This book addresses specific learning difficulties in reading and spelling – developmental dyslexia. Set in the cross-linguistic context, it presents issues surrounding dyslexia from the perspective of a foreign language teacher. It is intended to serve as a reference book for those involved in foreign language teaching, including experienced in-service teachers and novice teachers, as well as teacher trainers and trainees. It offers an up-to-date and reader-friendly study of the mechanisms of dyslexia and an overview of the current research on the disorder, in theoretical and practical terms. Its aim is to help teachers tackle one of the many challenges they face in the modern classroom: the organization of an effective foreign language teaching process for students with dyslexia.

Offering strategies and techniques for teaching modern foreign languages - an often severely challenging subject for pupils with dyslexia - this book is specifically designed to meet the needs of the busy subject specialist teacher looking for guidance on supporting pupils.

According to International Educational Statistics (2008), there are total of 654.9 million school-age children in the world. If dyslexia affects 10–15% of these youth (Fletcher et al. 2007), this translates to approximately 65–98 million students with difficulties in reading and writing. The EU strategic plan for education (2010) recognises the need for EU citizens to speak a foreign language. As such, foreign language courses are introduced on an obligatory basis at the primary level of education. Dyslexic students are not exempt from this regulation, and, thus, are confronted with different language systems that must be mastered. The difficulty here escalates if the systems differ significantly in their levels of orthographic transparency. Reading and writing are operationalised by the same biological functions that are defined by the universal perspective. However, language systems differ in terms of their transparency; for example, English and French are considered opaque scripts, whereas Spanish and Italian are described as transparent orthographies. These differences are discussed in this book as part of the language specific perspective, which can, in turn, raise questions such as: “Is a dyslexic student equally impaired in any language they study?” and “Is the type of difficulty primarily dependent on the language system or is it rather a dyslexia syndrome?” This volume provides answers through a synthesis of research on reading difficulties in first and foreign languages and existing taxonomies of dyslexia sub-types.

This book is intended to help language teachers to work effectively and successfully with students who have specific learning differences (SpLD) such as dyslexia. The book takes an inclusive and practical approach to language teaching and encourages teachers to consider the effects that an SpLD could have on a language learner. It suggests strategies that can be implemented to enable learners to succeed both in the classroom and in formal assessment. The book places issues of language teaching for learners with an SpLD in a broad educational context and, in addition to practical advice on methodologies and classroom management, also discusses discourses of the field, the identification of SpLDs and facilitating progression.

The Second Language Learning Processes of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties is the only recent book available to offer a detailed and in-depth discussion of the second language learning processes of students with specific learning difficulties (SpLDs). It summarizes research advances in the fields of cognitive and educational psychology and integrates them with recent studies in the area of second language acquisition (SLA). Thus the book is relevant not only to readers who are particularly interested in the role of specific learning difficulties in learning additional languages, but also to those who would like to understand how individual differences in cognitive functioning influence SLA. The book focuses on four important areas that are particularly relevant for language learners with SpLDs: the processes of SLA in general and the development of reading skills in particular, the effectiveness of pedagogical programs, the assessment of the language competence of students with SpLDs and identifying SpLDs in another language. The book also views learners with SpLDs in their social and educational contexts and elaborates how the barriers in these contexts can affect their language learning processes. This is an excellent resource for language teachers, students, and researchers in the areas of second language acquisition and applied linguistics.

This edited book uses the concept of diversity in child foreign language education as a major organizing principle. Since a foreign language, most typically English, is taught globally to an increasing number of children, the variability in the process and varied learning outcomes are inescapable phenomena. This book has been constructed on the premise that heterogeneity, first, concerns young language learners, who due to the disparity in the pace of development need appropriately tailored educational solutions, and, second, it refers to a diversity of contexts in which learning takes place. The contexts can be defined on a macroscale (e.g. different countries), mesoscale (e.g. different institutions), and microscale (e.g. specific learner groups). The book consists of four thematic strands. In Part One the learner-internal causes of heterogeneity of young language learners are clarified. Part Two presents a sample of classroom studies in which learner variables, such as gender, learner preferences, and special needs are taken into account. Part Three looks at teaching materials and how they meet learners’ needs. Finally, Part Four highlights diversity issues that teachers should be prepared to face.

This book provides specific support to teachers who need to accommodate learners with dyslexia in their ELT classrooms – guiding them through the main steps of the process with clear explanations, suggestions, and practical tools. Areas covered include: • the nature and causes of dyslexia • emotional, cognitive, and linguistic factors connected to dyslexia and English as a foreign, second, or other language • methodological guidelines for making English language teaching accessible for learners with dyslexia • strategies for phonological and orthographic work • developing communicative skills in oral and written language • accessible language testing and assessment in classroom-based and official contexts. Extra resources are available on the website: www.oup.com/elt/teacher/supportingdyslexia