Using whole word approach to teach reading to form one students with reading difficulties in a selected rural secondary school in Samarahan district of Sarawak

Abstract

Reading is recognized as a necessary part of obtaining a better job and access to knowledge. People with reading problems would find that their educational careers are imperiled due to the inability to read. Debates over the best approach to teaching early reading have been going on since the 1960s. Two of the main approaches are the Phonics Approach and the Whole Word Approach. Research has shown that having a strong sense of phonics can aid students in their early reading and develop them into better readers. On the other hand, using the Whole Word Approach would lead to memorization and limited vocabulary for the second language learner. Despite exposure to phonics in early reading, some students are left behind and still have reading problems. Their inability to read would hamper them from doing well in their studies as they would encounter problems in every subject in their school. Based on this premise, it is deemed necessary to conduct a study that could explore the use of the Whole Word Approach on students with reading problems. In this study, the subjects were made up of five Form One students who were current participants in the school’s intervention program. This study employs a participant observation method. First, the participants were screened. Then they were asked to read key words, followed by spelling and pronunciation activities. When they had succeeded in these activities, they were allowed to read a book from LadyBird Readers. Then they were asked to read minimal pairs, give words that they knew and provide the first letter for the words given. The results indicated that the Whole Word Approach can be used as an effective method to overcome reading problems, especially among older students. Even though the students did not progress at the same pace, they emerged from the study with the ability to read. Taking into account that no one method works and succeeds with all learners, the Whole Word Approach in using key words has succeeded to facilitate the students’ reading. This study is another useful contribution to overcoming reading problems among students.