TASK 7.1
All the four methods discussed and presented are particularly helpful and students’ friendly, far away from the straightforward pattern: teaching, giving instructions, asking for feedback and then move on.
A) Providing new language items in smaller and so more manageable chunks, is quite a help for dyslexic students; imagine a student who struggles to understand the difference between silent s and silent p, being presented with all the 17 different silent letters together, then given a rule to memorize and then asked to fill in exercises for homework! The ideal is to present silent letters in sessions were only two of the above letters are presented, using audio aid, and lots of examples, otherwise the student will get confused from the beginning, then lose his motivation and finally result in a not learning student, which happens in 8 out of the 10 cases of dyslexic children.
B) It is more than understood that explicit instruction is essential for SpLDS students; this means more examples given by the teacher, simple and clear directions provided step by step and thorough explanation of some rules that apply to L2 and might appear strange to L1 students ( like silent e not read in the end of words ).
C) Repetition and recycling comes to reinforce the particular care that the teacher shows towards the special needs of these students by implementing the two techniques, mentioned above, in his teaching. Constant revision will help students with dyslexia to grasp the meaning of the various items and hopefully be able to produce speech, first orally and then in written form which is harder for them.
D) Finally we come to the most successful method, according to my opinion , that is the multisensory presentation and practice of language items. Dyslexic students get easily tired, bored and then frustrated with traditional teaching, simply because they cannot follow the others and cannot easily understand what they’re being told. Kinaesthetic connections like gestures and miming will certainly help and arouse their interest. The use of lot of pictures, mind maps and flashcards also make learning appear less stressful and more worth paying attention to.
The disadvantage about all the four ways to help dyslexic students presented before, is that they are time consuming; unfortunately time is really precious because normally every coursebook contains 10 units of equal importance and also some projects, so practically there is not enough time to apply division in many smaller units or everyday use of word games. Actually I can afford just 10 minutes in every session to assign some easy activity to my dyslexic students. Otherwise if I didn’t have to move on with the other students, I will certainly apply extensively all the four methods.
At the conclusion, if I had to choose between mind mapping and linear lists, I would certainly prefer the first; it’s much more interesting and helps the child to expand his horizon of knowledge. I should admit though that in practice I use more linear listing because it’s easier for me to prepare and maybe my students with no dyslexia problems will think that many visual cues alienate them from text reading and writing! ( I have some really workaholic students! ). For these students meta-cognitive techniques appear somehow useless because the majority of them study English in private schools and are used to the mainstream , traditional techniques. Even so I could give it a try and make my teaching more modern!