Gail Grigg, ESL Instructor in Adult Education, Black Hawk College

Using the Language Experience Approach in the ESL Classroom

Meaningful Input from Meaningful Output

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

How to elicit student output?

✤ 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.)

HolidaysTeacher Gail and her students with

Valentines Day Baskets & Sweets

CustomsNepali funeral pyre

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"

Funeral: Vocabulary

✤ funeral

✤ died

✤ cremate

✤ dead

✤ bury

✤ casket

Google Images: Textbook Themes

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…

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Class Outings & Events

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.

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. _ _ _ _

Ellis Kell Visits Our Class:Word/Spelling Recognition

1. Theman’snameisEllisKell.

2. Heplaysmusiconguitarandhesings.

3. Welikethemusic.

4. Weliketosing.

5. WesingmanysongswithEllis.

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.

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

Art

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.

AchirinFire

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.

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

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?

Children’s Books:The Snowy Day

Google Images: Student-Originated Themes

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

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