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TEACHING ENGLISH TO CHILDREN WITH DYSLEXIA PAOLO IOTTI ITALY 2010 DEFINITION Dyslexia is a learning disorder that manifests itself primarily as a difficulty with reading and spelling. Although dyslexia is thought to be the result of a neurological difference, it is not an intellectual disability. Dyslexia is diagnosed in people of all levels of intelligence: below average, average, above average, and highly gifted. SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS Pre – school age children Early elementary school – age children Older elementary school – age children PRE – SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN ◦ Learns new words slowly ◦ Has difficulty rhyming words, as in nursery rhymes ◦ Late in establishing a dominant hand EARLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – AGE CHILDREN ◦ Difficulty learning the alphabet ◦ Difficulty with associating sounds with the letters that represent them (sound – symbol correspondence) ◦ Difficulty identifying or generating rhyming words, or counting syllables in words (phonological awareness) ◦ Difficulty segmenting words into individual sounds, or blending sounds to make words (phonemic awareness) ◦ Difficulty with word retrieval or naming problems ◦ Difficulty learning to decode words ◦ Confusion with before / after, right / left, over / under,… ◦ Difficulty distinguishing between similar sounds in words, mixing up sounds in multisyllable words (“aminal” for animal, “bisghette” for spaghetti) OLDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – AGE CHILDREN ◦ Slow or inaccurate reading ◦ Difficulty associating individual words with their correct meanings ◦ Difficulty with time keeping and concept of time ◦ Difficulty with organization skills ◦ Due to fear of speaking incorrectly, some children become withdrawn and shy or become bullies out of their inability to understand the social cues in their environment ◦ Difficulty comprehending rapid instructions, following more than one command at a time or remembering the sequence of things ◦ Reversals of letters (b for d) and a reversal of words (saw for was) are typical among children who have dyslexia. Reversals are also common for children age 6 and younger who don`t have dyslexia. But with dyslexia, the reversals persist. ◦ Children with dyslexia may fail to see similarities and differences in letters and words, may not recognize the spacing that organizes letters into separate words, any may be unable to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word CONDITIONS THAT OFTEN CO-OCCUR WITH DYSLEXIA Dysgraphia Dyspraxia Dyscalculia Specific Language Impairment Cluttering TEACHING TIPS Start the foreign language course with an extended oral phase Reduce course objectives Motivation Chose a course-book with a very clear and transparent layout READING Select shorter passages for reading comprehension Read with a purpose Discuss vocabulary before reading Cloze exercises Enlarge the print Teach the child to use his finger when reading Teach the child to skim for information Don't Force Oral Reading WRITING Difference between the letter-sound correspondence of their first language and English Teach irregular words on a whole word basis. Teach the words in context as well Teach them different planning techniques (mind mapping...) Tell your students to write in pencil in class Use the blackboard Let dyslexic students use a laptop in class (if available) LISTENING Explain important things in the child’s first language Use a small tape recorder Use visuals and pictures Do not expect dyslexic students to be able to listen and write at the same time Speak in simple, short sentences SPEAKING Never force a dyslexic child to speak Encourage them with lots of positive feedback THE ORTON-GILLINGHAM METHOD Developed in the early-20th century Language-based Multisensory Structured Sequential Cumulative Cognitive Flexible Features of the Approach Language based based on a technique of studying and teaching language understanding the nature of human language the mechanisms involved in learning, and the language-learning processes in individuals Multisensory: teaching sessions are action-oriented interaction between the teacher and the student simultaneous use of multiple sensory input channels using auditory, visual, and kinesthetic elements Structured, Sequential, and Cumulative: teacher introduces the elements of the language systematically sound-symbol associations along with linguistic rules generalizations are introduced in a linguistically logical, understandable order Cognitive: students learn about the history of the English language study the many generalizations and rules that govern its structure They also learn how best they can learn and apply the language knowledge for achieving reading and writing competencies Flexible: teaching is diagnostic and prescriptive in nature teachers try to ensure the learner is not simply recognising a pattern and applying it without understanding when confusion of a previously taught rule is discovered, it is re-taught from the beginning THE ORTON-GILLINGHAM APPROACH teaching the sounds that letter makes letters make sounds sounds make words and syllables words make sentences sentences make paragraphs paragraphs make stories and reports MULTISENSORY TEACHING Visual-Auditory-Kinetic-Tactile teaching method (VAKT) Visual memory: from seeing the letter Auditory memory: hearing the sound Tactile memory: the sense of touch Kinetic memory: body movement Visual memory Sound/Symbol association - look at mouth of teacher - look at the letters - discriminate the letters - look at the card with the letter and key word or picture Syllables - look at mouth of teacher - look at word to identify a number of syll. - look at word to identify vowel sounds Visual Reminders Pictures Flash cards „b“ and „d“ confusion Left and right hand Auditory memory Sound/Symbol association - listen (hear) the sound and identify its name with symbol - listen/hear the sound and identify it with its symbol - say key word & sound - discriminate sounds Auditory memory Syllables - listen (hear) syllables in spoken words - discriminate number of syllables in spoken words - segment words into syllables - blend syllables into a word Tactile memory Tracing the letter with fingers Tracing the letter with pen Airwriting / Skywriting Backwriting Making the letter out of plasticine, playdough, clay or sandpaper Rice Box Kinetic memory Feel articulatory (lips/facial) muscles move Drawing the letter LARGE on the carpet Body language: pantomime, gestures Body alphabet Sand / crayon writing Pantomime, gestures pat or tap out syllables Songs with movements VAKT Procedure say the word, trace the word with two fingers while saying each part of the word, say the word again; write the word without looking at the word card and then compare what was written to the word card; repeat the first step until the word is written correctly three consecutive times without looking at the prompt card. Confidence-building The difficulty with dyslexia is that it is not visible. If the child had a broken arm, everyone would be rushing around giving extra consideration. 'Of course he can't write - his arm is broken! There's nothing wrong with his intelligence.' But no-one ever says 'Of course he can't spell - he has inherited a different pattern of brain circuits! There's nothing wrong with his intelligence.' Confidence-buidling excercises Positive statements „I do a good job when I work hard." "I feel good about myself when I try hard.„ Positive self-esteem Things that I am good at Things that I am no so good at Child´s interests Characterisitcs Spelling Reading Writing Math/s Treatment – hints and tips The Goldfish Room Pupils highlight their own spelling errors Reading using a pencil Making a window (reading) Using scotch tape Say each word child hesitates on or can not read yet Sitting not at the back of the class Treatment – hints and tips Prefer handouts to the board (minimum) - Arial size 14 - sheets: shades of yellow, green, orange - different colour of each line - keywords printed on bold - images used frequently Special folder - all the materials: independent learner Activities Sorting: cards showing pictures of objects with the problem sounds, and two boxes 1) T names the object, S picks the correct card 2) S repeats the word, and places in the right box that is labeled for the sound Odd One Out: four pictures are named and odd one is pointed out (hat-pen-cat-map) Picture dictation Numbers: rolling two dices and counting Scrabble Looing for antonyms, a specific word or new words Matching pictures with words/sentences Cloze excercises: filling the words, finishing the sentences Contextual guessing Notebook / cards with difficult words (homonyms – filling in gaps) Listening for a specific word: children clap when hear the word Reading for a specific word: underlining or highlighting the word Using realia: toys, equipment of the class Finding differences and similiarities: pictures IT: computer softwares
