Removing barriers to EFL learners with dyslexia- Recommended programs

Dyslexia, whose etymology may say a lot, is a word deriving from the greek language, using the prefix dys(=difficulty) and the word lexis, meaning ‘word’  is a learning disability which is “neurological in origin” (Mobinizad, 2018). It is reported as a language-based learning disability, as the extent of reading, writing and spelling difficulties may differ among different languages and cultures, which gives a justification in the fact that it is a rather continuum and not a distinct category. What researchers and experts have agreed on is that dyslexia is connected to phonological deficit, verbal memory and verbal processing (BDA,2010).

As being neurological in origin, dyslexia is connected to impairments to speech process (Frith,1999) and constitutes students not able to make connections between what they read and understand. Reading is a skill which is not an innate ability, thus, acquired and learnt. People with dyslexia face serious difficulties when it comes to reading as “early phonological problems should precede the emergence of reading problems” (Fawcett & Nicolson, 1995). In their attempt to learn how to read they struggle as to pronounce what they see in the written form. Research has shown that dyslexic students have difficulty in detecting, segmenting and manipulating individual speech-sounds in words in a conscious and explicit way (Tijms, 2004).

Reading is the skill in which students have to understand a written down speech. It concerns a skill that is acquired and taught when both linguistic and cognitive sub-skills are combined . In order to do so, they have to connect and match a series of symbols to speech sounds. Graphemes function as representative symbols of phonemes and that is the reason why learning to read is connected to learning how written symbols represent the sounds of language. According to Charolles, Cole and Serniclaes (2006) its goal is actually the ability to understand what is being read. Both Langer et al., (2013) and Martin et al., (2015) agree that “an essential requirement for learning how to read is the development of a high level, organized brain system, which can integrate orthographic, phonological and lexico-semantic characteristics of written words”.

Both Lyon et al. (2003) and Shaywitz & Shaywitz (2003), agree that students facing dyslexia have difficulties with word decoding, recognition as well as spelling and these in turn have a negative impact on reading abilities such as comprehension and vocabulary growth. Reading is assessed by measuring decoding, fluency, and comprehension (Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2003). Contrary to learning how to speak a language, reading and writing are two skills that need to be taught and learnt in a conscious way. Learning how to read and write is not an ability that humans are born with and thus, explicit instruction is necessary. Reading, indeed, “consists of measures of phonologic awareness, phonologic coding, and working memory as well as rapid naming” (Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2003)

Throughout the years much research has been done regarding reading disability. Indeed, in 1982 Vellutino and Scanlon explored the arguments which maintained the idea that reading difficulties were attributed to deficits in visual processing, memory, attention and rule learning. They drew the conclusion that all of these theories lacked supportive evidence and failed to confirm the assumption of specificity concerning dyslexia. Later, dyslexia was linked to deficits in the temporary visual system (Lovegrove, Garzia, & Nicholson, 1990) and in the perception of visual motion (Eden et al., 1996). However, as it was stated a few years later in 2004 visual deficits were not associated with reading difficulties (Vellutino et al., 2004). On the contrary, deficits in phonological processing skills are considered to be the primary root cause for dyslexia. Phonological processing involves encoding and gaining access to phonological information, use of semantic memory so that information to be retrieved and retained in working memory and turning letter patterns into phonological forms.

As already mentioned, students with dyslexia face difficulties with reading acquisition mainly due to the complexity of the reading process (Brown, 2009). According to Kastamoniti, Tsattalios, Christodoulides and Zakopoulou (2018) the successful coordination of these processes is the key to comprehend and understand a written text. However, students facing dyslexia show limited reading comprehension “owing to deficient decoding and slow reading speed” (Christodoulou et al., 2014). Indeed, experts argue the “within the literature on dyslexia, there is widespread agreement that phonological deficits are the direct cause of the reading impairment, at least for a majority of dyslexic children” (Ramus et. al., 2013).  The condition is connected to deficits in the phonological domain and, in particular deficiencies with regards to phonemic awareness and phonological recoding. Both abilities are equally important for the development of reading competence.

A basic problem for children when it comes to reading is that they have not raised awareness of the sound structure of words. In other words, students are not able to connect the alphabetic symbols to the various phonemes so that they make sense of an alphabetic writing system. Awareness regarding speech sounds is a condition that is created over years. In particular, it starts with recognition of chunks of sound and gradually progresses to the individual speech sounds in words. It has to be underlined that phoneme awareness differs from phonics. The former, on the one hand, refers to the ability to understand that words are created by individual speech elements, while the latter, on the other hand, refers to the representation of sounds with letters.

First and foremost it needs to be clarified that children can be helped from instruction in reading that is explicit and systematic. Students, especially young ones, need to learn why words are spelled or pronounced the way they are and what the words mean. This can help them make connection between the sound and the meaning of the words, which play a crucial role for them. Secondly, effective instruction should aim to engage and include all students by providing them with the opportunity to practice spelling and reading skills in contexts that make sense to them. Learners remember what seems meaningful and makes sense to them. The International Dyslexia Association states that there is no “cure” for this learning difficulty. On the contrary, students can learn strategies that can help them learn how to read. Skotheim in 2000 also supported that early intervention can change the the brain and help make reading a successful attempt. In his book, “Dyslexia: A Practitioner’s Guide”, Reid (2009), talked about a structured and multisensory approach. Awes (2012) stated that a dyslexic student can benefit from a “sequential, multisensory, and explicit experience with sounds and symbols of their language in order to read fluently” (p. 64). Pickering (2003) also maintained the idea that “if a dyslexic child is introduced to reading, writing, and spelling through a multisensory structured language approach, the learning difference does not become a disability…children with oral and written language disorders benefit from the Montessori method” (p. 13). This comes in accordance with Dr. Montessori’s (1912) writings in which, even since back in 1912, she states that “touching the letters and looking at them at the same time, fixes the image more quickly through the co-operation of the senses”.

