The Language Experience Approach (LEA) commonly uses which method to connect oral language to print?

• A. It uses children's own spoken language and prints it to create authentic text.
• B. It relies on teacher-dictated texts only.
• C. It requires expensive equipment.
• D. It excludes oral language.

Answer: (A)

LEA connects oral language to print by turning what a child says into the reading material the class uses. In this approach, the teacher records a student’s spoken narrative exactly as it’s spoken and prints it verbatim, then treats that text as authentic reading material. Because the text comes from the child’s own language and experiences, it feels meaningful and motivates beginning readers and writers. Reading and rereading the exact phrasing helps children see how spoken language maps to letters and words, supports decoding of common words, expands vocabulary from their own speech, and reinforces print concepts like left-to-right progression and punctuation as they discuss and interpret the text. It also supports writing, since students can imitate the structure and language of their own spoken text in their writing. This method centers on the child’s oral language rather than relying on teacher-dictated text, and it doesn’t require expensive equipment.