In terms of learning a foreign language, students with dyslexia are often overlooked as not having the appropriate skills to learn a language other than their own. This assumption is far from the truth. According to the Society for Neuroscience , approximately 44 million American children and adults have dyslexia, and approximately 3.5% of American students receive special education services for their learning needs. Many U.S. citizens should not be denied the opportunity to learn a foreign language because of dyslexia, but many people do not understand the specificity of this learning difference. Generally, dyslexia is defined as a specific learning difference that affects the way information is perceived. However, this does not mean that a child or adult with dyslexia cannot necessarily learn a foreign language. Dyslexia can have a significant impact on writing and reading skills as it affects how information is perceived, organised, sorted and stored, which can be difficult, given that a good memory is a prerequisite for successfully learning a foreign language.
However, although dyslexia may make learning a foreign language seem impossible, there are tools developed by educators who specialize in teaching students with specific needs.
1. Choosing a Foreign Language
Not every language is an easy choice for a student with dyslexia. When it comes to choosing a foreign language to learn, it is important to distinguish between opaque and transparent languages.
Opaque languages with letter-sound correspondences that are difficult to understand, such as French and Danish, are more difficult for a student with dyslexia. For English-speaking dyslexic students, understanding their own language and its phonology is already a challenge because there are so many exceptions to the rules.
The British Dyslexia Association chooses transparent languages such as Spanish, Italian or German, with a clear letter-to-sound correspondence suggests. Choosing German, for example, is an advantage because these two languages share a significant amount of words.
However, German tends to combine nouns that have more than 10 letters in them and can therefore be difficult to read. Additionally, a student with dyslexia may have difficulty learning noun cases that do not exist in English. and therefore there are no parallels to be built to better understand grammar.
As you can see, choosing a foreign language for a student with dyslexia is a difficult task in itself. However, it is better to choose languages with a transparent phonetic system because this is where the learning process begins.
2. Start Now by Listening and Speaking
Talking and listening from day one helps a student with dyslexia achieve fluency as quickly as possible. Listening to dialogues, even without understanding them, helps the brain adapt to a foreign language and immerses you in the atmosphere of a foreign culture.
When it comes to speech, it is important to pronounce new words every time you see them. With each lesson, encourage yourself to put more words into sentences.
Still, speaking and listening can be quite overwhelming for a student with dyslexia. You will have more difficulty understanding a new language as the brain may struggle to structure new information, which can be very frustrating, but never give up!
Some tips on how to make speaking and listening sessions effective:
Leave them alone, volunteer. Teaching never forces students with dyslexia to speak. Be positive. Encourage conversation by giving positive feedback about their work and diligence.
Maximize listening sessions. Listen to as much of the language as possible, even if you don't understand it yet, whether it's podcasts, music or TV/movies with or without subtitles. The key here is that as you get used to the sounds of the language, you may be surprised at how much you learn!
Visualize. Using visuals while listening really helps increase multi-sensory activity.
Turn exercises into games. Exercises such as sorting or “subtracting the odd one out” can be turned into games using a variety of tools and handouts.
If you are teaching, it is also important to focus on phonology during listening and speaking sessions. So, for example, when speaking, it's important to check to make sure they remember how to pronounce it. You can ask your students to spell random words.
3. Vocabulary and Grammar: Read, Write, Pronounce, Repeat
Vocabulary and grammar are necessary to apply a foreign language in daily life. But learning new words and learning how to structure them can create many challenges for students with dyslexia.
Experts from the University of Michigan recommend taking the following vocabulary levels into consideration when teaching a foreign language to students with dyslexia:
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Level 1 – vocabulary for everyday use. These basic words should be repeated daily using standard speech patterns and relate to events students encounter every day.
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Level 2 – vocabulary from reading. For educational success, it is necessary to remove unknown words from texts. These are also high frequency words that often have multiple meanings.
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Level 3 – specialized vocabulary. These are words from different disciplines and professions, including business and academic vocabulary. These words should be incorporated into later stages of learning, when you have already grasped and somewhat mastered phonics.
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Level 4 – rarely used vocabulary. Introducing this vocabulary to a student with dyslexia should be occasional.
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Professionals recommend paying more attention to teaching word levels 1-3. It is also recommended to teach vocabulary using the "Read, Write, Pronounce, Repeat" method. This triggers multi-sensory activity, helping the brain comprehend a new word at different levels.
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Grammar is taught in the same way, but instead of something different, for example, to avoid confusing and frustrating situations. It is recommended to use already known words.
4. Spelling and Spelling: Don't Punish Mistakes
With dyslexia and learning a new language, it's almost guaranteed that you'll have difficulty spelling, either spoken or written. ir. This happens because it is difficult for the brain to structure and store information, working memory is weaker than most and can only be improved with regular training.
Learning to spell depends on phonemic awareness, which should be taught at all levels of foreign language acquisition, according to professors from the University of Michigan. starts. Here are some tips for spelling and writing that teachers should follow:
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All writing sessions should be structured appropriately. It is recommended that students take regular breaks. Sessions should also be cumulative and ensure that all previously received information is fully understood and assimilated.
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If spelling is difficult, allow students to break words into syllables. This will help them understand words on a morphological level.
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Avoid teaching too many spelling patterns in one lesson. Concentrate on a pattern and work on it until you see that students have fully absorbed the information.
Do not punish students with dyslexia for spelling or spelling errors . Instead, emphasize the learning curve their failure has and have them embrace failure as part of the learning process.
5. Take Advantage of Tools and Applications
In the age of technology, there are many online resources, tools and applications that can help students with foreign language learning differences. Some of them are:
Teaching and learning a foreign language with dyslexia can be extremely difficult, but it can definitely be done! Many of us are very eager to learn and sometimes we do not have the appropriate tools to support us.
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