Alwel, some decades later (2009) suggested some intervention techniques that can be used to assist students with dyslexia. He talked about the use of multimedia and agreed with Brown (2002), who explored the ways in which multimedia can be used in order to enable the accessibility to the learning environment. They both laid stress on the idea that texts can be supplemented in forms that combine audio and visual material. They also stated further that dyslexic students are able to understand meaning through a picture. In such a way, dyslexic students can feel more confident and the process of making connections between what a new word sounds like and what it looks like can seem less stressful to them.

 Multisensory teaching is another method that builds on learners’ channels of perception. It involves incorporation of the visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile senses (VAKT), which means that an activity should include at least two of the senses. Research has indicated that for most of the dyslexic students is way too demanding to learn how to read. This, though, does not prevent those students from developing reading skills. Dyslexic students can learn to read successfully but it is necessary for them to be shown a different strategy so that they achieve this. Multisensory approach, which was developed by Orton and Gillingham (1985), contributes to teaching reading. In particular, it makes use of two or more modalities at the same time (visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic) in a sense that provides students with various ways to be helped to learn alphabetic patterns and words more fruitfully. Dyslexic students need to use all their senses in learning, namely visual, kinesthetic and tactile (Nijakowska, 2010). Also, overlays in different colors enable students’ reading when presented with printed text (Reid, 2004). A variety of specialized fonts are also available for teachers to ease the task of reading for their dyslexic students. With regards to technology, there are many tools available for the dyslexics’ aid.

 A reading intervention that integrates multimedia and supports both interactive and self-learning is MyLexics. Its content focuses on how to learn the alphabet, syllables, and words. The structure of MyLexics content has been contstructed in such a way that first children learn the individual alphabets, then make syllables and finally form words. It is claimed that using multimedia can give access to interactive learning, and engage learners in the learning process in a more motivating and enjoyable way. To learn the alphabet, a sample of letter writing is provided and so the learners can click on the letters to view the animation. Then, voice over will pronounce the letter. Simultaneous Oral Spelling (SOS) is a technique which is employed by MyLexis and combines hearing, saying, seeing and writing. Animation is used is used again in order to draw the learners’ attention and maintain interest. To learn words, MyLexics employs colors used on the syllables and uses animation and voice over to clarify the letter transition. It becomes apparent, however, that this kind of software can be used and taken advantage by early aged students, who experience the first stages of   reading.

 Moreover, Lexia Reading, is another helpful computer-based reading tool which focuses on improving reading skills. Its focus is on six processes from phonological awareness and building up to comprehension that lead to higher-level thinking skills. Lexia provides systematic and personalized learning on reading skills. It is crucial to underline that Classroom instruction can be supplemented by Lexia but it can also be used as assistance for learners who struggle with reading (Lexia Learning Systems, 2010). A student can work on their own with this program, either at home or at school through the software’s web-based application.  Not only games but also multisensory interactive activities are employed so that the necessary skills to be built while instruction is explicitly provided with regards to phonemic awareness and phonics with the aim to gaining in vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension (Lexia Learning Systems, 2010). It is important to state that when the students begin this program, they are placed at a level in accordance with their ability, which makes it suitable for every learner. The completion of each task leads to a next level and once those tasks are completed in a successful way, students can continue with more demanding and complex tasks. Besides, what promotes effective acquisition is the fact that instructions are provided in a detailed way and also, every time a question is answered incorrectly, students are given instant feedback in order to be aware of the mistakes. Finally, lessons are constructed in logical sequence in accordance with previously mastered concepts to help students as they move up to more demanding levels. As stated by Dong and Newman in 2016, any program that helps students achieve that goal is a crucial component towards their success and should be included in the learning process.

The ability to successfully cope with dyslexia is a lifelong perspective. Early in the child’s life, the focus is to support and provide assistance towards the reading problem. The main objective of effective intervention programs is to effectively, as much as possible, handle the underlying problem in phonemic awareness. However, in order this to be achieved teachers must be provided with adequate knowledge regarding not only the theoretical and scientific background but also with practical knowledge for understanding literacy development and provide learners with the chance to reach their full potential. Knowledge of the relationship between spoken and written language as well as covering the basics of language organization are equally important. In addition, teachers have to possess the necessary knowledge and training so that they have adequate understanding of the development of phonological awareness and of the process of learning to read. It is necessary that they know how children progress from lack of awareness regarding the sound structure of language to a full understanding of the speech sounds in words. Teachers need to learn about the importance of automaticity in decoding, of vocabulary concepts, of knowledge of text structures, and of comprehension strategies. Only by doing so, can learners be helped and be given the chance to feel equal towards their peers so that barriers to be removed and successful acquisition to be achieved.

References:

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Frith, U., (1999). Paradoxes in the definition of dyslexia. Dyslexia, Vol 5, No 4, pp.192-214.

Kastamoniti, A., Tsattalios. K., Christodoulides P., Zakopoulou V. (2018). The role of Phonological Memory in Reading acquisition and Dyslexia: A systematic Review. European Journal of Special Education Research. Vol 3, No 4,pp. 278-323.

Martin, J., Colé, P., Leuwers, C., Casalis, S., Zorman, M., & Sprenger-Charolles, L. (2010). Reading in French-speaking adults with dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia. Vol 60, No 2,pp 238–264.

Nijakowska.J(2010).Dyslexia in the English language Classroom.