Dyslexia and Foreign Language Teaching (FutureLearn)
Warm up activity: common beliefs about dyslexia
Dyslexia can’t be cured.
Boys and girls: differences?
Does dyslexia have to do with visual problems?
Can dyslexia be inherited?
Students with dyslexia talk about some difficulties they
face
Memorising is difficult (dates, names)
Low attention span (less focus, daydreaming)
Low self-esteem
Bad organisation skills and time management (room in a mess, being late at school)
Impact on writing and comprehension
It takes longer to take information and understand it (maths)
Slow reading
Longer time needed to learn things
Spelling and writing is difficult (history)
Seeing patterns in how words are formed = making progress in spelling
What are specific learning differences?
 dyslexia
 dyscalculia
 dyspraxia
 Specific Learning Differences (SpLDs) (also contains ADD) / Specific Learning
Disorders (SLD)
Dyslexic students talk about their experiences (video)
Q1 | To what extent are the student’s experiences different and what is common
about them?
A1 | Common: difficulties with learning new vocabulary; they all develop their own
strategies in order to ‘survive’ language class
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A1 | Anastasia: teaching method; memorising irregular words (learning and spelling);
hours spent on studying without result: wrong perception parents/teachers; using her
own ‘survival techniques’, her own strategies; perseverance
A1 | Brandruff: needs a lot of time; transfer short-term memory to longer-term
memory; meaning of words: easier for symbols (abstract) such as Arabic; not
enjoying learning languages; saved the writing till the end: speaking and reading
were more enjoyable and easier (can differ from other dyslexic students); grammar
not too difficult; vocabulary (mnemonics) is more difficult: you need to understand
the meaning of the words; again: own strategy = speaking to himself
A1 | Kirstie: learning new vocabulary: needs more time; difficult to find grammar
make sense; survival technique: finding patterns between languages; difficulties with
reading: misreading words, especially when reading out loud (teacher role: don’t ask
student to read out loud); her spelling in Spanish is better than in English (phonetic);
understands grammar well when learning it, but in practise it falls apart
A1 | Markos: difficulties with spelling and picking up new languages (French, Arabic);
can’t learn vocabulary; reading was the easiest part (deriving meaning of words
from the context)
Identifying specific learning differences (video)
Giving students a label can also be empowering (appropriate intervention – help
students to learn more effectively).
Context in which you’re teaching: cultural issues, linguistic issues, emotional issues.
Cultural issues
Multicultural group: more difficult. Interaction patterns may be the result of different
cultural norms (e.g. making and maintaining eye contact).
Linguistic issues
What effect does the first language have on the acquisition of learning subsequent
languages?
Don’t forget that students can make common learner’s errors in e.g. their written
work.
Emotional issues
Some students have difficulties in finding their way in a new environment (refugees!).
Emotional well-being has a great impact on our ability to learn.
Assessment process needs to start with observation: use observation schedule and
keep records. Ask help from other teachers.
What should we be looking out for?
Overlap between dyslexia, adhd, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, Asperger’s syndrome.
Needing more time, interaction patterns of your students, students being intolerant of
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changes in the environment, the disorganised student (turning up late with the
wrong books, presenting his ideas in any random order) => SPLD present?
After observation, conversation with the student: how does he perceive the
situation?
Or use a questionnaire which you may send to the parents.
Diagnostic tasks  assessment issues: standardised tests may not be valid (refugees!).
Therefore it’s better to use assessment material designed specifically for multilingual
learners (e.g. Cognitive Assessments for Multilingual Learners – CAML).
Explore first language literacy practices: let the student read out loud a text = good
indication of confidence and fluency with reading. Can the student remember
anything of what he’s read?
You can also ask the student to write for ten minutes in the language that he feels
most confident using: how quickly can he produce text? Issues about handwriting,
pen control, spatial awareness in layout?
Group activities around memory: who is really struggling with retaining information?
You can teach your students memory strategies.
Showing that you’re interested in your students can give them the courage and the
motivation to keep learning, even when this is difficult for them.
Foreign languages and dyslexia
Q1 | Should students with specific learning differences learn foreign or additional
languages? Explain your answer.
