Dyslexic Pupils Research Articles

How do teachers in Ireland and England conceptualise dyslexia?

This paper presents the findings of a comparative study using data from questionnaire surveys carried out in England (n=57) and Ireland (n=72). The researchers examine how teachers and teaching assistants who are currently teaching pupils with dyslexia in primary schools describe dyslexia and what may have influenced their conceptualisation. The paper examines teachers' responses both in terms of how they view their pupils presenting difficulties in the classroom, and how far they link these to underlying differences in cognitive processing. The researchers suggest ways in which this might influence their teaching in terms of methodology. Findings have been mapped to the Morton and Frith causal modelling framework. The implications of these findings for the training and support of teachers are discussed in the light of recent national initiatives to improve the teaching of dyslexic pupils in both countries.

Are they just lazy? Student teachers' attitudes about dyslexia

It is highly likely that teachers' abilities in dealing with different forms of learning difficulties will be affected by their knowledge about and attitudes towards those difficulties. Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) provides a useful framework within which to explore such attitudes and was used as the starting point for investigating trainee teachers' attitudes towards aspects of dyslexia. It is assumed that new teachers will enter the profession with a set of intentions according to personal beliefs, normative views within the teaching profession and the sense of competence and power they feel in dealing with dyslexic difficulties. The purpose of this study was to probe student teachers' attitudes at a prestigious School of Education in the Southwest of England. Four hundred and eight primary and secondary Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students responded to a survey asking about their attitudes toward dyslexia. The student teachers expressed strongly positive attitudes toward the construct of dyslexia, with the majority expressing confidence in their ability to support dyslexic pupils. Females held significantly more positive attitudes toward dyslexia than males, but there were no significant differences according to PGCE course subject. Students who took the survey before and after teaching practice demonstrated some small but significant changes in attitude scores over that time. It is proposed that a new breed of teachers may be entering the teaching profession with positive beliefs about their ability to help dyslexic pupils, but who remain unclear as to how this can be accomplished. Some implications for action and suggestions for future research are provided.

Interested reader or uninterested dissembler?: the identities constructed by upper primary aged dyslexic pupils during silent reading sessions

AbstractThis article discusses the identities that may be constructed by upper primary aged pupils during silent reading sessions. The findings presented are taken from a 2‐year ethnographic case study, which investigated how four dyslexic pupils, aged 10–11 (Y5–6), coped with the classroom reading they encountered at a large primary school in northern England. The theoretical aim was to integrate the psychological concept of dyslexia with a socio‐cultural view of literacy development and an analytic framework was developed using symbolic interactionist theory. Here ideas on presentation of self, formulated by Erving Goffman, are introduced and his notion of impression management is used as a lens through which to discuss what happened when the pupils were put in the position of having no choice but to engage with texts that were too difficult for them to read independently. I focus on the silent reading sessions that were a regular feature of their Literacy lessons and introduce a typology of reader identities. Evidence from systematic observations, supplemented with that from narrative observations and interview transcripts, is used to illustrate the four types ‐ interested reader, uninterested reader, interested dissembler and uninterested dissembler– and the implications for literacy development are drawn out.

‘They're telling me what I already know instead of what I don't know’: dyslexic pupils' experiences of withdrawal tuition during the later primary years

This article reports findings from a qualitative case study whose main focus was on how four 10–11‐year‐old dyslexic pupils coped with the demands of classroom reading during their final two years (Years 5–6) at a primary school in the north of England. Data were also collected on more general issues associated with the pupils' experiences of small‐group withdrawal tuition, and it is this evidence that is drawn on here. Although there were some benefits in terms of improved self‐esteem and overall confidence levels, problems with the sessions were revealed. The work on basic literacy skills lacked challenge as it was not well matched to learning needs and disaffection was created due to missing class lessons. Because of their literacy difficulties these dyslexic pupils were inevitably marginalised within the classroom community of learners, and I argue that attending withdrawal sessions added to their exclusionary experience of school.

Academic self‐concept, reading attitudes and approaches to learning of children with dyslexia: do they differ from their peers?

