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Whole Language Approach

Page history last edited by Sarah Ruff 12 years, 4 months ago

Whole Language Approach

 

 

Definition

 

Whole Language Approach is a fairly recent professional theory within the realm of foreign language teaching and learning. It is related to “whole contexts, real purposes, and the belief that language is incidental to the purpose” (Louton & Louton, 1992). Advocates of this theory believe that language is learned best when the whole is taught first and the parts (i.e. phonemic sounds, vocabulary lists, morphemes, etc.) are understood later (Freeman & Freeman, 1992; Goodman, 1993). Whole language emphasizes sense-making or meaning-making of a whole text rather than concentrating on the small parts that make up a text. When students understand the general idea of a given text, they are better able to deal with analyzing the parts. Additionally, whole language emphasizes the creative construction of language and communication as between a novice and an expert rather than emphasizing “uniform, routinized, and unauthentic speech” (Adair, 1996).

 

Goodman (1986) argues that literacy develops from “whole to part, from vague to precise, from gross to fine, from highly contextualized to more abstract, from familiar contexts to unfamiliar” (p. 41). He explains that language learners must be able to construct meaning during reading, using their prior learning and experience to make sense of text (p. 40). He also notes that literacy develops in response to personal/social needs and that motivation for learning is therefore intrinsic (p. 42). Krashen (2002) notes that the term "whole language" does not only refer to providing interesting comprehensible texts and helping children understand less comprehensible texts, but also involves instilling a love of literature, problem-solving and critical thinking, collaboration, authenticity, personalized learning, and much more.

 

 From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kic9BFW540

 

 

What does the Whole Language Approach look like in the classroom?

 

A classroom that implements Whole Language looks quite different from a traditional language learning environment. To begin, as Goodman asserts, language is learned best when it is socially constructed (1986). Therefore, a whole language classroom will show students being viewed as a community of learners (see Cooperative Learning), with learning taking place through a diversity of “social interactions, modes, times, shapes, and formats that maximize the various resources available to schools” (Schwarzer, 2003). Students, as they interact with each other and the teacher, will share information, ask questions, solve problems, and reflect on their understanding (Fountas & Hannigan, 1989).  Additionally, whole language advocates believe that language is learned best when it is “developmentally constructed because it is a developmental process” (Schwarzer). This means that learners will make their own hypotheses when constructing meaning out of a text. Sometimes these attempts are wrong, but as Piaget asserts (1971), errors are an important and crucial part of the learning process. Learning can be viewed as a “guessing game” (Goodman, 1993), wherein students make meaning through taking risks, predicting, and self-correcting.

 

In the following video, a teacher is shown giving a lesson on the drafting process to her 2nd/3rd grade class. She utilizes the Whole Language Approach, demonstrated by her students acting as a community in an attempt to create meaning out of her lesson. The children have the opportunity to try out the language and make predictions or guesses, and she encourages this because she understands what Piaget has said about errors. This is of course only one example of what a Whole Language lesson can look like and is specific to elementary settings, but a teacher of any age and content area can extract valuable examples of what Whole Language looks like here.

 

From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d-Ho_QRy2w&feature=related

 

 

Why do teachers need to know about the Whole Language Approach?

 

Whole Language can be greatly beneficial to both students learning to read in their first language as well as students developing literacy skills in a target language. Children naturally acquire their first language at home, not in bits in pieces, but in streams of functional language. Teachers, therefore, need to keep language whole and involve students in using it functionally and purposefully to meet their own needs (Goodman, 1986). In order to do this, teachers need to rid their classroom of carefully sequenced grammar handbooks and vocabulary intense textbooks. Instead, Goodman argues, teachers ought to invite their pupils to use the language- get them to talk about things they need to understand. Show them it is okay to ask questions and ask them to write about their personal experiences. Language learners should be encouraged to not only read for information, but to simply enjoy a good story. These principles tie into a child's natural language acquisition, so learning becomes as easy in school as out.

 

What makes language very easy or very hard? (from Goodman, 1986):

This list shows that by implementing whole language, learning becomes more pleasant and more FUN for both students and teachers!

 

 

How does the Whole Language Approach affect my students?

