Language+Experience+Approach

Language Experience Approach

The Language Experience Approach (LEA) is a whole language approach that promotes reading and writing through personal experiences and oral language. The students' writing can then be used to for future reading and writing activities. It originated as an approach for native-English speakers, but its use has been extended to the ESL classroom.

Some benefits of LEA are that materials are learner-generated, it includes all communication skills, the level of vocabulary and grammar are determined by the learners, and the learning and teaching are personal and creative. It is ideal for ELLs because students use their own writing to practice reading, listening, and speaking skills, so they determine the level of the grammar and vocabulary. Even if the ELL does not have much previous schooling experience, he or she brings life experiences to the classroom. This is expecially true for adult learners, with whom this approach has been successful. If they are a beginning learner, their experiences can be transcribed.

Materials can be both individually created or created by the group as a whole. Group experiences can be created in the classroom or in the community.The following steps are often a part of this approach:
 * 1) Choose the experience.
 * 2) Organize the activity.
 * 3) Conduct the experience.
 * 4) Discuss the experience.
 * 5) Write about the experience.
 * 6) Read the experience.
 * 7) Extend the experience.

http://www.ericdigests.org/1993/approach.htm