Modified Language Experience Approach (MLEA)

The main pedagogical approach adopted in teaching English is STELLAR (Strategies for English Language Learning and Reading). The Modified Language Experience (MLEA) is one of the three approaches adopted in teaching English at the lower primary levels. Following Shared Book Reading, MLEA comprises a shared experience that is linked to the Big Book that has been currently read. Some of these shared experiences include students making hipster pratas and craft activities on the life cycle of a butterfly. These shared experiences provide both the context and content for students to practise the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. With instructional scaffolding from the teacher, students think, talk, read and write about their experiences as they are guided through to make the connections between oral and written language.

As it centers on personal experiences and is based on self-generated vocabulary and grammar by students, MLEA is highly learner-centered. It is also aligned to the Shared Book Approach’s focus on the reading process while integrating it with writing, speaking, and listening.

A typical MLEA lesson spans over three days as students navigate from Class Writing (MLEA 1) to Group Writing (MLEA 2) to Individual Writing (MLEA 3). With the aid of the teacher who transcribes their oral input, students first come up with a piece of class writing. This becomes the basis for group writing, when students collaborate in small mixed ability groups before they go on to individual writing.

Students making their own hipster prata and writing about their experience: