FEU CAVITE

Department of Education

Teaching Students with Dyslexia

In partial fulfillment of the requirements inENG3N: Foundations of Language Study

Submitted by:

Panganiban, Erika A.Loyola, Maristhel P.Belga, Carl Dervin P.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface 1

Part I:

A. Language and its components 2

B. Students with Dyslexia 3C. Importance of knowing the learnersD. Factors to be consider in teaching language 4(before, during, after teaching)E. How students with dyslexia learned a language

Part II:

A. Underlying theoriesB. Strategies and techniques in teaching English in students with

dyslexiaC. Activities in teaching EnglishD. Activities that supports this teaching framework

Preface

Teaching framework and philosophy are really important background

to our future profession as the next forerunners of the program. This

framework provides general suggestions for teaching English language,

technique and approaches supported by the underlying theories to our target

learners in facilitating activities. It put us into practice in choosing and

making activities that are appropriate in providing the needs of our target

learners as well as the factors to be considered in teaching language and

learning language. It explained the language and its components as the main

medium of learning. It discussed the learners which are students with

learning disability dyslexia, as well as the causes, characteristics and

prevalence of this condition. The importance of knowing the learners and it

answered the question, how does one learn a language. The underlying

theories such as behaviorist theory, critical period hypothesis and socio-

cultural theory are presented in this framework that supported the

suggestions and the things that we believe in. It explained further the

techniques and activities to be used in classroom scenario. It answered also

the question, how will we teach English?. The activities that would be

possibly be included in teaching English also provided and how would these

activities reflect in or teaching framework and philosophy. In the last part of

this framework we created and conceptualized base on the theories we

believe in. teaching framework in line to our target learners, factors to be

considered, underlying theories, strategies and activities that will support the

new teaching framework that we made on how we will teach language to the

students with learning disability specifically dyslexia.

Teachers may think of language, reading and writing as being separate

skills and may believe that the purpose of formal education is to teach

reading and writing but not oral language. Listening, speaking, reading and

writing are all language skills, and success at school requires proficient oral

language skills as well as written language skills. Children have to process

teachers’ instructional talk, which is delivered via oral language, as well as

their peer’s oral language used in class and on the playground. Language

encompasses the elements of listening, speaking, reading and writing, all of

which have an underlying language core. Oral language is the primary

language system and consists of listening and speaking. Written language is

the secondary language system and consists of reading and writing.

Language is recognized as one of the greatest of human achievements

– more important than all the physical tools invented in the past 2,000 years.

It provides a means of communicating and socializing with other human

beings, it enables the culture to be transmitted from generation to

generation, and it is a vehicle of thought. The communication process

between two people consists of sending a message (expressive language)

and receiving a message (receptive language).

Language is an integrated system, and many areas of learning depend

upon mastery of language. As the child matures, language plays an

increasingly important part in the development of the thinking processes and

in the ability to grasp abstract concepts. Words become symbols for objects,

groups of objects, and ideas. Language permits human beings to speak of

things unseen, of the past, and of the future.

To assess and plan instruction for language problems, the teacher

needs to be familiar with the components of language. A common

classification system organizes the components of language according to

form (phonology, morphology and syntax), content (semantics), and use

(pragmatics).

The importance of language has been getting broader and bigger as it

passed through generation to generation. It simply because language can

conquers the world. Language can make rules, can express ideas, and can

unite people as one. It is the basis of understanding between the people and

the world through the process of communication. In short, language can

define culture and culture will define history.

Some of the students encounter difficulties in learning a language

especially those students with learning disabilities. The target learners of this

framework focus on the students with reading problems which is commonly

known as dyslexia. Dyslexia comes from the Greek word Dys which means

“impaired” and Lexia is derived from the word “lexicon” (the mental

dictionary of word meanings, spellings and pronunciation) and means

“word”. Dyslexia has been around for a long time and has been defined in

different ways. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, dyslexia is

a learning disability that can hinder a person's ability to read, write, spell,

and sometimes speak. It is the most common learning disability in children

and persists through life. The severity of dyslexia can vary from mild to

severe. The sooner the dyslexia is treated, the more favorable the outcome;

however, is it never too late for people with dyslexia to learn to improve their

language skills. It can be related to brain injury, hereditary, or hormonal

influences. Dyslexia is a language-based disability in which a person has

trouble understanding words, sentences, or paragraphs. This is caused by a

disruption in the neural circuits in the brain and it is said to be persisted into

