Module III. Language experience and the system of exercises Theme 1: Language experience. Plan

Module III. Language experience and the system of exercises

Theme 1: Language experience.

Plan:

• Plan:
• 1. Procedure for the language experience approach 
• 2. Examples of the language experience approach in a foundation class
• 3. The Language Experience Approach and Adult Learners

The language experience approach integrates speaking and listening, reading and writing through the development of a written text based on first hand experiences.

• The language experience approach integrates speaking and listening, reading and writing through the development of a written text based on first hand experiences.
• Through scaffolded talk, the teacher supports students to document experiences and ideas, using familiar and expanded vocabulary, modelling ways in which their thoughts and words can be written down and later read. 

The experience  Typically, the language experience approach involves a shared experience such as everyday happenings, common school experiences, a classroom event or hands-on activity, excursions but can also include students’ personal experiences or ideas. 

Spoken language

The teacher’s role in language experience is to support the student to recreate the experience orally as they:

• capitalize on students’ interest and experiences
• prompt the students to reflect on the experiences
• ask questions to elicit details about the experience through more explicit language
• help students to rehearse the ideas they will be writing about.

Creating the text

The text might be written by the teacher or by the student. As the writer, the teacher acts as a model, demonstrating how thought and words can be represented in writing as students dictate their ideas. Individual children might dictate a sentence, or a longer text might be written. 

Alternatively, students will write their own texts. Here, the teacher can guide students’ writing, encouraging them to understand that what they think can be said, and what they say can be written down by them or others (Hill, 2012).

Reading 

What is written can now be read. As the language experience texts are relevant to the students, the opportunity to read them aloud creates a positive experience and reinforces the reciprocity between reading and writing.

Texts that the students have produced based on their experiences, using familiar language make good early reading material which can be read chorally or individually. 

Examples of the language experience approach in a foundation class

• following discussion, writing about different topics and experiences is captured which can later be read about (for example, an excursion to the zoo, a visit by the fireman, an investigation of nocturnal animals) 
• simple sentences using a repetitive structure are written for the students to illustrate and copy, supporting both reading and writing  
• students are encouraged to write their own ideas, using compound or complex sentences and expanded noun groups 
• the writing includes the labelling of a diagram. 

The Language Experience Approach and Adult Learners

The language experience approach (LEA) is a whole language approach that promotes reading and writing through the use of personal experiences and oral language. It can be used in tutorial or classroom settings with homogeneous or heterogeneous groups of learners. Beginning literacy 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.

The LEA, first developed for Maori-speaking (Ashton-Warner, 1963) and native-English-speaking children (Spache & Spache, 1964; Stauffer, 1965), has also been used successfully with learners of all ages. Adult learners entering ESL programs may or may not have previous educational or literacy experiences; nonetheless, all come to class with a wealth of life experiences.

Features of the Language Experience Approach

• Materials are learner-generated.
• All communication skills--reading, writing, listening, and speaking--are integrated.
• Difficulty of vocabulary and grammar are determined by the learners own language use.
• Learning and teaching are personalized, communicative, creative.

The Personal Experience

The most basic, and in fact the original, form of the LEA is the simple transcription of an individual learner's personal experience. The teacher or aide (or in a mixed-ability class, a more proficient learner) sits with the learner so that the learner can see what is being written. The session begins with a conversation, which might be prompted by a picture, a topic the learner is interested in, a reading text, or an event the learner has participated in. Once a topic evolves, the learner gives an oral account of a personal experience related to that topic. The transcriber may help the learner expand or focus the account by asking questions.

In most forms of the LEA, the experience is transcribed as the learner dictates it, without transcriber corrections to grammar or vocabulary.

The Group Experience

Groups may also develop language experience stories together. An experience can be set up and carried out by the group, or stories can grow out of experiences and stimuli from any part of the learners' personal, work, or classroom lives.