Whole Language

Background

The Whole Language was created in the 1980s by a group of U.S. Educators. The Whole Language was found by BERGERON (1990).  The Whole Language movement argues that language should be taught as a “whole”. The Whole Language aims to help young children to read and write naturally with a focus on real communication, and to do these skills for pleasure.

Theory of Language and Learning

v Whole Language views language as a vehicle for human communication.

v Whole Language also views language psycholinguistically as a vehicle;

           - for internal interaction

              - for egocentric speech

              - for thinking

v Constructivist learners should create meaning, learn by doing and work collaboratively in mixed groups on common projects.

Teacher Role

The teachers ;

Ø are facilitators and active participants

Ø should not follow a preplanned lesson plan

Ø should support collaborative learning

Ø should negotiate a plan of work with the learners.

Student Role

The learners are ;

Ø collaborators

Ø evaluators

Ø self directed

Ø selectors of learning materials and activities.

Activities in Whole Language

Ø Individual and small group reading and writing

Ø Ungraded dialogue journals

Ø Writing portfolios

Ø Writing conferences

Ø Student-made books

Ø Story writing