adolescence and adulthood. This problem may leads to difficulties in many

areas of life as the individual matures. It is not only dealing with reading

problems but students with dyslexia also problems spelling. Students with

this kind of disability can be easily identify if he/she is having a delayed

speech, problems with pronunciation, grammar, reading a single word,

learning a foreign language, difficulty with retelling a story in the right order

of events, and reads below their expected level. It is really important to know

the target learners because it provides us information and ideas in

considering the right and appropriate strategies in teaching English. The

significant work of education also involves connection between the students

and teachers. This connection helps learning to take place effectively. The

background of the students is valuable and the parents, professionals,

paraprofessionals, principal and guidance councilor should be accessible in

student condition. Collaborative effort should be done. A call to awareness

involves in intellectual understanding of student’s needs as well as the

emotional sensitivity to realize their ongoing knowledge. If that’s the case, it

would be easy to the part of the teacher to stimulate learning inputs and

strategies to tap up their skills. Moving beyond foundation skills, the teacher

learns about a child’s work pace, organizational skills so that skills, memory,

verbal expression, ability to sustain attention and creativity. A teacher must

be an evaluator who can evaluate and identify our learner’s strengths and

needs.

There are things and factors that a language teacher must consider

before, during and after teaching. One of this is age based from the theory of

Eric Lenneberg which is the Critical Period Hypothesis wherein age really

matters in acquiring a language. As a teacher, it is important to know the

age of the students whether if they are at-risk or delayed in learning a

language so that the teacher could adjust to the learning style, instructions

and address the special needs of each student. Collaboration with parents

we’re highly needed in developing a language. Both of them contribute to

the academic and non-academic performance of students in school. A

language teacher also needs to consider the doctor’s diagnosis because it is

the doctor that knows more the condition of the child and also the

paraprofessionals and professionals. Diagnosis of dyslexia involves reviewing

the child’s processing of information from seeing, hearing and participating

activities. Instructional support team is really important in developing pre-

referral activities for a student who is encountering difficulties especially in

teaching students with learning disability specifically the reading difficulty

before referring the students for a special education evaluation; teachers use

these interventions with the child. The Present Level of Education

Performance or PLEP must be considered as well as making an initial

assessment to the students. Peer group is also considered as one of the main

factors that aim to help the classroom teacher analyze the students’

academic level and behavioral problems that recommend interventions and

accommodation to the students. Then, the classroom teacher will initiate

the suggested methods.

There are different ways on how we learn a language. Environment has

a huge role in providing a lot of learning stimulus. It really provides shapes

and changes in the behavior that result to learning.

( how does one…)

It was based on many theories in suggesting the appropriate strategies

and approach in teaching language to the students with dyslexia. One of

these theories is the Behaviorist Theory wherein learning can be defined as

the process of leading to relative permanent change or potential behavioral

change. Considering the target learners, students with dyslexia, operant

conditioning of Skinner which refers to an active behavior that operates upon

the environment to generate consequences through reinforcement and other

behavior modification like positive and negative punishment. In this

technique, the teaching style will not be more rigid and much stimulation will

be provided by the teacher. Another theory is the Critical Period Hypothesis

wherein age really affects in learning a language. In this case, the approach

and activities should be appropriate to the level of the learners. Learners

should learn the language inside the puberty age because it is said to be that

it is the best age to acquire language. The age should be considered in

providing activities that assure the students attention and participation in

class discussion. The last is the Socio-cultural Theory where in it emphasizes

the importance of the society especially the adult in the cognitive

development. The zone of proximal development- a distance between an

individual’s ability working independently and working in collaboration with a

more knowledgeable others that should be visible in support to the

Behaviorist Theory. It explains as a whole that the environment really

provides the stimulations and other knowledge and it depends on the age if

the students have a large capability of learning the language with the help of

the teachers, instructional team, parents and peers as more knowledgeable

others. These three theories will support the strategies and techniques in

teaching a language.

Pictures are not only practical and simple to use, they also provide a

sense of consistency because the same set of pictures used at school can

also be used at home. The most widely recognized formal system of

communication is the Picture Exchange System, developed by Andy Bondy

and Lori Frost. In the PECS system, a child present pictures to a partner or

select pictures from a board or portable notebook. The pictures are

inexpensive and portable, allowing the child to use them in a variety of

different situations. While pictures are excellent teaching tool for children

with special needs, the PECS system offers more options because there is a

specific method involved in presenting each sequence of pictures with the

use of official PECS system and special training is required. Another strategy

to use is by applying the RTI method. Response-to-intervention or RTI is a

procedure that is intended to identify students who are having academic

difficulties when the problems first become apparent by using evidenced-

based intervention with students. If students respond well to evidenced-

based interventions, they are thought not to have a disability. Students who

do not respond positively to this instruction or who do not learn adequately

are given more intensive instructions using evidenced-based teaching

method. If the child still does not respond or learn after several levels of

intervention, the child may then be considered for an evaluation for special

education and to determine the child’s category of disability. Although there

are several different versions of RTI, many use three tiers or levels of

intervention. Each tier provides increasingly individualized and intensified

instruction along with continuous monitoring of progress to calculate gains.

