Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Students with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): Prilagodbe u nastavi engleskog kao stranog jezika za učenike s disleksijom i disgrafijom
• Author: Tihomir Matković
• Mentor: Iva Ivanković (mentor)
• Mentor: Renata Geld (komentor)
• Committee member: Stela Letica Krevelj (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Renata Geld (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Iva Ivanković (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of Pedagogy); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2020-10-06, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: SOCIAL SCIENCES; Pedagogy; Specific Pedagogy

Abstract

Teaching students with special educational needs poses challenges for many teachers all over the world. Every student, regardless of their (dis)abilities, deserves to have educators who will encourage them to achieve their full potential. Dyslexia and dysgraphia are specific learning disabilities that hinder students’ academic development and can cause various emotional issues. Difficulties caused by dyslexia and dysgraphia also impair students’ acquisition of a foreign language, slowing it down and making its various aspects harder to attain. This is especially true in cases where students’ native and foreign language are very different, which is the case with English and Croatian. This implies that dyslexic and dysgraphic students, whose native language is Croatian, may have a hard time mastering English, due to all the phonological and orthographical differences between the two languages. This study focuses on investigating different didactic-methodological adjustments made in the process of teaching English as a foreign language to dyslexic and dysgraphic students in several Croatian schools. Ten English as a Foreign Language teachers participated in the study and ten structured interviews were conducted in order to investigate the matters of interest, e.g. various didactic-methodological adjustments, cooperation with colleagues, knowledge about specific learning disabilities etc. The results showed that participants use a variety of different adjustments in order to facilitate EFL learning for their dyslexic and dysgraphic students, some of which include multisensory approach to learning, modifications of visual aspects of the content and exams, extensions of time needed to solve tasks etc. Participants have also urged for assistance from educational experts, so as to help their students achieve their full potential.

Abstract (croatian)

U ovome diplomskom radu istraživačkog karaktera analizirali su se mnogi načini na koje nastavnici engleskog kao stranog jezika prilagođavaju nastavu i proces vrednovanja kako bi učenicima sa specifičnim teškoćama u učenju (disleksija i disgrafija) što više olakšali proces ovladavanja engleskim jezikom. Pozornost je također bila usmjerena i na razne aspekte suradnje između nastavnika međusobno i nastavnika i stručnih suradnika raznih profila, te na znanje koje ispitanice imaju o specifičnim teškoćama u učenju. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 10 ispitanica iz različitih osnovnih škola u Republici Hrvatskoj, s time da je jedna ispitanica nastavnica u srednjoj školi. Utvrđeno je da nastavnici koriste mnogo različitih načina prilagodbe nastave engleskog jezika i da nastoje svim učenicima pristupiti na individualnoj razini, što je više moguće. Istraživanje je također pokazalo da je suradnja između nastavnika i stručnih suradnika u većini slučajeva manjkava, ali je zato suradnja među nastavnicima dobro razvijena.

• Keywords: TEFL; specific learning disabilities; dyslexia; dysgraphia; foreign language acquisition
• Keywords (croatian): poučavanje engleskog kao stranoj jezika; usvajanje stranog jezika; specifične teškoće u učenju; disleksija; disgrafija
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:278897
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation, TEFL; Course: TEFL; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Study programme: Title: Pedagogy (double major); Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra pedagogije (magistar/magistra pedagogije)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Access restricted to authenticated users
• Created on: 2020-10-06 11:31:48