The Language Experience Approach for Literacy

This video shows a tutor using the language experience approach (LEA) to help Ken, an adult literacy learner, better relate the skills of reading and writing to his own life. The instructor encourages Ken to talk about his children and his experiences as a single parent. As he speaks, she writes down exactly what he says and works with him until he can read the story aloud himself. They then use the story as the basis for working on word recognition, phonics, root words, and several other skills.

[@joanslanina6771]

In preparation the tutor encourages the student to relate an experience and tell her about it. She then writes it down in the student's own words. When the tutor uses cards to write down the vocabulary words the student selects, she is using whole language. However later she reminds the student about a short vowel lesson and asks him to find short vowel words in his story. Using both types of learning methods can be important as the student is choosing his vocabulary words from his own experience and also reviews a phonics lesson. I think both are important as phonics helps new readers learn the rules for pronouncing new words, but whole language takes their own experience into effect and also creates new learning.

[@StanleyLucero]

Thank you for this video.