The Language Experience Approach is a method of helping students to learn to read which is explained by Andrew Johnson of the University of Minnesota in this article. https://www.academia.edu/25854781/READING_INSTRUCTION_THE_LANGUAGE_EXPERIENCE_APPROACH His article is short and he explains the method quite clearly. There are also videos to watch.
The article explains an “innovative” approach to reading which is very close to what many TPRS teachers do in class. I myself use a wordless graphic novel, such as The Arrival, that the students find interesting. Then I ask them to tell me what happens in the chapter we have been looking at and talking about. As they tell their version of the story, I type what they say on my computer and their text is projected on the wall. Since we have been discussing the images, they already have the vocabulary they need to narrate the story and I auto-correct with no comments as I type. So we have a text that I can read with them, then give to them to read again at home.
I find the idea of scaffolding their reading as suggested here very interesting and will certainly be using it in the future.
