It's Not Whole Language

So I did a little research since my last post and learned that "whole language" approach is considerable similar to content-based instruction. I tried comparing content-based methods with a traditional language approach but that led me to several explanations of what traditional methods were.  I discovered that some of the old die-hard traditional teaching methods included the grammar translation approach, the audio-lingual method, and the direct approach as well as use of phonemic drills and rote memorization.  I did not ever find out exactly what one would define the approach that uses all these strategies if it isn't called the traditional approach to teaching a second or foreign language.  For all intents and purposes, I still would like to argue that content-based or thematic instruction is more effective to teach English language learners that the traditional methods as evidenced by the ELSA/TCAP standardized test. It only makes sense to me that we should be teaching meaningful material that is aligned with the state standards. Just a thought.