An Examination of the LVA Approach to Teaching Reading

Abstract

The Language Vocabulary Acquisition (LVA) Approach is a revolutionary method of reading instruction for emergent and developing readers. It is an intense reading program with high levels of student participation, engagement, and interaction with print text, that yields high outcomes in phonological awareness, reading and writing fluency, and comprehension. The LVA Approach quickly immerses young African-American children into print text, bombarding them with a preponderance of new words, ideas, and general understandings about their surroundings and the world in general. This approach enables them to develop expansive word knowledge, resulting in reading, writing, and thinking competencies at or above their grade level and national norms. This approach focuses on the printed text—words, words, and more words—rather than visual images, picture clues, and illustrations. Research studies on literacy development supported the use of printed text in children's initial efforts in reading (Gough and Hillinger 1980). Words, word constructions, and vocabulary development are the beginning steps to the LVA Approach. Children are able to take the skills learned in the LVA Approach and apply them to children's literature and standard basal reading texts. The LVA Approach was developed by Angela L. Davis who successfully introduced it to her first-grade class during the 2000–2001 school year. This article describes a three-year pilot effort to improve the reading competencies of primary-age children at Bouchet Academy, a Chicago Public School (CPS) located on the southeast side of the city.