In this paper I examine some recent research dealing with two fundamental points of contention between the two sides of this debate.

1. The complexity issue: Whole language advocates claim that the rules of phonics are complex and have numerous exceptions. For this reason many are unteachable (Smith, 1994). Skill-building advocates claim that this is not the case. Shanahan (2001), for examples, defends giving phonics instruction a major role in reading instruction because "more than 90 percent of English words are phonetically regular" (p. 70). He does not, however, cite research supporting this claim.

2. The method comparison issue: Skill-Building advocates claim that those in phonics-based classes outperform those in whole language classes (National Reading Panel, 2000). Whole language advocates argue that when whole language is defined correctly, when it includes real reading, students in these classes do better on test of reading comprehension, with no difference on skills tests (Krashen, 1999).

The Complexity Argument: Johnson (2001)

Clymer (1963, 1966) investigated 45 phonic generalizations of words in four basal series and concluded that many did not work very well. This result has been a central part of the argument against over-teaching phonics. Here are two well-known examples: The rule "when two vowels go walking the first does the talking" (when two vowels appear side by side, the long sound of the first is heard and the second is silent, as in "bead") worked in only 45% of the cases Clymer examined, and the final e rule (first vowel is long, final e is silent, as in "cake") worked in only 63% of the cases.

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