TEACHING ENGLISH TO TEACHING ENGLISH TO CHILDREN WITH DYSLEXIACHILDREN WITH DYSLEXIA

PAOLO IOTTIITALY2010

DEFINITIONDEFINITIONDyslexia 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 SYMPTOMSSIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Pre – school age children

Early elementary school – age children

Older elementary school – age children

PRE – SCHOOL AGE PRE – SCHOOL AGE CHILDRENCHILDREN

◦Learns new words slowly

◦Has difficulty rhyming words, as in nursery rhymes

◦Late in establishing a dominant hand

EARLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EARLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – AGE CHILDREN– 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 OLDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – AGE CHILDRENSCHOOL – 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◦ Due to fear of speaking incorrectly, some children become withdrawn and shy or become bullies out of their inability to understand the social cues in their environment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 CONDITIONS THAT OFTEN CO-OCCUR WITH DYSLEXIACO-OCCUR WITH DYSLEXIA

Dysgraphia

Dyspraxia

Dyscalculia

Specific Language Impairment

Cluttering

TEACHING TIPSTEACHING TIPS

Start the foreign language course with an extended oral phase

Reduce course objectivesMotivationChose a course-book with a very

clear and transparent layout

READINGREADING

Select shorter passages for reading comprehension

Read with a purposeDiscuss vocabulary before readingCloze exercises Enlarge the printTeach the child to use his finger

when readingTeach the child to skim for

informationDon't Force Oral Reading

WRITINGWRITINGDifference 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 wellTeach them different planning techniques

(mind mapping...)Tell your students to write in pencil in classUse the blackboardLet dyslexic students use a laptop in class

(if available)

LISTENINGLISTENINGExplain important things in the

child’s first languageUse a small tape recorderUse visuals and picturesDo not expect dyslexic students

to be able to listen and write at the same time

Speak in simple, short sentences

SPEAKINGSPEAKING

Never force a dyslexic child to speak

Encourage them with lots of positive feedback

THE ORTON-GILLINGHAM THE ORTON-GILLINGHAM METHODMETHOD

Developed in the early-20th century

Language-based Multisensory Structured Sequential Cumulative Cognitive Flexible

Features of the ApproachFeatures of the ApproachLanguage- 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: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 Structured, Sequential, and Cumulative: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: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: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 THE ORTON-GILLINGHAM APPROACHAPPROACH

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 TEACHINGMULTISENSORY TEACHINGVisual-Auditory-Kinetic-Tactile

teaching method (VAKT)

Visual memory: from seeing the letter

Auditory memory: hearing the sound

Tactile memory: the sense of touchKinetic memory: body movement

Visual memoryVisual memorySound/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 RemindersVisual RemindersPicturesFlash cards

„b“ and „d“ confusion

Left and right hand

Auditory memoryAuditory memorySound/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 memoryAuditory memorySyllables - listen (hear) syllables in spoken

words - discriminate number of

syllables in spoken words - segment words into syllables - blend syllables into a word

Tactile memoryTactile memoryTracing the letter with fingersTracing the letter with penAirwriting / SkywritingBackwritingMaking the letter out of

plasticine, play-dough, clay or sandpaper

Rice Box

Kinetic memoryKinetic memoryFeel articulatory (lips/facial) muscles

moveDrawing the letter LARGE on the

carpetBody language: pantomime, gesturesBody alphabetSand / crayon writingPantomime, gesturespat or tap out syllablesSongs with movements

VAKT Procedure 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-buildingConfidence-buildingThe 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 Confidence-buidling excercisesexcercisesPositive 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 interestsCharacterisitcs

SpellingReadingWritingMath/s

Treatment – hints and tipsTreatment – hints and tipsThe Goldfish RoomPupils highlight their own spelling

errorsReading using a pencilMaking a window (reading)Using scotch tapeSay each word child hesitates on

or can not read yetSitting not at the back of the class

Treatment – hints and tipsTreatment – hints and tipsPrefer 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 frequentlySpecial folder - all the materials: independent learner

ActivitiesActivitiesSorting: 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 dictationNumbers: rolling two dices and

countingScrabble Looing for antonyms, a specific

word or new wordsMatching pictures with

words/sentencesCloze excercises: filling the words,

finishing the sentencesContextual 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