A1 | Yes, of course they should. A lot of students with SPLDs have enough
perserverance to learn another language than their first language. They have
obtained certain coping strategies which can help them in learning a second (or
third …) language.
Q2 | Will their foreign or additional language learning difficulties resemble the
problems they encounter in their native language or will they be different?
A2 | They will be different: a student can have more significant problems with a
second language than with their first language.
Q3 | Which strategies listed in the article would you recommend or use with the
dyslexic students you teach?
A3 | Analogous reading: never heard of it as a strategy, but I think I’d use it in future.
I already use the strategy of modelling. The strategy of overlearning will become
more and more important as our society (and our educational system) follows the
newest ICT-developments.
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Inclusion in the language classroom
Q1 | Choose the suggestions on how to accommodate learners with dyslexia which
you think you could easily implement in your teaching context.
A1 | Simplifying written directions: what we call – in Dutch – “taalsteun”, “interactie”
en “context” (language support, interaction and context). Something we can not
only use in our lessons, but also in questions asked for tests or exams.
Highlighting essential information can be done by teachers and students.
Providing additional practice activities sometimes takes a lot of time for the teachers
(especially finding the right (lesson) material for these activities. Luckily, in Flanders,
some educational publishers provide the possibility of offering more diverse material
via their educational website, often linked to the course material / course book.
Developing reading guides could be interesting for science subjects such as physics,
chemistry or biology.
I think every teacher in Flanders writes keywords on the blackboard.
Daily review of previous lessons is important, but I don’t know wether students have
the discipline to do this. Nevertheless, thanks to modern ICT-technology, they have
the opportunity to learn whenever and wherever.
Note sharing: mind that you ask a student who’s strong at note-taking.
Assignment substitutions/adjustments: also for exams (e.g. from written to oral).
Q2 | Are there any accommodations that you would not find feasible?
A2 | Technological devices can only be used when school investments (partially)
focus on these things.
Interview: Accommodating dyslexic learners in the
classroom
Classroom environment
 temperature
 light
 noise
 visual input
Classroom communication and interaction
 student-student interaction
 pair and group work
 careful grouping
 regular partners
 teacher-student interaction
 clear instructions
 positive feedback
 one or two things to improve with concrete strategies
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 providing an overview
 breaking tasks into smaller chunks
Independent study skills
 memory strategies
 time management
 organisation skills
Course content and materials
 breaking bigger tasks into smaller chunks
 lesson pacing
 reviewing and recapping
Applying accommodations in teaching
 Use of a text window, so that students can concentrate on one exercise at a time.
They can block out the unnecessary information.
 Box “fast finishers”: gives students no time to feel bored by non-activity
 Box “Learning difficulties” already indicates what teachers can do the help SPLDstudents.
 Via box “Learning difficulties”: differentiation in task: writing or speaking;
differentiation in support: framework, give students more time to finish their task,
making texts more meaningful with photos, listening to audio with the audioscript at
hand
 Via box “Learning difficulties”: differentiation in expectations: you don’t want
students to do a certain exercise, because they can have difficulties with it, but give
them another exercise on the same subject which proves that they have understood
the new vocabulary and/or grammar.
 Asking students to think of examples relating to their own lives can facilitate the
long-term acquisition of new material.
 Via box “Learning difficulties”: student-student interaction: careful pairing or
grouping: a student confident in working with numbers and text works with a student
who’s confident in working with visuals.
 Course content and materials: reviewing and recapping: revising language
regularly, as stated in one of the “Learning difficulties” boxes.
 Equipment: Let students write on a computer: eliminates worry about neatness of
handwriting, enables correct spelling (leads to higher self-esteem and greater
confidence).
 Each “warm-up” and “lead-in” can provide an overview of what is yet to come.
 “Numbers 0 – 50”: doesn’t seem an easy exercise because of the use of different
fonts.
 Is an exercise such as “Unscramble the words” a good idea for dyslexic students
who sometimes mix up letters in words? I would leave it out.
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Multisensory structured learning – reading
Q1 | Identify the principles of MSL
A1 |
 Simultaneous, multisensory (VAKT: visual/auditory, kinesthetic-tactile)
 Systematic and cumulative
 Direct instruction
 Diagnostic teaching
 Synthetic and analytic instruction
Q2 | Classify the aspects of language which could be taught following these
principles.
