Investigating the role of context in learning to read: A direct test of Goodman's model

The much discussed 'whole language' or 'real books' approach to children's reading is based on a theory which makes two quite separate predictions: (1 ) that children will read difficult words more successfully in context than in isolation, and (2) that contextual experience of words will lead to gre ater improvements in word reading than isolated experience of words. We rep ort a study which tests both predictions and supports the first but not the second.