Because reading is first and foremost a language comprehension process focusing on the visual form of spoken language, such teaching strategies as language experience and assisted reading have much to offer beginning readers. These techniques have been slow to become accepted by many adult literacy instructors; however, the two strategies, particularly when used in combination, have more to offer to adult illiterates than to children who are learning to read. In essence, the language experience approach is based on a "dictate and read" strategy in which learners dictate or record brief statements pertaining to incidents of significance to their own life. These statements are then typed as soon as possible for the student to use as reading material. Text may be transcribed as it was dictated or may be scrambled. Assisted reading, which is a process of learning by immersion, is particularly effective when used in conjunction with the language experience approach. In the first of the three stages of assisted reading, the learner observes while an assistant moves a finger from word to word across the page while pronouncing them. In the second stage, the reader recognizes and vocalizes some of the words before the experienced reader supplies them. By the third stage, the beginning reader takes the initiative by pronouncing all the words he or she can while the assistant supplies the remaining words. Underlying both techniques is the assumption that reading is learned to a much greater extent than it is taught. (MN)