A2 |
 Phonology and phonological awareness
 Sound-symbol association
 Syllable instruction
 Morphology
 Syntax
 Semantics
Using IT to teach students with dyslexia
Q1 | In what ways is IT useful to help dyslexic learners?
A1 | Learners have to make use of all their senses. By using IT, you can make learning
systematic, sequential and cumulative. You can create opportunities for
overlearning. The language production can be slowed down. Programmes can be
adapted to the learner’s processing speed. There are programmes that can help
with associating letter patterns with sounds. Games can help students process from
short-term to long-term memory. Different materials are available for each level of
learning (also according to European reference guidelines – A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2).
Q2 | Are there any specific tools, applications, software, websites that you would
recommend?
A2 | There are a lot of websites of which the links can be found on my own, personal
website www.modernetalen.com. I’ve already had my pupils download some apps
which they can use as a kind of dictionary to easily look up words. I use a specific
Flemish website, nedbox.be, to teach Dutch to newcomers (this site has three levels
of difficulty, rated with one, two and three stars). Also, a lot of online dictionaries
have the option of listening to the pronunciation of the word(s). There are also
different “speech robots” online – some of them better than others, but as a teacher,
you can make the best choice for your pupils.
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Q3 | What difficulties/barriers have you experienced in using modern technological
tools when working with dyslexic students?
A3 | The barriers I’ve experienced don’t have anything to do with the learning ability
of my pupils, but rather with the practical side of using IT in class: what do you do
when the internet connection breaks down? What do you do when the wifi doesn’t
connect? What do you do when you haven’t got any computers or laptops at your
disposal in your own classroom?
Q4 | Have you got any suggestions for how to overcome these?
A4 | The government should provide enough money for schools to invest in IT,
especially in these modern times. Also, every child should have the opportunity to
have a computer with internet connection at home.
Role of information technology
What does IT involve?
 computers
 internet
 interactive whiteboards
 tablets
 phones
 software / computer programmes
 apps
 COMMUNICATION
Difficulties dyslexic learners may encounter:
 phonology and sound system of languages
 memory
 auditory and visual perception
 sequencing
 speech
 reading fluency
Principles of working with dyslexic learners
 help learners make use of all their senses
 make learning systematic, sequential and cumulative
 create opportunities for overlearning
 provide a good model
 help to develop mnemonic strategies
Metacognitive approach
 is about what learners know and about learners knowing how they learn best.
How can we help?
 slow down the language model
 give learners enough time to respond
 adopt a structured approach
 pace the learning carefully and ensure mastery before moving on
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 provide lots of opportunities for practice and reinforcement
 don’t assume something has been learnt if it has not been taught
How to alleviate visual stress / Meares-Irlen syndrome?
 change background colour
Help students use the vocabulary in real situations:
 provide plenty of opportunities for practice
 allow students to interact with native speakers or people who know the language
well
 let students use social tools to communicate with fellow learners
Dyslexic students talk about learning strategies
Q1 | Do the students you work with use similar strategies?
Q2 | Are there any additional learning strategies your dyslexic learners use or you
recommend them to try?
I also put the desks in a U-shape when I teach.
I’m organising a school visit in Germany for my pupils who are studying German. I’m
hoping to be able to participate within an Erasmus Plus Project to work together with
a school in Germany, in the Netherlands and in Poland.
In my German classes, I also organise group works around certain projects.
The sentence which keeps popping up in my mind: “Learning should be associated
with fun.”
Again, for my German classes, I made flashcards with “Deutsch im Klassenzimmer” –
“German in the classroom”, useful sentences my pupils can use in the classroom.
I myself as a teacher could use mind maps more during my lessons. I think my pupils
could benefit from this as well.
Scanning and skimming are two reading techniques which we learn our pupils for all
languages they study in Flanders (Belgium): Dutch (mother tongue), French, English
and German.
Telling in advance what the class is going to be about corresponds with giving a
certain framework to the pupils, which gives them more structure.
Teaching languages to small groups of pupils is indeed very good. I have the luck to
be able to do that: in my first year of German I have seven pupils, in my second year
two pupils, in my third year four pupils and in my fifth year twelve.
