Abstract
The longitudinal intervention study reported here is the first to investigate the efficiency of computer learning software specifically designed for dyslexic Swiss German learners of Standard German as a second language (L2) and English as a third language (L3). A total of 40 subjects (20 of them dyslexics and 20 of them nondyslexics; 10 students from each group participated in in- terventions and the other 10 from each group served as control groups) were assessed with a battery of verbal and written pre- and posttests involving pho- nological/orthographic and semantic measures of their L2 and L3 before and after three months of daily intervention with the software. The results show that computer-based training in the L3 is potentially an important tool of intervention for dyslexic students as it has a positive effect on the components of L3 as well as L2 learning. As a consequence of their progress in acquiring the relationships between L3 graphemes and phonemes, the experimental groups, but not the control groups, made significant gains on L2 naming accuracy and speed, L2 and L3 word reading, L2 and L3 phonological awareness, and L2 and L3 receptive and productive vocabulary and comprehension tasks.
Highlights
An accumulating body of evidence indicates that students with dyslexia require assistance and special training in the first language (L1) and in any foreign language (FL) from an early stage (e.g., Ganschow & Sparks, 2000; Kormos, Sarkadi, & Csizér, 2009; Nijakowska, 2010)
This study examined the effect of three months of computer-mediated multisensory structured learning (MSL) instruction in the phonology/orthography of English as an L3 offered to elementary school students identified as being at-risk (n = 20) and not at-risk (n = 20) of struggling with language acquisition
The training that the Test Dyslexic group and the Test Nondyslexic group underwent proved effective irrespective of the reading ability of the learners, which is in line with many previous noncomputerized intervention studies
Summary
An accumulating body of evidence indicates that students with dyslexia ( dyslexic readers) require assistance and special training in the first language (L1) and in any foreign language (FL) from an early stage (e.g., Ganschow & Sparks, 2000; Kormos, Sarkadi, & Csizér, 2009; Nijakowska, 2010). In light of general consent among researchers that weak students better be provided with tutoring assistance (Ganschow, Sparks, & Javorsky, 1998; Nijakowska 2008, 2010; Sparks, Ganschow, & Patton, 2008; Sparks, Humbach, & Javorsky, 2008) there is an increasing need for research such as this on the effects of training methods and intervention tools that can be used by individuals in their private time. The paper presents a longitudinal intervention study of 40 elementary school students (20 nondyslexic readers and 20 learners with dyslexia) in two mainstream schools in the Swiss state school system which are not specialized in learning disabilities. Half of the participants underwent daily training with the software for a period of three months
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