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Paula Laurita http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art25977.asp
BellaOnline's Library Sciences Editor
The Whole Language Approach
What is whole language? Why is there such conflict?
Few educational trends have been as controversial as the whole language approach to learning. Recently in Australia, the conflict between Whole Language advocates and Phonics advocates hasreheated. Part of the problem is that experts do not agree on the way to use whole language, or even on the benefits of using it. One fact is that it will remain in many school systems.
Appearing in the 1960s and 1970s, as a veering away from basal readers, the movement gathered steam in the 1980s. During the 1990s, and today, the issue has been politicized. Parents, teachers, administrators,politicians line up on various sides of the issue.
Whole language is not a systemized approach, but rather a philosophy that assumes that reading and general language competencies are acquired through integrated use instead of through learning separate, finite skills, such as word attack, comprehension, and vocabulary. It relies heavily on the use of literature and trade books, rather than basalreaders, and usually involves integrated thematic studies and the extended use of writing.
Proponents argue that a child's learning to read should happen naturally, much as children learned to speak, and that the mere decoding of words, such as is done in phonics programs, does nothing to teach children the meaning of words, or expose them to the varied use of words.
Opponents argue that structureis necessary, and that a child's learning to read is too valuable to leave to chance and accidental discovery. All children do not learn in the same way, therefore adhering to one method only is dangerous and may leave some children behind.
Many teachers today use a blended approach. They use some traditional methods, but also weave in the use of literature, writing, and thematic studies intotheir plans. They view teaching to read as a good coach teaches baseball. A team needs to spend time practicing skills (phonics). But, if the team never gets to play an actual game (whole language), the players loose the joy of the sport (reading).

www3.acadlib.lv/greydoc/Levencukas.../Levencuka.doc
Whole Language Approach in the English Language Acquisition by Elementary School Students(Grades: 4-6) in Israel.

University of Latvia. Institute of Education and Psychology, 1998
Summary
Whole Language is considered a perspective on education, a philosophy of
education a belief system about education.
It is an educational theory grounded in research and practice and practice
grounded in theory and research. In fact, Whole Language can be characterized
as a student's centered"constructivist" view of learning, with particular emphasis
on the development of literacy.
In natural situations language is whole and intact. In many conventional
instructional settings, however, language is broken into small segments in the
befief that students can master it more easily.
The investigation deals with students' motivation and ways of facilitating students'
feeling of freedom inthe learning process, encouraging students to choose. Try and explore new things to be creative without fear of errors.
Language should function as a system and the acquisition of a foreign language should be organized and facilitated as a system acquisition. Thus the integration of the language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and the sub skills are integral from the beginningstages of learning.
Lessons should have I meaning and purpose for the students now. The grammar of the English language should be acquired in context, in a meaningful situation, and become functional so that students could learn the language itself and not about it. Language becomes communicative, students develop their ability to develop competence of its usage. The investigation was designed...