SHOULD STUDENTS LEARN TO READ BEFORE THEY READ TO LEARN? A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE.

and support for it along the way. It then discusses whole language in theory and practice, and presents support for teaching phonemic awareness and phonetic analysis, systematically, in the early grades. The premise of this paper is that one must learn to read before s/he can read to learn, contrary to what many whole-language supporters suggest. Most of the whole-language concepts are seen as workable and sound, even desirable, except for its virtual exclusion of the direct instruction of phonemic awareness and phonics in the early grades