogether with their studentstheir ownership of education, and education for a democratic society. the speakers against Whole Language Michael McKenna is Professor of Education at Genrgia Southern University in Savannah. He is a member of the review boards of a num- ber of professional journals in Education, among tLem Journal of Read- He is a teacher of reading ing Behavior and The Reading Teacher. teachers, and his books and numerous research-based articles in scholnly journals are definitive. He is especially interested in the use of computers in reading, and he travels to South Africa to help with the literacy effort there. John Miller is Dean and Professor in the College of Education at FI(,rida State University, Tallahassee. He has been an elementary and a secondary school teacher, a university professor, and now he bears the burden of administration. His numerous assignments, pages of papers, and many awards have distinguished him as an authority on reading, com- prehension. reading instruction, teacher recruitment, use of technology in education, and school restructure. He works as a consultant, trou-ble- shooter, and innovator committed to improving the nation's schools and preparing more ethic-minority teachers to take up their work. Richard Robinson is Professor of Education in the College of Edu- cation at the I .niversitv of Missouri, Columbia, and he holds special re- sponsibility for Continuing Professional Education activities for the I le has also been an elemen- Department of Curriculum & Instruction. tary-school reading teacher, including teaching boys in prison. I lis areas of expertise are teaching reading and reading-teacher Mectiveness, reading in he content areas, analysis and correction of reading disabilities. and adult reading (ABE). His scholarship has been published widely in pro- kssional journals, from Beijing to Britain. Moderator's Introduction .1" "And the winner is The Context of the Debate Carl B. Smith Director, ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 9 Whole Language: The Debate First you must know that each side in this debate thinks that it has thoroughly trounced the other. My initial impulse is to cheer because the euphoria on both sides of this discussion resembles two pumped-up boxers waiting for the judges' decision after giving fight fans a toe-to-toe battle. 'Filen I begin to wonder about a war in which each side thinks that it has demolished the other. Were they actually on the same battlefield? Or did they kill each other off, and their spirits are now talking to us from the Other Side of the Wall, viewing these matters w:th dis- embodied equanimity, no longer burdened by political rhetoric? "l'hen I re-read our debate, snap back from the nether world, and realize that wc are hip-deep in political rhetoric on both sides. This particular face-off between Whole I,anguagc proponents and more traditional researchers was sparked when a writer from U.S. News and World Report called me up onc day asking for "evidence- of whether or not Whole Language works. Thereafter, wc generated a preliminary bibliography at ERIC/REC: contestants were picked, and they chose team mates; formal debate resolutions were exchanged, modified, and exchanged again; the first volleys were fired in print; next, the face-to- face shoot-out in San Antone (as editor Warren Lewis. a "('exan, likes to describe it) took place at a c)nvention of the National Reading Confer- ence in San Antonio, "l'exas, in December, 1992; that was followed by further written broadsides; and final victory w as declared at last by both sides in the concluding commentaries written by four vested parties. This is the best debate voll.ve ever reod: Both sides win! Evidence for Whole Language The key word in th:s debate is evidence, but even the idea of -e\ (knee- only unleashes the furies of today's educational politics. That's \11- almost ek er\ one in education w ill enjoy reaiing these pages. Policy asses- makers w ill find (11171(11111111 principles; administrators w ill find ment information; teachers w ill find guidelines for classroom actik ides. 1 0