The Dolch word list is a list of frequently used
English words (also known as
sight words
High frequency sight words (also known simply as sight words) are commonly used words that young children are encouraged to memorize as a whole by sight, so that they can automatically recognize these words in print without having to use any strate ...
), compiled by Edward William Dolch, a major proponent of the
"whole-word" method of beginning reading instruction. The list was first published in a journal article in 1936 and then published in his book ''Problems in Reading'' in 1948.
Dolch compiled the list based on children's books of his era, which is why nouns such as "kitty" and "Santa Claus" appear on the list instead of more current high-frequency words. The list contains 220 "service words" that Dolch thought should be easily recognized in order to achieve reading fluency in the English language. The compilation excludes
noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Organism, Living creatures (including people ...
s, which comprise a separate 95-word list. According to Dolch, between 50% and 75% of all words used in schoolbooks, library books, newspapers, and magazines are a part of the Dolch basic
sight word
High frequency sight words (also known simply as sight words) are commonly used words that young children are encouraged to memorize as a whole by sight, so that they can automatically recognize these words in print without having to use any strate ...
vocabulary; however, bear in mind that he compiled this list in 1936.
Critics
Critics of teaching reading using ''whole word'' and
whole language
Whole language is a philosophy of reading and a discredited educational method originally developed for teaching literacy in English to young children. The method became a major model for education in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and ...
methods (and proponents of
phonics
Phonics is a method for teaching people how to read and write an alphabetic language (such as English, Arabic or Russian). It is done by demonstrating the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters or gro ...
) maintain that memorizing whole words may do more harm than good because it takes time away from the important aspect of practicing basic decoding techniques.
Cognitive neuroscientist,
Stanislas Dehaene, writes "cognitive psychology directly refutes any notion of teaching via a 'global' or 'whole language' method." He goes on to talk about "the myth of whole-word reading" (also: sight words), saying it has been refuted by recent experiments. "We do not recognize a