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Does anyone promote using only phonics, ever? Like never reading literature or reading for content or meaning or learning vocab, even after you can decode proficiently? That seems like a false choice to me. :deadhorse:
.Cont.
there is significant evidence that vocabulary deficiency is a major cause of reading issues since reading is a recursive process--I see it with my son, who can sound out words that he knows the meaning of more easily than words he's never heard before.So, if you overly focus on decoding without providing a language-rich environment to children who are "behind" when they start school, their trajectory will be flatter than kids who are in a language-rich environment and taught phonics.
And, yes, there are places where decoding is given a huge emphasis with little attention paid to the language-base. There is only so much time in a school day.
The key to teaching reading seems to me to be "balanced literacy" with adequate time and attention paid to both phonics and language.
