engleski

Multisensory structured metacognitive instruction in the light of the age factor in teaching EFL to dyslexic learners

Dyslexia is referred to as a specific learning difficulty or disability that affects language skills, especially reading ang writing (International Dyslexia Association - IDA). Most of the studies in the field have dealt with manifestation of dyslexia in the native language. There have been a number of studies that assessed the effect of dyslexia on foerigh language acquisition, but only a few addressed the issue of effective instruction. In this regard, the studies mainly involved secondary school and university students ; none of these studies so far has involved early learning of foreign languages. The main aim of the study presented in this thesis was to assess the efficacy of the multisensory, structured, metacognitive method in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to dyslexic learners, who were at different developmental stages. The participants were two EFL learners ages 10 and 21, whose native language was Croatian. The focus of the instruction was phonology/orthography (spelling) and vocabulary acquisition in short- and long-term retrieval. In addition, metalinguistic awareness was measured with regard to the efficiency of the method. The study was quantitative research of a longitudinal approach (a case study) in teaching conditions to control individual differences between the participants. The study lasted for 15 months between April 2011 and July 2012. The findings of the study show that a teaching method based on a multisensory, structured, explicit and metacognitive approach is effective in teaching vocabulary and spelling in EFL to dyslexic learners regardless of their age, although individual differences need to be taken into account. The implications of the study are both theoretical and practical. The findings of the study corroborate the previous findings on dyslexia and foreign language learning and teaching. The study also provides information on learning strategies and alternative teaching approaches, and gives an overview of difficulties of dyslexic learners in acquiring vocabulary and spelling in a foreign language.

English as a foreign language (EFL); dyslexia; multisensory structured metacognitive instruction; age factor

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