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Revisiting the language experience approach.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

The Language Experience Approach (LEA) is described and reviewed as a technique for teaching reading and writing to upper elementary students from all backgrounds. Specific activities for classroom use are included for immediate classroom application.

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Language Learning: An Experiential Approach to Improve Reading

"Before we start on our work, please pick up your schmarz." If a teacher said this to you, could you follow the direction? Would it help you if the teacher said it louder ... slower ... more clearly? What if he/she wrote the direction on the board? Would you understand it then? You probably would, but only if you have adequate sound-symbol relationships and closure abilities. But would it help you to understand the concept by reading it? Probably not.

All of this is to demonstrate that without the knowledge of the word "schmarz", you would fail at following a basic direction given by a teacher. Of course, if you had had a variety of experiences in a classroom, you could probably guess at what a "schmarz" might mean if you have profited from past language experiences and generalized that information to the present situation. You might guess that the object in question is a pencil or perhaps a book. But what if you guessed incorrectly or did not guess at all? How far behind would you be in relationship to those who guessed correctly? What behaviors could you develop to cover up your error? How would you avoid other similar classroom situations? Without belaboring an obvious point, we all rely on our ability to process, act upon, and/or generalize language experiences in order to learn. Without intact language or compensatory language strategies, learning does not occur. One reading approach that has been successfully reviewed in the research is the Language Experience Approach (LEA). This approach is an excellent way to help make the connection between speech and...

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