A Powerpoint slide full of text isn’t good: you have to bare in mind the “seven by
seven” rule: seven lines with seven words each is a maximum.
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Teaching vocabulary and grammar (video)
 Small chunks
 Explicit instruction
 Repetition and recycling
 Multisensory presentation and practice
Teaching vocabulary
 Limit number of new items in one lesson
 Focus on pronunciation + meaning
 Familiar context
 Avoid presenting very similar items together
 Visual + kinaesthetic connections to auditory input (e.g. pictures, mime, skywriting,
mnemonics)
 Practice activities (e.g. word cards, games)
Teaching grammar
 Build on already familiar constructions
 Point out rules/exceptions
 Multisensory practice (colour/cuisinaire rods)
 Metacognitive strategies – explicitly making choices
 Move from oral work to controlled practice with minimal writing (arranging cards,
completing sentences) and then to free writing
Conclusion
 All individuals with SpLDs are different – find which strategies work for them.
 Allow plenty of time for development.
Assignment
Main aim is to teach/practise vocabulary. In this case, I’m teaching verbs which
describe what the doctor is examining (context: at the doctor’s). This is aimed at
secondary school pupils, language level B1. They have learnt the verbs in other
contexts and are now applying them to a doctor’s examination and visit.
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The task only takes about 20 minutes. The pupils will learn the verbs which describe
what the doctor is examining. They will also learn how to incorporate those verbs into
a short text and – in a later stage – how to use them in a conversation.
As a preparation, I use different pictures of a doctor examining his/her patient. I show
the pictures in a Powerpoint presentation. I label them with the correct verbs.
In a second round, I will show the pupils the pictures without the verb labels, but I will
do a little mime or show them by using gestures or performing the action itself.
When I think the pupils are more confident with the use of the verbs in this ‘medical’
context, I wouldn’t show the pictures anymore. I would ask a pupil to come in front of
the class. I would act as a doctor, the pupil would be the patient. I would act out the
different acts and the other pupils would have to name them. Of course, I would
need the necessary medical equipment, such as a thermometer, a stethoscope, a
blood pressure monitor.
In a fourth round, I remove the verb labels in the Powerpoint presentation and ask
the pupils to name what they see in the pictures.
I also prepare a text gap version. In the last stage, they work individually to complete
the sentences with the correct verb (same “medical examination” context).
The pupils could later use these verbs in a conversation (dialogue) they prepare
between a doctor and his/her patient.
This activity is beneficial for dyslexic pupils because of the pictures and the miming,
using gestures and performing the actions. This all makes it multisensory. It’s also very
advantageous that they can use it in context right after learning the verbs so they
will be more likely to remember them.
My review on Jana’s assignment
Q1 | Please consider the detail, clarity and logic of the description of the task design
and the explanations given.
A1 | The description of the task design is very well detailed. It contains clarity and
logic, because you number the different steps or stages (from one to nine). You also
give a clear description of the different actions the teacher takes, and what actions
are expected from the students. A big plus for this assignment is that you teach them
both vocabulary and grammar.
Q2 | To what extent is this plan ‘dyslexia-friendly’?
A2 | This activity is beneficial for dyslexic students because of the visual (pictures)
and audio (pronunciation) support. Changing position with other students to correct
their mate’s picture (as mentioned in step 5) makes it kinaesthetic. This is a
multisensory assignment. It’s also very advantageous that your students can use the
words in context right after learning them so they will be more likely to remember
them.
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Q3 | How effective are the methods/tasks with which the chosen language focus is
taught?
A3 | This question is partially answered in the previous box. The fact that the tasks are
multisensory makes it a good assignment for students with dyslexia. Also, giving your
students some homework, means that they have to keep working with the new
vocabulary outside the classroom. Your last step, using the vocabulary in a dialogue,
is a good example of transfer (short-term memory / long-term memory).
