Phonic and Whole Word Reading Techniques During Repeated Reading Lessons

Laurice M. Joseph, Rebecca A. Schisler

The purpose of this investigation was to compare instructional effectiveness and efficiency among the use of phonic analysis, incremental rehearsal, and traditional drill and practice word reading techniques during repeated reading lessons. Sixty primary grade children who had difficulty acquiring basic oral reading fluency skills were randomly selected to participate in one of the three word reading techniques + repeated reading conditions. Cumulative oral reading fluency and cumulative words learned from initial to repeated reading of passages as a function of type of word reading technique served as measures of instructional effectiveness. Instructional efficiency was measured by cumulative oral reading fluency and cumulative words learned per total instructional time (rate-based measure). Results showed that there were no significant differences between children in the phonic analysis + repeated reading group and children in the two whole word + repeated reading groups. However, there were differences between the two whole word + repeated reading groups favoring the traditional drill and practice over the incremental rehearsal group. Additionally, the group that received the traditional drill and practice + repeated reading lessons was the most efficient in learning to read words in passages than the groups that received either phonic analysis + repeated reading or incremental rehearsal + repeated reading. Implications for school psychologists are discussed.