The Role of the Speech-Language Pathologist in Whole Language

Many schools are implementing whole language methodology in the teaching of reading and writing. Whole language programs assume that children have a certain degree of oral language proficiency. For language-learning disabled students, such assumptions may be incorrect. The whole language literacy movement provides an excellent opportunity for speech-language pathologists to work as an integral part of the school team seeking to build literacy. This article presents a framework for understanding the pragmatic, semantic, syntactic, text, and phonological aspects of language that underlie both oral and written communication and gives suggestions for ways speech-language pathologists can assess children's language skills that are essential for success in a whole language program.