Reading is not considered a natural skill but has to be acquired. Many people consider this proficiency ‘world class’ (Nicolson/Fawcett, 2001: 146). However, a lot of people have problems with acquiring this skill due to several difficulties, mostly subsumed under the term of ‘dyslexia’.
Developmental dyslexia is seen as the most common developmental disorder in Western school populations and affects four times as many boys as girls (Fawcett, 2002: 265). It was not until the 1970’s that dyslexia has been recognized as a specific learning difficulty. Rutter et al. (1970) and Yule et al. (1974) established specific reading difficulties and contributed to the acceptance of dyslexia. The problems were seen either extrinsic to the child, e.g. to do with society and school teaching, or intrinsic, i.e. within the child, which were to do with intelligence and gross neurological problems.
By 1989 the International Dyslexia Association provided an expanded and clearer definition that highlights the range of difficulties dyslexic students may experience:
“Specific Learning Difficulties can be defined as organizing or learning deficiencies which restrict the students’ competencies in information processing, in motor skills and working memory, so causing limitations in some or all of the skills of speech, reading, spelling, writing, essay writing, numeracy and behavior.” (Dyslexia, 1989)
However, this is still a ‘deficit’ definition. Nowadays, dyslexia is seen as an individual difference in learning style. It is important for teachers to understand the nature of the reading and spelling process, as well as how it develops in children. Surprisingly, there is little of this in teacher training. It is fundamental to look at the processes that are involved in what we are going to teach, not only to provide us with an understanding of what is required but also to examine the areas where some children might find certain skills particularly difficult (ibid: 91).
In my paper I will focus on the reading abilities of two of my private students who are both dyslexics. I try to find out whether the theoretical features of dyslexia made by researchers can be applied to these students. The aim of this paper is to draw a conclusion on whether the two students have difficulties in reading and how this is reflected in the prepared data.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Relevance
3 Overview on reading and the disorder of ‘dyslexia’
4 Basic data for my analysis
5 Method of analysis
6 General information about the students and the test circumstances
a Proband 1 – Christian S.
b Proband 2 – Martin Z.
7 The reading passage
a Proband 1 – Christian S.
b Proband 2 – Martin Z.
8 Working on the text
a Proband 1 – Christian S.
b Proband 2 – Martin Z.
9 Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This paper aims to investigate the reading abilities of two students diagnosed with dyslexia by applying theoretical research findings to practical test data. The study seeks to determine if established characteristics of dyslexia are observable in the students' performance and to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of their learning processes and educational support.
- Analysis of developmental dyslexia characteristics
- Application of reading development models to individual student cases
- Assessment of performance in English reading and writing tasks
- Evaluation of student strategies for coping with learning difficulties
- Discussion of the impact of special education and early intervention
Excerpt from the Book
The reading passage
This student was very nervous even before starting to read, but from my experience this is quite normal for him. Generally, it can be said that Christian mumbles a lot, his speech is very unclear and he makes a lot of unnecessary movements. His nervousness was reflected in, e.g. frequent swallowing and searching for a pen to play with. Both hands were placed on the table; one on the sheet of paper and the other seemed to ‘grip’ the table. His eyes were moving sequentially; he looked at single words or maybe even single syllables, he did not read the text as a whole. Moreover, during the reading time the proband was approaching towards the sheet of paper; it seemed as if he thought the text might be easier if it is nearer to his eyes. If he did not understand the word or its meaning. He was irritated for a moment, then looked at it again and guessed what the word might be. Some words Christian uttered, he even recognized as being false afterwards but had no idea about the right one (e.g. ‘prairie’ in the original turned to ‘prayer’ in his version). He swallowed suffixes like the –ed or confused words, e.g. ‘ate’ turned to ‘at or ‘of’ turned to ‘for’. He reads dashes as if they were sentence markers, e.g. full stops. The student inserted words in the text that were simply not there, e.g. ‘[to] killed’; this shows that he knows the structure of the infinitive in English and that this ‘to’ belongs to it, but the application here is wrong which he did not recognize. The lots of unknown words were either wrong intonated, like ‘exist’, or wrong spelled, like ‘reservations’ turning into ‘reservants’ whereby he invented new words. Concerning the sentence markers there were also intonation deficits, like a full stop was read as a question mark. Some words he read like in German, e.g. ‘wild’. Moreover, the student made no pauses or wrong ones. At the end Christian looked up and his facial expression looked like he had not understand what he had read.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Provides an overview of reading as an acquired skill and introduces the definition and historical recognition of developmental dyslexia.
2 Relevance: Discusses the necessity of understanding learning difficulties to provide appropriate support and facilitate early intervention for affected children.
3 Overview on reading and the disorder of ‘dyslexia’: Examines theoretical models of reading development, such as Frith's model, and details the specific processing weaknesses associated with dyslexia.
4 Basic data for my analysis: Outlines the selection of two private students with dyslexia as subjects and explains the rationale for using different reading materials suited to their varying levels.
5 Method of analysis: Describes the methodological approach, focusing on video analysis for reading tasks and a detailed review of written test results.
6 General information about the students and the test circumstances: Introduces the two test subjects, Christian S. and Martin Z., and details their educational background and specific testing conditions.
7 The reading passage: Documents the observable behaviors, physical reactions, and reading errors of both students during the reading assessment.
8 Working on the text: Analyzes the students' performance on written exercises, including vocabulary, grammar, and general knowledge tasks.
9 Conclusion: Summarizes the key findings regarding how dyslexia symptoms manifest in the subjects and suggests that further research is needed on the effectiveness of existing special education programs.
Keywords
Dyslexia, Developmental disorder, Reading proficiency, Phonological awareness, Learning difficulty, Special education, Orthographic skills, Cognitive processing, Literacy acquisition, Educational psychology, Language teaching, Multisensory teaching, Student assessment, Reading development, Verbal memory
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research paper?
The paper focuses on analyzing the reading abilities of two dyslexic students to see if theoretical research on dyslexia is applicable to their specific learning experiences and outcomes.
What are the central thematic areas covered in this work?
The core themes include the definition of developmental dyslexia, phases of reading development, the specific challenges dyslexic learners face in processing language, and the role of educational intervention.
What is the main objective of the study?
The goal is to determine whether the two selected students exhibit typical difficulties in reading and to analyze how these challenges are reflected in their practical performance during testing.
Which scientific methods were employed to gather data?
The author used video analysis to observe bodily responses during reading and conducted a thorough analysis of the students' written test papers.
What is covered in the main section of the paper?
The main section details the subjects' academic background, describes their specific behaviors and errors during reading assessments, and analyzes their performance on vocabulary, grammar, and writing tasks.
Which keywords define this research?
Key terms include dyslexia, literacy acquisition, phonological awareness, orthographic skills, student assessment, and multisensory teaching.
How do the reading behaviors of the two students differ?
Christian S. showed more overt signs of nervousness and distraction, frequently guessing or leaving questions out, while Martin Z. appeared more composed but struggled significantly with text comprehension due to limited vocabulary.
What role does the 'alphabetical stage' play in the author's analysis?
The author refers to Frith’s model, arguing that both students had difficulties because they reached the alphabetical stage much later than their peers, which hindered their ability to decode words efficiently.
What conclusion does the author reach regarding special education?
The author concludes that while special education is vital, the results for the observed students suggest that existing programs may not always be as effective as intended, highlighting a need for further research into better pedagogical approaches.
- Citation du texte
- Claudia Wipprecht (Auteur), 2006, Dyslexia - the problem of proper reading, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/75518
