Riachtanais Speisialta in Iarbhunscoil lnGhaeilge

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Riachtanais Speisialta in Iarbhunscoil
lán-Ghaeilge

• Disléicse agus an Foghlaimeoir
• Teanga
• Matthias Maunsell
• Comhdháil Oideachais
• GAELSCOILEANNA TEO.
• 15 Samhain 2008

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Outline of Presentation

• Special Educational Needs
• Specific Learning Difficulties
• Dyslexia Explained
• Dyslexia Observed A Case Study
• Issues and Implications
• Further Research

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Special Educational Needs

• The term special educational needs
• refers to all those children and youth
• whose needs arise from disabilities or
• learning difficulties
• 
  (UNESCO 1994)
• Three major groups with SEN
• Students with disabilities
• Students with difficulties
• Students with disadvantages
• 
  (OECD, 2002)

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Specific Learning Difficulties

• Dyslexia
• Dysgraphia
• Dyspraxia
• Dyscalculia
• ADD or ADHD

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Higher Incidence Special Educational Need

• Definition a borderline mild and mild
  general learning disability and specific learning
  disability and those with learning support needs
  (that is functioning at or below the 10th
  percentile on a standardised test of reading
  and/or mathematics
• DES, SpED 24/03 02/05

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So what is .. DYS.LEX.I.A?

• Classified as a high incidence special
  educational need/learning difficulty
• No agreed definition

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Explanation of Dyslexia

• Dyslexia is manifested in a continuum of specific
  difficulties related to the acquisition of basic
  skills in reading, spelling and/or writing, such
  difficulties being unexpected in relation to an
  individuals other abilities and educational
  experiences. Dyslexia can be described at the
  neurological, cognitive and behavioral levels. It
  is typically characterized by inefficient
  information processing, including difficulties in
  phonological processing, working memory, rapid
  naming and automaticity of basic skills.
  Difficulties in organization, sequencing and
  motor skills may also be present
• Task Force on Dyslexia, DES 2001

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Indicators of Dyslexia

• Poor working memory
• Poor organisational skills
• Poor auditory sequencing
• Confusion over syntax
• Difficulty with motor skill and automaticity
• Slow speed of information processing
• Limited attention span
• Literacy impairment (reading, writing, spelling)

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Some Key Points on Dyslexia

• No two dyslexics are the same
• Some indicators are more common than others
• Severity is not determined by number of
  indicators
• Discrepancy model of dyslexia
• Continuum
• Co-morbidity of learning difficulties

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Prevalence - Dyslexia

• No conclusive research has been carried out in
  Ireland to determine how prevalent it is
• International studies suggest up to 10 of
  population likely to be affected
• 4 severely affected by dyslexia, further 6
  moderately (Lindsey Peer, 2001)

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Dyslexia at Second-Level

• Transition from primary to post-primary
• Supports even more necessary at second-level
  (Ball, Hughes, McCormack 2007)
• Further literacy skills development
• State exams accommodations

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Research Study
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Research Design

• Research Design
• Case Study approach
• Methods
• Qualitative
• Interviews, Field notes, Diary entries, Writing
  scripts, Formal assessment documents

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A Bi/Multilingual Dyslexic
Profile

• Background of Subject
• Observations on Reading and Writing
• Spelling Difficulties
• Strengths in Coping with Dyslexia

