The language experience approach (LEA) promotes reading and writing through the use of personal experiences and oral language. Learners relate their experiences to a teacher or aide, who transcribes them. These transcriptions are then used as the basis for other reading and writing activities. LEA draws on students' life experiences as resources for language and literacy development.

1. Gail Grigg, ESL Instructor in Adult Education, Black Hawk College
Using the Language Experience Approach
in the ESL Classroom
Meaningful Input from Meaningful Output

2. What is the Language Experience Approach?
How can LEA help ESL students?
✤ Students’ oral output is transcribed and then used for reading input
✤ Comprehensible student-generated reading text containing known
vocabulary
✤ Allows for focus on alphabetics & fluency
✤ Offers scaffolding for new vocabulary acquisition that students need to
share thoughts and stories
✤ Provides meaningful context for noticing and manipulating grammar &
syntax
✤ Motivating for students

3. How to elicit student output?

4. ✤ special class events and outings
✤ classroom discussions about and extensions from class
textbooks
✤ holidays (U.S.-based and foreign national-based)
✤ evocative art: visual, audio
✤ illustrated children’s books
✤ stories and events particular to a student(s)
✤ google images
✤ everyday life, the “quotidian” (food, weather, family, work,
school, etc.)

5. Holidays
Teacher Gail and her students with
Valentines Day Baskets & Sweets

6. Customs
Nepali funeral pyre

7. Funeral
The Nepali people in Rock Island,
Moline and Milan go to a funeral.
A 68 year old Nepali man was at the
hospital.
On Friday, January 23, the doctor
says to man, "Go home."
On Saturday, January 24, the man
died at 2:30 pm.
On Tuesday morning January 27 at
8:30am, the man will burn in fire.
In English, they say "cremate".
Hindu people cremate their dead.
The Christian people bury the dead.
In America, They put the dead in
boxes called "caskets"

8. Funeral:
Vocabulary
✤ funeral
✤ died
✤ cremate
✤ dead
✤ bury
✤ casket

9. Google Images: Textbook Themes

10. Apartment Manager Stories
Biak’s stove was broken. He could not cook. What was he eating?
Bananas? McDonald’s? Salad?
He told the apartment manager, “The stove is broken. Could you fix
the stove?” The manager repaired the stove. Now the stove is good.
Biak’s apartment manager is very good, but Talal’s apartment manager
is bad. He is bad because he likes money, but he doesn’t like working.
Talal works, but his apartment manager doesn’t work and doesn’t fix
things. But he takes the money. All the time, money, money…

11. Apartment Manager Stories
Talal should look for another apartment. He should move to Fathia’s
apartment building. Fathia’s apartment manager is very good and very
nice. Fathia tells her every time something is broken. Her manager
fixes things very quickly.
Fathia’s downstairs neighbor doesn’t like children. The children play,
and the neighbor bangs on the ceiling. Father wants to stay in her
building, but she wants to move away from her angry neighbor.

12. How can we use “Apartment Manager Stories”
to develop language and literacy activities?

13. Cloze: Listening or Reading (with or
without word bank)
Biak’s stove was broken. He could ___ cook. What was he eating? Bananas? ________?
Salad?
He told the apartment manager, “____ stove is broken. Could you ____ the stove?” The
manager repaired the _____. Now the stove is good.
Biak’s ________ manager is very good, but Talal’s apartment _________ is bad. He is bad
because ___ likes money, but he doesn’t like _______. Talal works, but his apartment
manager _______ work and doesn’t fix things. But __ takes the money. All the time,
_______, money…
Talal should look for _______ apartment. He should move to Fathia’s apartment
_________. Fathia’s apartment manager is very good ____ very nice. Father tells her every
_____ something is broken. Her manager fixes ___ very quickly.
Fathia’s downstairs neighbor doesn’t _____ children. The children play, and the _______
bangs on the ceiling. Father wants ___ stay in her building, but she ______ to move away
from her _______ neighbor.

14. Alphabetics (within word patterns)
Biak’s stove was broken. He could not cook. What was he eating? Bananas? McDonald’s?
Salad?
He told the apartment manager, “The stove is broken. Could you fix the stove?” The manager
repaired the stove. Now the stove is good.
Biak’s apartment manager is very good, but Talal’s apartment manager is bad. He is bad
because he likes money, but he doesn’t like working. Talal works, but his apartment manager
doesn’t work and doesn’t fix things. But he takes the money. All the time, money, money…
Talal should look for another apartment. He should move to Fathia’s apartment building.
Fathia’s apartment manager is very good and very nice. Father tells her every time something
is broken. Her manager fixes things very quickly.
Fathia’s downstairs neighbor doesn’t like children. The children play, and the neighbor bangs
on the ceiling. Father wants to stay in her building, but she wants to move away from her angry
neighbor.

