Multilingualism and Dyslexia including the teaching of modern foreign languages
This is the second of two special issues of the journal in the new 'Millennium' which are devoted to papers derived from presentations at the first international conference on the topic of Multilingualism and Dyslexia (including the teaching of modern foreign languages) held in Manchester, UK in June 1999. A full introduction may be found in Issue 1.
This issue opens with the third section of this special treatment of the subject-Dyslexia and Modern Foreign Languages. The first paper by Leonore Ganschow and Richard Sparks outlines research that they have conducted in the US on the nature of foreign language learning problems of individuals with dyslexia and other at-risk learners for over 15 years. In particular, they present empirical evidence for their Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis, in which they establish linkages between native and foreign language learning problems. Their research shows that dyslexics and other at-risk learners have particular problems in the phonological/orthographic rule system. They present research findings on the efficacy of multisensory structured language approaches and suggest global challenges for the field. Doris Downey, Lynn Snyder and Barbara Hill present results of a study in which they compared college students with dyslexia and non-dyslexics enrolled in college Latin and Spanish. They highlight the persistent linguistic deficits displayed by college students with dyslexia. However, their findings suggest that students with dyslexia can succeed in foreign language classes if the classes are modified to meet their special needs. They briefly describe the model of foreign language teaching that they employ at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Margaret Crombie addresses several practical issues related to teaching a foreign language to students with dyslexia. Her paper is about the language learning difficulties of children with dyslexia in Scottish schools, who are required to learn a modern European language (French) in addition to their mother tongue. She describes the problems that these children are likely to encounter and the issues their teachers and parents face. She then proposes practical solutions for teachers, parents and students.
Teaching foreign languages to students with dyslexia using multisensory structured language techniques is the topic of the paper by Richard Sparks and Karen Miller.