Developing phonological and orthographic awareness
Multi-sensory structured learning (MSL) approach
Multi-sensory teaching
 carefully structured
 small, cumulative steps
 ample practice
 frequent revision
 direct and explicit explanation of linguistic structures
 drills
 activating different sensory channels
Hearing, seeing, saying, writing
Multi-sensory teaching brings together
 what a letter or a word looks like
 how it sounds
 how the speech organs are used to pronounce it
 what hand moves are needed to write it
Multi-sensory activities to help students raise their phonological awareness:
 differentiating between sounds
 dividing words into syllables and sounds
 adding or removing sounds to form new words
Multi-sensory approach
teaches how sounds correspond to letters
Phonological awareness is the knowledge that spoken words are made of tiny segments
which are sounds.
Phonological awareness is an ability to:
 identify
 distinguish between
 manipulate the sound structure of words
Students should be able to identify:
 words
 syllables
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 onsets and rimes
 individual sounds
Sound manipulation involves:
 isolating
 segmenting (dividing)
 blending (putting together)
 adding
 deleting (removing)
 substituting (changing)
Set sequence of activities for developing phonological awareness
from
LARGER

SMALLER
sound units
WHOLE WORDS

SYLLABLES

ONSETS and RIMES

INDIVIDUAL SOUNDS
Cues that facilitate perception of word sound structure:
tokens
boxes
markers
counters
pictures
gestures
clapping
tapping
What is difficult about learning to spell and read in English?
1. a single sound can be represented by more than one letter (e.g. flight)
2. a single sound may be represented by different letters or letter combinations in
different words (e.g. flight, cry, life)
3. a given letter or a combination of letters may represent more than one sound (e.g.
bread, mean)
4. there are exceptions and irregular words that need to be rote-learned
Dyslexic learners need:
 clear explanations
 direct presentation of the rules
 ample repetition and practice opportunities
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Q1 | How can multisensory teaching help dyslexic students in learning how to read
and spell?
A1 | Carefully structured: dyslexic students need structure (we learnt that in a
previous lesson); small, cumulative steps: dyslexic students need chunks of
information; ample practice; frequent revision (both are needed to be able to
transfer information from the short-term memory to the long-term memory); drills can
also contribute to this; dyslexic students need the activation of different sensory
channels (auditory, visual, tactile, kinaesthetic).
Q2 | What is phonological awareness?
A2 |The knowledge that spoken words are made of tiny segments which are sounds.
Q3 | What kind of phonological units do students need to work with when they read?
A3 | Words, syllables, onsets and rimes, individual sounds.
Q4 | What is the recommended sequence of activities for developing students’
phonological awareness?
A4 | From larger to smaller sound units (whole words  syllables  onsets and rimes
 individual sounds).
Q5 | What is tricky about learning to read in English?
A5 | 1. a single sound can be represented by more than one letter (e.g. flight)
2. a single sound may be represented by different letters or letter combinations in
different words (e.g. flight, cry, life)
3. a given letter or a combination of letters may represent more than one sound (e.g.
bread, mean)
4. there are exceptions and irregular words that need to be rote-learned
Q6 | How can knowledge of syllable structure help students learn how to spell?
A6 | There are several productive spelling patterns and a number of spellling rules.
For example: the position of a sound in a word and the surrounding sounds have an
effect on the spelling of this sound. Syllable analysis into onsets and rimes also
supports spelling.
Rimes prove to play a crucial role here. Presenting words in sets classified according
to the rimes they share is very useful (bat – cat – rat).
Q7 | Which activities are helpful in developing phonological awareness?
A7 | Segmenting and blending onsets and rimes (colour coding); word slides or flip
cards to form words; manipulation tasks (leaving off, adding or substituting
beginning, final or medial sound to form new words)
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Developing dyslexic students’ reading skills
Lower order decoding processes
 Letter-sound correspondence
 Words and their meanings
 Processing morphological and syntactic structures
Higher order processing
 Understanding information
 Evaluating information
Pre-reading activities
 Pre-teach vocabulary and help with lower-order decoding
 Motivate students to read the text
 Activate their background knowledge of the topic
 Stimulate expectations
While-reading activities
 Grade the tasks starting from global understanding going to more detail
 Demonstrate effective reading strategies and reflect on them
 Use multi-sensory tasks
 Don’t ask learners to read aloud
 Encourage extensive reading for pleasure
Post-reading activities
 Use the texts for further language practice
 Use role-plays, discussions, simulations, retelling for practising speaking
 Use reading texts as models for writing
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