Linguistic Approach to

Reading

Bloomfield Approach
Dr. Leonard Bloomfield
 Born on April 1, 1887
 Died at the age of 62
 Led the development of structural linguistics
in United States
 Author of “Let’s Read” book
Clarence Barnhart
 Born: 1900
 Died: 1993
 An American lexicographer
 Co-author of Bloomfield in the book “Let’s
Read”
Bloomsfield’s View
 Bloomfield advocated that children’s should
be acquainted with the letters of the alphabet
at the very start.
2 Faults in Phonic Methods:
1. The inventors of the phonic methods confuse writing with speech.
2. Phonic methods isolate the speech sounds.
Bloomfiel’s Criticisms
Method
~most serious drawback in the teaching of reading
Regular spellings should be presented in the early
stages before teaching words with semi-
irregular patters such as cough, bough, etc.

“The weakness of IDEATIONAL METHOD is that

they expect the child to read in an adult
manner.”
BLOOMFIELD’S APPROACH
TEN PEN MEN
HEN

 This may be the first lesson of the actual

reading phase after learning the letter shapes
and names.
 With increasing speed the child works
through the page of the teaching material.
Veronica G. Kalinawan
 She’s a local researcher who tried the
Bloomfield Approach and materials.
 She tried it with retarded readers of Grade V
and Grade VI at Dongalo Elementary School,
Paranaque, Rizal.
Veronica Kalinawan says,;

EXPERIMENTAL GROUP (used Bloomfield Approach) gains p.01 level of

confidence that the CONTROL GROUP (used textbook prescribed by the
Bureau of Public Schools).

[ slow readers improved considerably in reading vocabulary, speed, and

comprehension when the materials used were properly controlled and
sequenced}
Alphabetic Approach
Sir James Pitman
Devised the Initial Teaching
Alphabet(I.T.A.) in 1960

John Downing
Conducted experiments using I.T.A. in London
with pupils in the beginning sstage of reading
Initial Teaching Alphabet
 A version of Augmented Roman Alphabet
 A version of 44 characters
 Uses lower case letters only
In I.T.A. it was believed that this is more beneficial
compare to the traditional alphabet because children do
more writing and have a heavier vocabulary load

• Designed to simplify the two common methods of

teaching reading.
• Gives phonic methods a greater chance of success
through removal of inconsistencies between written
symbols and the sound they present.
 Consistency in visual patterns for the
whole words are achieved by using only
one form for each character.
 Each symbol has only one primary sound
value
Experimental result showed that :
1. Young children get through their beginning reading
program s faster when their books are printed in I.T.A.
2. They can recognize more words in print.
3. They can read more readily continuous English prose.
4. They can read faster and comprehend more continuous
English in print if I.T.A. is used.
5. Children can transfer their reading skills from I.T.A to the
traditional alphabet and spelling vocabulary.
Charles Fries
Approach
Charles Fries Approach
 Basic Concept:
Learning to read in one’s native language is
learning to shift, to transfer from auditory
signs for language signals which the child
has already learned, to visual or graphic
signs for the same signals for language
reception.
Aim in teaching reading:
 To develop high speed recognition responses
 To teach the child to take in through the eye
the same meaning that learning to speak
 Develop recognition responses to the letters
of the alphabet.
Real Core:
 Instead of the approach of trying to match the
individual letters and separate sound units,
we must develop the automatic habits of
responding to terms they represent.
1st Stage: Transfer Stage
 Completed when the child can respond
rapidly and accurately to visual patterns, the
spelling patterns that represent the language
signals of his limited linguistic experience as
fully as he does the auditory patterns they
replace.
2nd Stage: Productive Reading
 Covers the period during which the reader’s
responses to the visual patterns become
habits.
Covers the period during
which the reader’s responses
to the visual patterns become
habits.
 This begins when the reading process has
become so automatic for the reader that he
uses reading equally with the live language of
speech in acquiring and assimilating new
experience.
 Gibson- Richards
Linguistic Approach
Its main concern is the control of
syntax and sentence pattern.
Robert and Virginia Allen
 (Read Along with Me)
The authors teach phonics and encourages
sounding and blending.
Clara G. Stratemeyer and
Henry Lee Smith
(The Linguistic Science Readers)
 Which control vocabulary on spelling
regularly
Carl Levefre
 (Linguistic and the Teaching of Reading)
 He advocates a reading program that is
closer to the older sentence and experience
methods as well as the current conventional
basal-reader approach.
Pauline Rojas
 (Miami Linguistic Readers)
 Are carefully controlled materials appropriate
for children who study English as a second
language.