This research aimed at exploring the motivation for reading of pupils with dyslexia, and to investigate whether they differ from their peers. A total of 32 pupils formed the LD group (22 boys and 10 girls, 5th‐ and 6th‐graders) who were diagnosed with dyslexia. A comparison group was formed of pupils who attended the same classes (N = 210), and these were divided into two groups (average/low performance, N = 115; high performance, N = 95), according to teachers’ ratings of pupils’ performance on reading. Self‐report measures were used to assess perceptions of academic ability, reading attitudes and approaches to learning. The results revealed that dyslexic pupils displayed lower academic self‐concept than the low/average and high performance groups on all domains, except Practical ability. Moreover, dyslexic pupils perceived reading less as a function of personal development, both enjoyment and utilitarian, as compared to their peers. Finally, the dyslexic group adopted the surface approach to learning, indicating an external motive, similarly to the average/low group, and adopted the deep approach to learning less as compared to their high achieving peers. The implications of these findings are discussed at pupil, teacher and classroom level.

Creative solutions to making the technology work: three case studies of dyslexic writers in higher education

Research into the behaviours manifested by the dyslexic condition has often focused upon younger dyslexic pupils and the lower-order skill difficulty in decoding and encoding. A surge in interest in the writing process has shifted the focus to higher-order skills, and a growing body of research is emerging within the higher education context (Hughes & Suritsky, 1994; McNaughton et al., 1997; Hatcher, 2001; Singleton & Aisbett, 2001; Farmer et al., 2002). Students are expected to be ‘expert’ writers, and the mark of a good student is the ability to use writing as a tool for thinking. Drawing upon data from semi-structured interviews with undergraduate and postgraduate dyslexic students and their real-time writing logs, three case studies are presented and used to explore creative ways of using technology to manage dyslexia. The students demonstrate how they use different types of software to overcome writing anxiety, ‘fear of the blank page’ syndrome and issues of plagiarism. The experiences of the students within the case studies demonstrate that often simple software can provide the best solutions, and that students combine features from software programs in creative ways to compensate for weaknesses in their cognitive profile.DOI: 10.1080/09687760500479894

Creative solutions to making the technology work: three case studies of dyslexic writers in higher education

Research into the behaviours manifested by the dyslexic condition has often focused upon younger dyslexic pupils and the lower-order skill difficulty in decoding and encoding. A surge in interest in the writing process has shifted the focus to higher-order skills, and a growing body of research is emerging within the higher education context (Hughes & Suritsky, 1994; McNaughton et al., 1997; Hatcher, 2001; Singleton & Aisbett, 2001; Farmer et al., 2002). Students are expected to be ‘expert’ writers, and the mark of a good student is the ability to use writing as a tool for thinking. Drawing upon data from semi-structured interviews with undergraduate and postgraduate dyslexic students and their real-time writing logs, three case studies are presented and used to explore creative ways of using technology to manage dyslexia. The students demonstrate how they use different types of software to overcome writing anxiety, ‘fear of the blank page’ syndrome and issues of plagiarism. The experiences of the students within the case studies demonstrate that often simple software can provide the best solutions, and that students combine features from software programs in creative ways to compensate for weaknesses in their cognitive profile.DOI: 10.1080/09687760500479894

DYSLEXIC STUDENTS IN CHEMISTRY CLASSES: THEIR DIFFICULTIES WITH CHEMICAL FORMULAE

The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate whether dyslexic students encounter difficulties with the use of chemical formulae, in particular structural formulae. Two groups of final-year, upper secondary students (grade 12) were studied: a control group, consisting of 32 normal learners (17 boys and 15 girls), and an experimental group of 5 dyslexic students (3 boys and 2 girls). All students had to solve numerical exercises on colligative properties. In each exercise, a student had to replace in the corresponding colligative-property equation the value of the molecular weight of the solute. Molecular weight had to be determined either from the molecular formula or from the structural formula of the compound. The findings of the study showed that dyslexic pupils had lower scores in the reading of both molecular and structural formulae. The wrong estimation of molecular weights resulted from: (a) omission of atoms; (b) omission of subscripts; (c) misreading them. The findings indicate that, if there are dyslexic students in a class, we must be very cautions with the use of chemical formulae. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. Eur.: 2000, 1, 277-280]

