The Whole Language Approach 指導老師：陳怡真老師 報告學生：陳慧齡 班級：專四技應英四甲 學號： 897c0001

Background Created in the 1980s Often term to teaching of lieracy Whole language v.s Phonics

Whole language v.s Phonic WL: language should be taught as a “whole” focus on meaning and strategy instruction learning to read and write naturally real communication Phonics how to connect the sounds of spoken Englishwith letters or groups of letters emphasize instruction for decoding and spelling

Background 1990s － popularity as a motivating and innovative way of teaching language arts skills. ~“ If language isn’t kept whole, it isn’t language anymore” ~ by Rigg 1991:521

Approach: theory of language Views language organization from an interactional perspective. Example: “Apologizing ” Authenticity Engagement with the authors of written texts Conversation

Approach: theory of language Psycholinguistically - as a vehicle for: Internal “interaction” Egocentric speech Thinking

What makes language very easy or very hard to learn?

It’s easy when: real & natural whole pieces sensible interesting relevant belongs to the learner part f a real event has a purpose for the learner social utility value the learner chooses to use it accessible to the learner the learner has power to use it

It’s hard when: artificial broken into bits and pieces nonsense dull and uninteresting irrelevant belongs to somebody else out of the content no social value no discernible purpose imposed by someone else inaccessible the learner is powerless

Approach: the learning theory Humanistic Constructivist Authentic Personalized Self-directed Collaborative Pluralistic Knowledge is socially constructed, rather than received or discovered Create meaning Learn by doing Work collaboratively

Approach: the learning theory Teachers Works with student to create knowledge and understanding in their mutual social content. Do not focus on “cover the curriculum”. Focus on learners’ : Needs Experiences Interests Aspirations

Design: Objectives, syllabus, learning activities, roles of learners, teachers and materials Principles underlying the Design of WL: Use of authentic literature Focus on real and natural events Reading of real texts of high interest Reading for the sake of comprehension and real purpose Writing for a real audience Writing as a process through which learners explore and discover meaning

Design: Objectives, syllabus, learning activities, roles of learners, teachers and materials Principles underlying the Design of WL: Use of student-produced texts Integration of reading, writing and other skills Student centered learning Reading and writing in partnership Encouragement of risk taking, exploration and acceptance of errors

Design: Objectives, syllabus, learning activities, roles of learners, teachers and materials The Teacher Facilitator Teaches students and not subject matter. Looks for occurrence of teachable moments Creates a climate that supports collaborative learning The Learner Collaborator Evaluator Self-directed Selector of materials and activities

Design: Objectives, syllabus, learning activities, roles of learners, teachers and materials The Material ＊ “Real- World” rather than “Commercial Texts” ＊ to communicate with the reader Newspapers Signs Storybooks Handbills Workplace handouts Students produce their own materials

Design: Objectives, syllabus, learning activities, roles of learners, teachers and materials Classroom features: The use of literature The use of process writing Encouragement of cooperative learning among students Concern for students’ attitude Activities: Individual and small group reading and writing Ungraded dialogue journals Writing portfolios Writing conferences Student-made books Story writing

Conclusions The Whole Language movement is not a teaching method but an approach to learning that sees language as the whole entity.

Advantages Focuses on experience and activities. Authentic materials, more joyful and interesting. Facilitate language learning. Particularly useful for the younger learners in ESL environments.

Disadvantages Anti-direct teaching, anti-skills, and anti- materials. Ignore spellings and pronounces. Curriculum Failure. Ways of Evaluation.