An Adapted Language Experience Approach: Helping Secondary Students with Content Area Reading

Ohio Reading Teacher, Fall 2003-Spring 2004 by Hoffner, Helen

I'm supposed to include Bill in my social studies class but he can't read the textbook. Why should I try to teach him history when he can't read? Shouldn't I forget the social studies lesson and just teach a basic word list? What do I do with this student who can't read the textbook?

Many teachers face this dilemma. Students with significant reading disabilities are included in general education classrooms. Often these students are able to comprehend and discuss content area material in classes such as science and social studies. There are some, however, who cannot read their textbooks independently nor compose age appropriate written responses. Parents and school administrators expect these students to master content area material despite their low reading ability. Teachers are torn between meeting the content area requirements and helping students improve their reading ability.

I have used an adaptation of the Language Experience Approach to help secondary school students master content area material and improve their reading skills. This approach is appropriate for students who can understand the content but lack the sight vocabulary and word recognition skills to read grade level materials independently.

The Language Experience Approach (Vacca, et.al., 2002) has been used traditionally with new readers, adults as well as children. The Language Experience Approach uses the student's own oral language to develop sight vocabulary and basic concepts about print. A teacher begins a typical Language Experience Approach lesson by asking the students to discuss a recent event such as a class field trip. The students dictate sentences that the teacher writes on chart paper, on the chalkboard, or on the computer. The students then read the sentences back to the teacher. As the students re-read the sentences, they build their sight vocabulary and develop fluency in their reading. I have adapted the traditional Language Experience Approach to help secondary students who struggle with content area reading. In this adaptation, students dictate sentences based upon content area material rather than personal experiences. This manuscript shows an example in which an Adapted Language Experience Approach has been effective for secondary students included in the general education classroom.

The Language Experience Approach

Research has shown the Language Experience Approach (LEA) to be effective in many settings with students of varying ages and needs. Sharp (1989) used the Language Experience Approach to help six middle school students in a remedial setting. He started with "a regular language experience story based on something that happened over summer vacation" (Sharp, 1989, p. 109). Those lessons familiarized the students with the procedure. He then read from his students' social studies text as they listened. He stopped often to discuss the concepts with the students. The teacher and students listed key words from the text on the chalkboard. The students then dictated a summary as the teacher typed the summary on the computer. The content area teachers in Sharp's school provided Sharp with the information he needed to coordinate his lessons. The content area teachers also gave Sharp informal reports indicating that the students showed increased participation in their content area classes after using the Language Experience Approach. Sharp (1989) concluded, "To be truly effective, remedial programs need to focus on supporting subject area learning and helping students to deal with expository textual material" (p. 108).

Perez (Perez, 2000) adapted the Language Experience Approach to assist second language learners in the regular classroom. He noted that an adapted Language Experience Approach could help second language learners understand basic information about text such as spaces between words and directionality. Perez (2000) found that as students participated in the Language Experience Approach, they also began to understand the planning, drafting, and revision stages of writing.

For many years I served as a reading specialist working with students with learning disabilities. My role enabled me to visit classrooms and assist teachers in designing interventions that would help students find success in inclusive settings. I developed partnerships with teachers. These teachers shared their anecdotal notes and records of student progress with me so that we could help everyone reach their goals.

Adapting LEA

Like Sharp (1989), I wanted to help my students with learning disabilities improve their reading skills. My students, however, received their instruction in the general education classroom rather than in a remedial setting. I adapted Sharp's (1989) work to fit the framework of the general education classroom.

Todd, a 15-year-old student with a learning disability, was included in a 10th grade history class that I observed. Anecdotal teacher notes indicated that Todd showed curiosity when the textbook reading passages were discussed. He often indicated that he would like to learn more about a particular topic. Todd volunteered information he had learned by listening and he asked questions to further his knowledge. The teacher noted, however, that Todd had difficulty using the textbook independently. He was not able to complete written assignments at the same level as his classmates. Todd's teacher and I wanted to help him succeed in the inclusive setting.