Dyslexia in Germany—An educational policy for meeting dyslexic children's needs in the German school system

A brief account is given of the German educational system. This is followed by a section entitled ‘Research findings as the basis for an overall picture’. Four measures aimed at helping dyslexic and other pupils are then advocated, viz.: (i) diagnostic procedures; (ii) specialized help for those who are failing; (iii) the waiving of penalties for poor spelling in written school work; (iv) the inclusion of dyslexia as a subject in the training and advanced training of teachers. These ideas are already put into practice in some parts of Germany, but need to be adopted more widely. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Taalleerproblemen en het Ontwikkelen van een Nieuwe Leergang Engels

Since in 1993 the Dutch government set detailed goals for educational programmes on secondary schools for 14-year-olds, writing EFL materials has become an increasingly complex task for textbook writers. Not only are they supposed to deal with these new objectives, but they are also expected to cater for all pupils within that age-group and ensure that (teacher)independent learning can be achieved. Writing course books for all pupils implies writing for pupils with language learning difficulties as well. In a newly developed English course a distinction was made between dyslexic pupils, who experience purely phonological problems, on the one hand and poor language learners, who in addition are characterized by a poor general understanding on the other. In this article the editor of 'Worldwide', the new Dutch EFL course, reports on how the various elements mentioned above have been incorporated into the material.

Study skills for dyslexics—how to help individuals without always giving individual help

Teaching study skills to dyslexic learners acknowledges that, while basic skills may currently be weak, ability-appropriate thinking and reasoning skills can be well developed and waiting to be unleashed. A number of strategies are presented which can enable dyslexic pupils to access the mainstream curriculum, including a new study reading technique, TCP-QR or ‘First Aid For Reading’. Also addressed are difficulties in organizing ideas and information to produce written work of appropriate length. A combination of techniques are drawn together into a coherent strategy which supports the learner in ability-appropriate groups and can be applied to most classroom or exam settings. It is suggested that testing this range of study skills empowers dyslexic learners, enabling them to take responsibility for much of their learning and giving them the tools with which to do the job. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Effects of Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) on the Learning of a Foreign Language in School

Twenty-five dyslexic school pupils aged between 11 years 6 months and 16 years 3 months were considered in relation to their achievements in learning French. These pupils were compared to a group of 25 non-dyslexic subjects of similar age, social background and French learning experience. Ten pupils in each year group between Primary 7 and Secondary 4 were considered. Although there were individual variations, dyslexic pupils performed poorly not only in the areas of reading and writing, but performance was also inferior in speaking and listening. Phonological ability was considered to be the most relevant variable affecting the dyslexic pupils' ability to process language. The difficulties which pupils had in processing English phonology affected their learning of French phonology. Dyslexic pupils also required more time to process phonological information. Results indicate that teaching methodology in modern languages for dyslexic pupils may require reconsideration. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Assessment and treatment of 7‐10‐year‐old dyslexic pupils

ABSTRACT This paper outlines the programmes of assessment and treatment for dyslexic pupils aged 7 to 10 years at the Centre of Speech and Language Therapy which forms part of the ‘Barczi Gusztav’ Training College for Teachers of the Handicapped in Budapest, Hungary. The approaches to assessment and remediation used with a large number of children referred to the Centre for problems of reading, writing and spelling have been wide‐ranging and complex. Assessment is based on information obtained from detailed case‐histories, as well as from medical, psychological, pedagogical and logopedical investigations. Treatment may include remedial education, psychomotor, graphomotor and logopedic programmes and psychotherapy. Stimulating motivation and interest is stressed in involving the children in skill‐developing tasks related to reading, writing and spelling. In most cases, significant improvement is achieved after 18 to 24 months of attendance at the Centre.

Specific learning difficulty (dyslexia) and interventions

Michael Connor reviews the effectiveness of various forms of intervention strategies for children experiencing literacy difficulties. He distinguishes between non‐differentiated pupil groups and teaching strategies advocated for dyslexic pupils. He concludes that in view of the heterogeneity of the presenting problems, as wide a range of approaches as possible should be deployed.

Visual functions in a Swedish population of dyslexic and normally reading children.

