Language Experience Approach
(excerpt from Becoming Literate in a Second Language: Models and Approaches)
As described by Strickland, in the LEA the teacher activates the students' language and encourages the students to share their experiences with the class. The teacher writes the students' words verbatim and then teaches the students to read what they have said. This process ensures that the learners understand what they are being taught to read (Moustafa, 1987).
Hamayan and Pfleger (1987) recommend the LEA for helping the LEP learner make the initial transition from oral (English) language to reading and writing, because it allows the learner to verbally share meaningful events and stories which are then shaped into written form by the teacher. This approach allows the learner to read meaningful story units rather than isolated words, parts of words, or sentences (Hamayan and Pfleger, 1987).