Post on 13-Jun-2015
description
No student left behind: dealing with learning difficulties in the EFL classroom
By Lic. Silvia Rovegno
Task 1 – True or False?
Learning disabilities are all the same
• What are learning difficulties?• LDs affect one or more of the ways that a
person takes in, stores, or uses information.• What types then?
Phonological processing
Memory and attention
Processing speed
Language processing
Perceptual-motor
procesing
Executive functions
Visual-spatial processing
More boys than girls are affected by learning disabilities
1 - 4
Learning difficulties and Attention Deficit Disorder only affect children.
Adults grow out of the disorders.
Learning disabilities are only academic in nature. They do not affect other areas of a person’s life.
Children with learning disabilities are identified in kindergarten and first grade.
School accommodations and Individual Education Plans (IEPs) give students with learning disabilities an unfair advantage over their peers
Learning disabilities can be cured or out-grown
Dyslexic children are gifted.
Left-handedness is a sign of dyslexia.
People with LDs shouldn’t learn a foreign language.
Common Types of Learning Disabilities
Dyslexia Difficulty reading Problems reading, writing, spelling, speaking
Dyscalculia Difficulty with math Problems doing math problems, understanding time,
using money
Dysgraphia Difficulty with writing Problems with handwriting, spelling, organizing ideas
Dyspraxia (Sensory
Integration Disorder)
Difficulty with fine motor skills Problems with hand–eye coordination, balance, manual
dexterity
Dysphasia/Aphasia Difficulty with language Problems understanding spoken language, poor reading
comprehension
Auditory Processing
Disorder
Difficulty hearing differences between
sounds
Problems with reading, comprehension, language
Visual Processing Disorder Difficulty interpreting visual information Problems with reading, math, maps, charts, symbols,
pictures
What is dyslexia?
• Neurologically-based disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language.
• it is manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic.
• Dyslexia is not a result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment, inadequate instructional or environmental opportunities, or other limiting conditions, but may occur together with these conditions.
Central problems:recognizing phonemes making the connection between the sound
(phoneme) and the letter symbol (grapheme) for that sound
blending sounds into wordsrecognizing word meaning
Dyslexia: Early childhood
• Difficulty with fastening coat, shoe laces etc• Clumsiness• Difficulty with following a simple rhythm• Problems understanding directional prepositions (in/out, up/down,
under/over, etc.)• Confusion between right and left• Excessive spoonerisms, e.g. ‘par cark’, ‘beg and acon’• Difficulty carrying out more than one instruction• Difficulty naming objects• Difficulty remembering what day it is, their birthday, their address,
telephone number• Difficulty learning the months, days and time
Task 2 - In his own wordsPoor handwriting with many reversals and badly formed letters
Letters, syllables and words omitted,
Inconsistent spelling
Primary Years: Reading
• Missing out word(s) on a line or reading the same word(s) or line twice• Failure to recognise familiar words• Confusion between similar looking words (on/no, for/of/off/from,
ever/even/every)• Inability to blend letters together• Difficulty breaking down long words into syllables and putting the
syllables back into correct order (e.g. “frantic’for ‘fantastic’, ‘suspectible’ for ‘susceptible’ , ‘affectedly’ for ‘affectionately’ )
Primary Years: Writing and Spelling• Poor handwriting with many reversals and badly formed letters• Inability to copy accurately, particularly from the blackboard• Messy work with many crossings out and words tried several
times (e.g.sens, cens, sns, scens, sense)• Persistent confusion with similar looking letters (b/d, p/g, n/u,
m/w, s/z)• Letters, syllables and words omitted, inserted ir ub tge wrong
order• Lack of or indiscriminate use of punctuation• Indiscriminate use of capital letters ( e.g. raBBit )• Inability to stay close to the margin
Dyslexia and EFL: main areas of difficulty• Maintaining the pace of the class• Unable to respond immediately when called upon
spontaneously• Comprehending spoken language especially when spoken
quickly or when sounds are too different from native language
• Breaking down words of more than one syllable (prefixes, suffixes and compounds)
• Understanding and applying grammatical rules• Hearing a word and recognizing it as the same word in
writing
How to help sts with learning difficulties?
Classroom Management
Assessment
Lesson Planning
Material Design
Classroom Management
Seating arrangement: sit sts with difficulties closer to you so as to quickly assist them during class
Timing: Allow extra time to complete tasks and tests
Use visual organizers: when writing on wb (colours, shapes, drawings)Divide instructions by action,
provide demonstration and examples
Block out extraneous stimuli
Lesson planning• Don’t change the content, change the
teaching method• Use ICT• Use multisensory strategies: See it, Hear it,
Say it, Write it, Type it, Draw it, Act it out!
Crombie, Thomson & McColl 2004http://www.languageswithoutlimits.co.uk/dyslexia.html
Explicit
Preview
SegmentSequence
Review
Material design: reading activities
• Include visual aids
http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html
Visualization example Literature
• Segment text
• Types of tasks:– Prefer closed, short questions– matching -up – Banked cloze– avoid multiple-choice questions
• Provide key wordlists to promote comprehension• Don't ask sts to read aloud
Writing
• Provide guidelines for writing ( sample structure, key words, guiding questions)
• Provide words sts have difficulty with• Reduce copying tasks (eg, from wb)• Correct only TL
Vocabulary acquisition• Mnemonics• Flash cards• Picture dictionaries• Often-used words lists• Recycling, recycling, recycling
Assessment• Should reflect the type of tasks done in class• Structured and sequenced• Provide study guide • Only TL corrected (writing tasks)• Feedback for written work should be given
orally• Oral testing as far as possible
Last but not least..• Each child is different• What works for one may not work for another• Work with school psychologist• Ask for advice from former teachers
Thank you very much
for your attention!!
Silvia