The Tier 1 is a high- quality instruction in general education and monitoring

of student progress. Students who do not respond adequately to Tier 1 go on

to Tier 2. Tier 2 is more intensive evidenced-based interventions taught in

small groups, while progress monitoring continues. Often supports teachers,

such as reading specialists, instruct students at Tier 2. Students who do not

respond adequately to Tier 2 go on to the last Tier. The Tier 3 is highly

intense evidenced-based interventions aught in small groups while progress

monitoring continues. Students who do not respond adequately to Tier 3 may

be considered for a special education evaluation. (Bradley, Danielson, &

Doolittle, 2005; Denton, 2006). RTI targets all students considered to be at-

risk for learning failure, including students with learning disabilities and

students who are English- language learners. Students who respond well to

the instruction in the RTI procedure at Tiers 1, 2 or 3 are not considered

eligible for special education services. Students who are not learning with

the RTI interventions are considered to be “non-responders” and may be

referred for a special education evaluation. Another strategy is the use of

Successive approximation or shaping. Successive approximation or shaping

is one way or technique that supports a child as she attempts a task. When a

child is trying to learn a new activity or work on solving a problem that may

be difficult for her, it helps to reinforce her efforts with praise for close

approximations. This praise or “reward”, encourages her to continue trying

to achieve a new goal. The Cueing is also a technique that you can use to

give the child clues about what he/she is expected to do. For example, if

Princess always runs ahead into a learning center instead of waiting her turn,

place your hand on Princess’s shoulder to cue her to wait until it is her turn.

The Universal Design for Learning is an educational framework based on

research in the learning sciences, including cognitive neuroscience, that

guides the development of flexible learning environments that can

accommodate individual learning differences that provides multiple means of

representation to give learners various ways of acquiring information and

knowledge, multiple means of expression to provide learners alternatives for

demonstrating what they know, and multiple means of engagement to tap

into learners' interests, challenge them appropriately, and motivate them to

learn. It is also the key in helping all students achieve is identifying and

removing barriers from our teaching methods and curriculum materials.

Learning English can be done effectively through the use of different

activities. Examples for this are the audio books. A teacher can provide

books that make noise when they are opened. This will help to develop their

reading skills as well as they can enjoy reading while listening. She can also

use board books that have bright pictures so that they can easily distinguish

the message of the story. They say that dyslexic kids are visual learners and

they need images to connect to the words they are reading. Using modeling

clay to form letters, words, correct reversal in numbers and in letters can

provide the visual tactile connection they need. This is called as the Clay

Models for non-picture word. Another activity can be done is writing note

cards which provide the students to look at while and give them something

to hold. Making and reading note cards aloud helps cement the learning

while engaging employs their motor and auditory skills. Making sand trays is

also an effective activity. Sand trays are simply tray-like containers that

contain sand, beans or shaving cream. It allows children to spell words or

draw pictures in the sand, engaging their tactile or visual skills. Teacher can

also expose his/her students in authentic use of language like visiting in a

museum. Through that, the literacy skills will develop strongly and the

interaction between the teacher and the learners.

(activities that supports teaching framework)

REFERENCES

Martin, Lucy C. (2009) Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities. California: Corwin Press

Grassi, Elizabeth A; Barker, Heidi B. (2010) Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Students: Strategies for Teaching and Assessment. London: SAGE Publications Incorporation

Berninger, Virginia W.; Wolf, Beverly J. (2009) Teaching Students with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia: Lessons from Teaching and Science. USA: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Corporation

Lerner Janet; Johns Beverly (2009) Learning Disabilities and Related Mind Disabilities: Characteristics, Teaching Strategies and New Directions. USA: WADSWORTH CENGAGE Learning

Mercer, Cecil D.; Pullen, Paige C. (2009) Students with Learning Disabilities. USA: Pearson Education Incorporation

www.clker.com

www.texthelp.com/media/39354/USAdultLiteracy.pdf