The Global Method Of Learning To Read: Pros And Cons

Learning to read is one of the most important milestones in any child’s life. But reading skills are not something they acquire overnight. A long teaching and learning process is rather necessary. To help children learn to read, parents and educators can use various techniques, e.g. the global method of reading.

The Belgian educator, psychologist and doctor Ovide Decroly devised this method. He argued that children could acquire many skills, such as reading, on the basis of the principle of globalization. That is, by first analyzing a whole and then analyzing each of its parts.

Want to know more about the use of the global method of learning to read? Below we explain in detail what it consists of and what its main advantages and disadvantages are.

What does the global method consist of?

The global approach consists of teaching children to visually recognize specific words and phrases that are part of the environment in which they live and develop. It must be done in such a way that they gradually become familiar with these grammatical elements and their concrete meaning until they have an extensive and varied vocabulary.

Therefore, the global method, as the name implies, involves teaching reading in a global and whole way. That is, from broad units (words and sentences), children learn to recognize the simple units, such as phonemes or syllables that make up these broader units, in an intuitive and spontaneous way.

The benefits of the global method of learning to read

According to educator María Inmaculada Rosano García, some of the benefits of using the global reading method are the following:

• It works from an integrated and global perspective, as in addition to reading, it involves the development of written and verbal expression.
• Children are the main characters in their own learning and retain an active role throughout the process.
• The method trains reading in a practical way and avoids systematized lessons.
• The learning of reading takes place quickly and ensures good comprehension. In fact, you can observe results right from the beginning.
• Reading takes place through games and playful activities, which is extremely motivating for children.
• It is based on repetition for the assimilation of learning.
• It promotes the process of learning to spell.
• Children can analyze the knowledge of syllables so that they can create new words and sentences based on them .
• Children can learn to read at an earlier age than with other more traditional methods.

But as with any teaching method, there are not only benefits. There are also a number of disadvantages that we should mention.

Disadvantages of using this method

Some of the disadvantages of using the global method are the following:

• The person responsible for teaching reading through this method must have broad and specific education in evolutionary psychology, child developmental psychology, and learning psychology.
• Educators must offer individualized attention to each child, which is difficult to achieve in a regular classroom.
• It requires a long and extensive process to completely learn to read.
• It requires a great deal of effort and commitment, both from the teachers and the family, who must provide the necessary stimulation to learn to read.
• Teachers need to use different didactic materials and have enough space in the classroom to be able to store and use them comfortably.

Is the global method the best method for learning to read?

There is no single method that is absolutely ideal for learning to read. The global approach, despite its pros and cons, can be very effective for some children but not for others.

Therefore, it is really important to adapt to children’s traits and needs and encourage them throughout the process of acquiring reading skills.