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Background of Subject

• Bhí an dalta Aisling, a bhí sé bliana déag ag an
  am, ag freastal
• ar iar-bhunscoil lán-Ghaeilge. Tógadh í le
  Gaeilge agus cé go
• raibh cumas maith Gaeilge aici déirigh a cumas
  sa Bhéarla
• níos láidre ná a cumas Gaeilge de réir a chéile.
  Ar an iomlán
• ba dhátheangach cothrom í.
• Fuarthas amach ag aois 8 trí mheasúnú
  síceolaíochta go raibh
• disléicse uirthi. Dfhreastail sí ansin ar scoil
  trí mheán na Béarla
• ina raibh aonad léitheoireachta le haghaidh dhá
  bhliain. Ní
• raibh Gaeilge ar an gcuraclam mar ábhar sa scoil
  sin.
• Chuaigh sí ar aghaidh chuig iar-bhunscoil
  lán-Ghaeilge ina
• dhiaidh sin, áit ar thosaigh sí ag foghlaim dhá
  nuatheanga,
• Fraincis agus Gearmáinis. Déirigh sí as na
  ranganna
• Gearmáinise tar éis tamaill, áfach, chun freastal
  ar ranganna
• tacaíochta. Ba iad na teangacha do ndearna sí
  staidéar orthu
• ar scoil mar sin ná Gaeilge, Béarla agus
  Fraincis.

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Reading

• Tá mé go breá á léamh i mo cheann ach nuair
  atáim ag léamh os ard is ansin a bhíonn an fhadhb
  agam
• 
  (Aisling)

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Observations on Reading

• Problem with decoding words
• Slow reading rate
• Much self-correction
• Comprehension more advanced than Accuracy and
  Rate
• Difficulty across the three languages

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Neale Analysis of Reading (Source Learning
Support Teacher)

• Figure 1 NA Chronological Age 15.09

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Writing

• Tá sí go maith ó bhéal ach ní éiríonn léi é a
  chur síos ar pháipéar
• (Learning support teacher)

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Observations on Writing

• Expresses herself better orally than in written
  work
• Untidy handwriting and spelling errors can reduce
  legibility
• Problems with organisation

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Spelling Difficulties

• Uaireanta scríobhaim focail agus bíonn a fhios
  agam go bhfuil siad mícheart ach níl mé in ann
  smaoineamh ar an litriú ceart
• 
  (Aisling)
• Bíonn sé deacair a idirdhealú a dhéanamh
  uaireanta idir an gramadach agus botúin litrithe
• 
  (Irish Teacher)
• Ní dóigh liom go bhfuil aon fhadhbanna aici le
  gramadach i ndáiríre, baineann na fadhbanna le
  litriú
• 
  
• 
  (French Teacher)

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Litriú Gaeilge

• Fágann sí amach an h ag tús focal agus an
  comhartha iolra í ag deireadh focal
• m.sh. mo baile (mo bhaile), cailín (cailíní)
• Litríonn sí an focal céanna i mbealaí difriúla
• m.sh. aisleaní, aiseana (áiseanna)
• deilim,dulaim (dfhoglaim)
• Litriú Foghraíochta
• m.sh. tres tact aras (tar éis teacht ar ais),
  
• ariget (arigead)

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Litriú Gaeilge (ar lean)

• Fágann sí amach litreacha i lár focal ach go
  háirithe nuair a thagann ghuta le chéile
• m.sh. Chuigh sé (chuaigh sé), frisin
  (freisin)
• Deacrachtaí le taoilitreacha (silent letters) .i.
  nuair nach bhfuaimnítear an f nó fh
• m.sh. go bhuil (go bhfuil), dan (dfhan)
• Cuireann sí isteach litreacha míchuí
• m.sh. ibair (obair), sbriobh (scríobh)
• Meascann sí litriú Gaeilge agus Béarla
• m.sh. sail (saol), could (chuaigh)

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English Spelling

• She mixes up vowels and omits vowels especially
  when two vowels come together
• e.g dose (does), hart (heart)
• Phonetic Spelling
• e.g Patric Kavina (Patrick Kavanagh)
• wen (when) meens (means)
• She sometimes inserts a d instead of a softer
  consonant sound
• e.g Wudering Hights (Wuthering Heights),
• admosfere (atmosphere)

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English Spelling (Cont.)