15. Alphabetics (within word patterns)
✤ cook, good, book, foot, look, took, cookie, stood,
understood, wood, wool
✤ could, should, would
✤ put, pull, push, full, sugar, bush, bull
✤ woman

16. Sentence Combining (A+B=C)
A. Biak’s apartment manager is very good.
B. Talal’s apartment manager is very bad.
C. Biak’s apartmet manager is very good, but Talal’s apartment
manager is very bad.
A. Fathia wants to stay in her apartment building.
B. She wants to move away from her angry neighbor.
C. Fathia wants to stay in her apartment building, but she wants to
move away from her angry neighbor.

17. Class Outings & Events

18. Ellis Kell
Visits Our Class
✤The man’s name is Ellis Kell.
✤He plays music on guitar and he
sings.
✤We like the music.
✤We like to sing.
✤We sing many songs with Ellis.
✤We learn about music from West
Africa.
✤This music is new for the students.
✤Guitar is not new.
✤Singing is not new.
✤But the blues music is new.

19. Ellis Kell Visits Our Class:
Word Study for Phonics and Spelling
1. _usic
2. _an
3. _ame
4. _ike
5. _ith
6. _earn
7. _ell
1. _u_i_
2. _a_
3. _a_e
4. _i_e
5. _i_ _
6. _ear_
7. _e_ _
1. uicsm
2. anm
3. mnea
4. klei
5. hitw
6. nrela
7. lKle
1. _ _ _ _ _
2. _ _ _
3. _ _ _ _
4. _ _ _ _
5. _ _ _ _
6. _ _ _ _ _
7. _ _ _ _

20. Ellis Kell Visits Our Class:
Word/Spelling Recognition
1. Theman’snameisEllisKell.
2. Heplaysmusiconguitarandhesings.
3. Welikethemusic.
4. Weliketosing.
5. WesingmanysongswithEllis.

21. Ellis Kell Visits Our Class:
SVO/Compound Sentences/Adverbial
Extensions
1. name Ellis man’s The Kell is.
2. and he He music plays sings.
3. music the like We.
4. to like sing We.
5. with songs sing We Ellis many.

22. Ellis Kell Visits Our Class:
Listening/Reading Cloze
1. ____ man’s _____ ___ Ellis
Kell.
2. ___ plays music ____ he sings.
3. ___ like the music.
4. We ____ ___ sing.
5. We ____ many songs ____
Ellis.
✤ sing
✤ like
✤ We
✤ and
✤ The
✤ is
✤ He
✤ name
✤ with
✤ to

23. Art

24. Refugee
Blues
Walking to America, the people walk.
They carry bags. They carry dreams. The people walk.
Do they go to market? There is no market.
Do they go home? There is no home.
There is no market. There is no home. Where do they go?
Bhutan people walking, Burma people walking, Sudan people
walking,
Refugees are walking.
The walk is hard. They walk so far. They walk so long.
Walking to America, the people walk.
They fly by plane. They fly like birds. They’re going home.

25. Achirin
Fire
We see an accident.
We see an ambulance.
There is a fire.
The fire is in the apartment.
Achirin’s apartment has a fire.
The fire fighters come.
The ambulance comes.
The fire fighter holds Achirin’s daughter.
Achirin and her daughter go out very quickly.
They do not have shoes.
They do not have jackets, hats, gloves or scarf.
Outside there is snow.
The weather is very cold.
Are they okay? No, they are sad.
Maybe they cry.

26. We all see an accident, we see an ambulance come
There is a fire in the apartment, we see the fire fighters run.
One fire fighter holds Achirin's daughter, as quick from the
building he moves,
Achirin and her daughter had to leave so quickly, they don’t have
any shoes.
They don’t have jackets, hats or gloves, and outside there is snow.
Are they okay? No, they are sad, and the weather is very cold.
Safe outside they are frightened, and maybe they don't know why,
Maybe they laugh now that they are safe, and maybe they just cry.
Achirin Fire Blues

27. Language Covered in
“Achirin Fire Blues”?
✤ semantic sets: emergencies, clothing, weather, family,
feelings
✤ within word rhyme patterns: come/run, move/shoe,
snow/cold, why/cry
✤ Other??? What do you think?

28. Children’s Books:The Snowy Day

29. Google Images:
Student-Originated Themes

30. We never feel cold like this before.
My head, my hands, my feet are like ice.
We don’t like snow; it's dangerous to drive
And walking in the snow isn’t nice.
It’s slippery.
We have to clean snow from the car,
And scrape ice from the windshield.
We have to shovel snow in front of the
door.
We have to shovel snow from the balcony.
We don’t want to shovel snow anymore.
(I don’t want to either.)
Winter Blues

31. LEA Resources
http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/LEA.html
https://esl-methods.wikispaces.com/file/view/LANGUAGE+EXPERIENCE+APPROACH.pdf
http://esolliteracy.blogspot.com/p/language-experience-approach.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAMdcyL1RRU
http://www.education.com/reference/article/language-experience-approach/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_Experience_Approach
http://www.academia.edu/4274824/Combining_structure_and_openness_in_the_initial_literacy_curriculum
http://www.literacy.uconn.edu/index.htm