Dyslexic students: challenges they face and how they can be circumvented

 

I have already discussed issues dyslexic students have with learning a foreign language. My experience tells me that all the special provisions various course writers claim they make in their books are not always to the point or, to put it in a different way, they do not deal with some serious difficulties dyslexic students face. An example is the inclusion of exercises in most workbooks where the students are required to underline the correct answer between two or three. Normally the two answers are italicised presumably to highlight them. I am not sure whether dyslexia experts or course writers or anyone in the ESL world are aware of the fact that some dyslexic students cannot tell italics from upright. When I first realised this, I was truly shocked. Imagine how many times a teacher (myself included) has asked students to do the impossible or has assessed them on the basis of their choices when really they had no inkling of what they had to choose between. One of my young dyslexic students pretended not to understand what was required of her in the exercise as she knew I would read out the sentences so she would know what the words in italics were. Another student of mine keeps asking me in disbelief whether I can see the italics apparently hoping for an answer in the negative!

Let me come to the issue of language exams. I will focus on what allowances the Cambridge exam makers for officially diagnosed dyslexic candidates. The main concession Cambridge makes is allowing extra time (25%). I will contest the effectiveness of this by dwelling on the difficulties inherent in dyslexia. Cambridge exams, like most other language exams, have a duration of about 4 or 5 hours depending on the level. Extending the exam time for dyslexic students is pointless for two main reasons. To begin with, dyslexic students become cloudy-headed if they have spent a long time trying to concentrate on a task. Therefore, extended time is not going to prove useful or yield any better results. Secondly, dyslexic people are not slow thinkers. On the contrary, in my experience their problem is trying and testing an amazing number of possible readings of a word they stumble upon without always getting it right. They fast forward several times per second considering and reconsidering plausible interpretations of the exam input.  This is exactly what eventually leads to fatigue or the inability to complete a test.

My suggestion is that dyslexic students should be given a shorter version of paper 1 and paper 3 (Use of English and Reading Comprehension) as well as Part 4 (Listening Test). You can still assess people’s ability if you test them on two shorter texts rather than three long ones – this is simply a suggestion, exam makers can figure out a reasonable length of input and number of questions. The same goes for listening comprehension. Again it is the volume of what they have to process that they find intimidating.

Regarding the writing paper, I feel that writing a paragraph rather than a longer text would allow them to focus on the essence and would dramatically minimise mistakes and inaccuracies resulting from trying to pull together all different strands into a harmonious composition. Dyslexic students have enough challenges on their plate as it is. What I mean is that organisation is one major stumbling block so demanding them to produce a minimum number of words when they can still communicate their thoughts and ideas in less space does not sound fair to me.

In a nutshell, adapt the exam content and format to dyslexic students’ needs rather than extending time on a test which is not planned around their needs.

 

Paintings and their stimulating role in teaching and learning: An Afterthought

 

In previous posts I have illustrated how we can use paintings – famous or lesser known – to build lessons around them. This time I will use two paintings of the same artist to show what we can make of each one of them.

The artist is Guy Rose, an American impressionist born in the late nineteenth century.

The first painting we will be looking at is called The Difficult Reply.

We can begin by asking the students to describe their immediate reaction to the image. What do they find striking? Is there a detail that caught their eye at a first glance? What is it?

It could be the flowery patterns on the young woman’s dress, the curtains and the carpet or the way the colours of the carpet blend in with the green fields outside. Or it could be the meditative mood of the girl. Or what about the bow on her thick ebony hair? Whatever it is, ask them to write a couple of sentences to explain why they noticed this detail first.

Following that, draw the students’ attention to the title of the painting and get them to write down some questions regarding the letter she is writing and her living circumstances.

• ·       Who is she writing to?
• ·       What question was she asked that she finds hard to reply to?
• ·       What is the content of the letter?
• ·       Does she live alone?
• ·       If not, where is the rest of the family?

Whatever the recipient of the letter they came up with, get half of the students to write the letter she received, which prompted the title of the difficult reply. Allow them to work in pairs. The rest of them will write her reply to the letters written by their classmates.

 

The second painting is a landscape, and I am aware that landscapes do not offer much scope for use of language except at higher levels. However, using a painting doesn’t necessarily involve a sophisticated use of descriptive language.

After a brief reference to the poppy field and the wood behind, challenge the students to add one or two items to the image, which will somehow create a dramatic effect. Again working in pairs or groups will allow them to compare notes and come up with a bolder suggestion. They can let their imagination run wild as long as they can justify their answer.