• When two consonants are together she will often
  leave out one
• e.g attemps (attempts), afair (affair)
• Three consonants together also pose problems
• e.g lots of rabbit (lots of rabbits)
• She often spells the same word in several ways
  (even within the same writing piece)
• e.g hosital, hospitail, hoispatal (hospital)

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French Spelling

• Adding inappropriate letters
• e.g il plelut (il pleut), le paitient
  (patient)
• Omitting letters within words
• e.g peite (petite), pisine (piscine)
• Phonetic Spelling
• e.g notic (nautique), music (musique)
• Writing letters in wrong order
• e.g un chein (un chien), le parnets (les
  parents)
• Difficulty with contiguous vowels
• e.g beacoup, beucoup, boutcoup (beaucoup)

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Strengths in Coping with Dyslexia

• Previously developed coping strategies
• Self-awareness
• High self-esteem and confidence
• Systematic and methodical work ethic
• Active learning style

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Issues and Implications

• Review of Study
• Immersion Education
• Dyslexia Across Different Languages
• Foreign Language Learning by the Bilingual
  Dyslexic
• Approach to Teaching

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Review of Study

• Moderate Dyslexia
• Clear discrepancy between written and
• oral communication
• Reading and Spelling Problems
• Difficulties transcend all three languages

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Immersion Education

• No indication in study that the immersion
  environment exacerbates difficulties for
  dyslexics in the mild to moderate deficit range
• Immersion programmes can provide a fulfilling
  education for those with learning difficulties
• Obstacles likely to be greater for dyslexics
  without an Irish language background
• Need for comprehensive empirical investigation to
  fully support or refute the appropriacy of
  immersion education for those with learning
  difficulties.

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Dyslexia Across Languages

• Dyslexia usually (though not universally)
  transfers across the language constellation
• Dyslexia manifests differently in different
  languages
• Orthographic variation contributes to the
  diversity of literacy difficulties
• Some languages are seen as easier to learn than
  others
• Most research on dyslexia has been conducted in
  the English language or a monolingual setting
• Objective should be to identify typical reading,
  writing and spelling difficulties characteristic
  of each language to arrive at language specific
  recommendations for assessment and remediation.

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Foreign Language Learning by the Bilingual
Dyslexic

• The study of foreign languages is generally
  challenging for dyslexics
• Students are not immersed in the L3
• Based on a continuum of need the pattern of
  difficulties vary
• The linguistic system is widened both
  quantitatively and above all, qualitatively
• Reading and writing abilities in the previous
  languages rather than oral proficiency is linked
  to more efficient L3 acquisition
• Dyslexia specialists generally agree that FLL
  should be encouraged

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The Approach to Teaching

• Challenge to advocates of a purely oral/aural
  approach
• Importance of the reading and writing elements
• Support for the principles of direct instruction
  and the Multisensory Structured Language (MLI)
  approach
• Appreciation of the development of literacy in
  languages of different orthographies
• Teaching and resources need to account for the
  target languages specific linguistic features

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Further Research

• Title
• Bi/Multilingualism, Literacy and Dyslexia in Post
  Primary all-Irish Education (Phd research)
• Aim
• To investigate the extent to which literacy
• acquisition is impeded by a specific learning
• difficulty among bi/multilingual acquisitors and
• the overall consequences for language
• competency that accrue.
• Method Collective Case Study

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Key Research Questions

• How does the study of dyslexia in all-Irish
  secondary schools contribute to our understanding
  of bi/multilingualism?
• To what extent are the beneficial effects of
  bilingualism in third language learning
  undermined by the presence of dyslexia?
• Do literacy problems transfer differently across
  the language constellation?
• How can teaching and resources be effectively
  adapted to allow for these differences?

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Key Research Questions (Cont.)

• Are immersion students being adequately supported
  to maximise language learning development in a
  truly inclusive educational environment?
• Are key aspects of literacy/language development
  being neglected and expectations lowered here due
  to the availability of exemptions in State exams?
• Should the basis for granting a complete
  exemption from the study of Irish and/or a
  foreign language at second-level be also
  re-examined?

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Contact Details

• Matthias Maunsell
• Email maunselm_at_tcd.ie