The language experience approach (LEA) to reading instruction uses learner-dictated passages to foster reading development. In this study, researchers explored LEA instruction for English learners with exceptional needs that were supported by voice typing, word prediction, and screen reading tools. A multiple baseline design was used to…

This article describes collaboration between three university professors and six preschool teachers who used photo-narration and the Language Experience Approach to support the language development of young children. For more than a century, educators have used children's personal experiences as a basis for language and literacy instruction. The…

This article describes two educational settings in Nigeria where teachers adapted a language experience approach for reading and writing instruction. The first setting is a professional development workshop for public school teachers of students in grades 1-6. The second setting includes two groups of students with special needs: a grade 6 class…

Describes a pattern book activity that provides a means of introducing and reinforcing high frequency vocabulary within a language experience approach. (FL)

Teachers aware of the value of each child's language can do much to prevent initial reading difficulties among those who speak nonstandard dialects. (DD)

Presents an interview with Dr. Roach van Allen in which he describes how he became involved in education, who influenced him professionally, his proudest accomplishments (a theoretical model for a language experience program), what he sees as the current problems in reading education, and what he sees in the future. (RS)

A bibliography of journal articles related to language experience as an alternative to traditional methods of teaching reading. (HTH)

Describes an interactive method of teaching reading that can be adapted to students' needs, skills, experience, and culture. Shows how the method develops phonological awareness and builds on skills adults already have, such as manual dexterity, visual analysis, and observation. (SK)

Presents the language experience approach (LEA) as a supplement to and enrichment of the more formal approaches to reading instruction. Discusses four obstacles to implementation of LEA and describes the physical environment approach to it. (FL)

Describes a method for using children's own dictated stories for assessment purposes. (FL)

Discusses the language experience approach to remedial reading as a method to move the high school student with poor reading skills away from instructional techniques with which the student has experienced difficulty and into a no-fail reading situation. (HTH)

A workshop for primary teachers demonstrated the effectiveness of the language experience approach with bilingual students. (DD)

Responds to criticism about the method of "assisted reading" and clarifies the author's beliefs about using the method as the first method of instruction. (MKM)

Establishes five premises on which language-centered reading is based and makes five recommendations for language-centered reading instruction. (DD)

Describes the use of a structured language experience approach and an imitative, or taped book, approach to teaching reading to children who were reading with difficulty. (MKM)