 

As mentioned above, using Whole Language can make learning much more enjoyable for students than traditional drilling exercises and rote memorization. Students have the opportunity to engage in many activities they would not otherwise encounter, such as reading real-life literature like children's books, short novels, autobiographies, and other reading materials not specifically written for a language class (Liaw, 2001). Additionally, students attempts their own interpretations and hypotheses while appropriating the new concepts they are trying to learn. Because errors are valued (Piaget), students will feel more comfortable with taking risks. Moreover, students who may struggle with traditional assessments may find they have more success in a whole language classroom. Because Whole Language teachers believe that both process and product are important (Schwarzer), alternate forms of assessment are encouraged, such as portfolios, anecdotal records, or even "kidwatching" tools (Goodman). Students therefore have more opportunities to show what they have learned.

 

The Whole Language Approach can be particularly beneficial to students of non-spoken languages such as Latin. Although there are a number of teachers trying to implement oral activities with the goal of communicative competence, biliteracy is essentially the primary goal in Latin education. As a result, teachers often focus heavily on grammar pieces (such as the endings on nouns and verbs) and vocabulary memorization. This can of course turn into pure memorization, and students are left with meaningless chunks of language with which they are unable to construct anything relevant or even interesting to their own lives. Whole Language, on the other hand, gives Latin teachers the opportunity to present holistic material to their students in a way that will enrich their learning experience. Students will then learn to extract meaning not from isolated morphemes and vocabulary words, but from full texts.

 

Image from http://funteachingfun.webs.com/chomskygoodman.htm

 

 

Further reading about Whole Language Approach

 

Adair-Hauck, B. (1996). Practical whole language strategies for secondary and university-level FL students. Foreign Language Annals, 29, (2), 253-262.

 

Fountas, I., & Hannigan, I. (1989). Makng sense of Whole Language: The pursuit of informed teaching. Childhood Education, 65 (3), 133-137.

 

Freeman, Y.S., & Freeman, D. (1998). ESL/EFL teaching: Principles for success. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books, Inc.

 

Goodman, K.S. (1986). What’s whole in whole language? Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books, Inc.

 

Goodman, K.S. (1993). Phonics phacts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books, Inc.

 

Krashen, S. (2002). Defending whole language: the limits of phonics instruction and the efficacy of whole language instruction. Reading Improvement, 39 (1), 32-42.

 

Liaw, M. L. (2001). Exploring literary responses in an EFL classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 34(1), 35-45.

 

Louton, Z.E., & Louton, R.E. (1992). Flesh out your FLES program: Developmental sequencing on teaching units. (Report No. F1 022 473) ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. Ed 375 636

 

Piaget, J. (1971). Science of education and the psychology of the child. New York: Viking.

 

Schwarzer, D. (2003). A qualitative assessment of a foreign language whole language class. Foreign Language Annals,  36 (1), 77-85.

 

 

 

 

Comments (5)

Margarita Malpica said

at 11:41 am on Nov 16, 2011

Sarah,
I agree with the whole language approach of engaging students in meaningful activities that involve communication with peers. I think this is great way to support English language learners because it lowers the affective filter and it makes learning interesting.
Nice videos and pictures!

Adam Schwartz said

at 10:34 pm on Nov 16, 2011

Sarah, this is a beautiful page. Something to remember: In text citations (parens) must be alphabetized and will use ampersands (i.e. Freeman & Freeman before Goodman). Your links are very handy and appropriate, particularly under the classroom-related subtitles. I also really like how you strategically alternate between your text and video/visuals (it is clear you also chose these very carefully, and their positioning/content really work well here).

I really enjoyed watching a lesson of whole language teaching in action. Could you "set this up" for the reader with a bit of text prior? What do you know about this classroom, teacher, age group, level? Does WL always involve draft writing, or is this just one mode of instruction? This is all good contextual information for random visitors to this site.

mbflowers@... said

at 11:24 pm on Nov 17, 2011

Sarah, Great job on this page!!!! It's very clear and understandable.

C. Danielle Goldsby said

at 5:36 pm on Nov 22, 2011

Sarah, I truly enjoyed reading your page. It perfectly articulate whole language approach in a way that I left wanting to use it. I liked your ending note about Latin. I think this would be a great compromise for the Latin classroom. It really does allow the goal of bi-literacy to be reached without having to focus on the individual morphemes. After reading through your Wiki, I plan to research this topic more and avidly push for it to be used in my Latin classroom. Thank you!

C. Danielle Goldsby said

at 5:37 pm on Nov 22, 2011

articulates*

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