Eighty-six 9-year old dyslexic children were carefully matched to controls with regard to age, sex, class in school, and intelligence and thorough visual functions tests and eye examinations were performed. As a group the dyslexic pupils exhibited a lower distance as well as near visual acuity both with monocular and binocular viewing. Furthermore, the dyslexic pupils had a lower contrast sensitivity at the lower and higher spatial frequencies. These differences were all statistically significant. However, no statistically significant differences between the two groups could be observed regarding refractive errors or contrast sensitivity in the middle spatial frequency range. Although some eyes were amblyopic, any severe eye anomalies or diseases were not found in any of the investigated children.

Oculomotor functions in a Swedish population of dyslexic and normally reading children

Eighty-six nine-year-old dyslexic children were matched to control children with regard to age, sex, class in school, and intelligence. Orthoptic and eye movement analysis were performed on all children. It was concluded that the dyslexic pupils did not differ significantly from control children in terms of strabismus, accommodation, stereo acuity, vergence function or ocular dominance. Eye movement recordings did not show any qualitative differences between the groups in vergence dynamics during synoptophore investigations.

Het Leren Van de Geschreven Vorm Van Woorden in een Vreemde Taal

The article centres around the questions of how the written form of words in a foreign language is normally acquired, and how the learning process of dyslexic pupils can be described. A phase model is presented of the way reading and writing are learnt in the mother tongue, incorporating several strategies: the logographemic, alphabetical, orthographic and direct strategies. The research reported on leads to the following conclusions: 1. the strategies outlined in the mother tongue model can also be recognized in the foreign language; 2. the model offers the possibility of describing the learning process in the foreign language in phases, too; 3. the errors made by weak spellers differ quantitatively, not qualitatively, from those made by normal spellers.

The teaching needs of 7-year-old dyslexic pupils

International Journal of Rehabilitation Research: September 1983 - Volume 6 - Issue 3 - p 368

Central auditory testing and dyslexia.

A group of dyslexic pupils with normal end organ function was studied by a central auditory battery to determine whether a hearing disability existed. The clinical features of dyslexia are presented with emphasis on the psychological developmental and functional disorders associated with this reading problem. The central battery of Willeford was selected as the test medium and the results of the 77 dyslexic students were compared to the normative data. The model proposed by Sparks, et al., is accepted as the mechanism for dichotic audition. Reference is made to the organic basis of reading disorders from lesion in the calcarine area to the angular gyrus. The competing sentence test, binaural fusion, rapidly alternating speech perception, and filtered speech are described in detail and are organic foundation for the study. The authors indentified a high rate of failure in this investigation. Over 50% of the dyslexic students failed two of the four tests, and each of the 77 failed at least one component. The most sensitive tests were binaural fusion and filtered speech with less variation from the norm in the remaining two components. The effect of maturation in central audition was measured in each of the four tests. The data suggest: 1. the scores are lower in the early ages in each test; 2. that rapidly alternating speech and competing sentences approach the normal range albeit somewhat delayed; and 3. that binaural fusion and filtered speech improve in score somewhat but rather moderately and never approach the normal range. Based upon the central auditory data and in conjunction with the anatomical pathways of vision, the authors suggest the site of lesion to be in the temporo-parietal cortex and the association fibers.

Exploring Pre-service and In-service teachers’ perceptions about Early Foreign Language Learning and Dyslexia

This contribution addresses Slovenian in-service and pre-service foreign language and general education teachers’ awareness of dyslexia in the foreign language classroom. The authors examine and analyse the levels of familiarity with dyslexia among foreign language teachers and primary school teachers (in-service teachers) and foreign language students (pre-service teachers), their perceptiveness regarding the particularly de-manding areas of language learning, and their willingness to engage in additional training to obtain the appropriate skills for teaching children with learning disabilities, particularly dys-lexia. The results reveal noticeable differences in answers to individual research questions provided by the participants based on their profiles. The majority of participants stated that they were familiar with dyslexia from a theoretical point of view but also indicated that they were aware of the need to further improve their individual specialist-didactic knowledge and skills in order to give successful support to dyslexic pupils engaged in foreign language learning. The authors also predict the necessary extent of additional training measures in which foreign language teachers, primary school teachers, and foreign language students should engage.