Theoretical Approaches to Reading Instruction

This essay covers the different theories and techniques in which people have learned to read, along with the arguments of the supporters of these different methods. There is the alphabetic approach, the word as a whole approach, and the meaning-first approach. The difference between these three, basically, is the order in which the three main principles are taught. The overall conclusion that I came up with is that, since all three are so intricately tied to one another, there can be no obvious right or wrong answer to which should come first. I suppose that I would be biased, based on my own education, that the alphabet should be taught first, therefore creating a foundation for the words and their meanings to follow.
I will say that I had two favorite parts in this essay. The first was at the bottom of page 313 where Adams writes "as they read, they fixate virtually each and every content word, quite meticulously processing the letters and spellings and translating the print to speech as they proceed." I liked to read what I was doing as I was doing it. It threw me for a loop.
My second favorite part was on page 312. He says "it was argued [that the] process of oral reading diverted attention from thought to pronunciations and expression." I really only liked this sentence because it conflicts with Ong's statements about the written word versus the spoken word.