Digital Tools to Support Writers in the EFL Classroom. Technology and its Benefits for Dyslexic Students

Table of Contents

1. Introduction and Motivation

2. Dyslexia
2.1. Definition, Causes and Implications
2.2. Dyslexia in the EFL Classroom
2.3. Support of Dyslexic Students in the Classroom in General and in the EFL Classroom

3. Digital Tools in the EFL Classroom
3.1. Benefits of Digital Tools for Dyslexic Students
3.2. Evaluation of selected Digital Tools

4. Conclusion and Perspectives

5. Works Cited

1. Introduction and Motivation

The modern society can be characterized as a technology based information society (cf. Grimm/Meyer/Volkmann 2015: 24). Therefore, it should be no surprise that there is an increased use of digital tools in many classrooms. As an example, foreign language teachers make use of a wide range of electronically based technology resources to allow for an authentic foreign language experience in the classroom (cf. Schneider/Crombie 2004: 75).

However, there is another factor which foreign language teachers have to take in account when including digital media in their lessons; the inclusion of special education needs students. In the year 2006 a political document, named Convention of the United Nations on the rights of persons with disabilities, came into force in New York and was signed by 167 states. This document promotes for the non-discrimination of of people with disabilities and demands the change of the structure of the whole society (cf. Köpfer 2015: 347). Since its publication it has led to the beginning of many changes in different areas of life; especially in education. From an educational point of view the most important articles in this document are §24 2a and §24 2b which declare the right of persons with disabilities to have equal access to education at primary and secondary schools.¹ In 2009 Germany ratified the Convention of the United Nations on the rights of persons with disabilities and with that started the implementation of inclusive classrooms (Grimm/ Meyer/ Volkmann 2015: 144).

The increased use of digital tools in the EFL class and the inclusion of special education needs students into classrooms sets the question how the use of digital media in the foreign language classroom impacts special education needs students. Does it enhance or impede their abilities, especially their abilities in writing, in the foreign language learning process?

This paper aims to examine the advantages and disadvantages of digital tools in inclusive EFL writing classes. As special education needs is a very broad field, the focus of the paper will be set onto only one learning disability, namely dyslexia. The paper will begin with the introduction of the topic dyslexia. This part will include a detailed definition on what dyslexia is, its implications in the EFL classroom and methods to support dyslexic students. Next, the main part will focus on digital tools in the EFL classroom and their benefits for dyslexic students. The main part will also include an evaluation of selected digital tools in the EFL writing class for dyslexic students. Finally, the paper will also contain a conclusion where all results will be summarized and the future prospects of digital tools in the EFL writing class will be discussed.

2. Dyslexia

2.1. Definition, Causes and Implications

It is said that dyslexia affects 4-8 % of all students (cf. Gerlach 2015: 140). But, what is dyslexia? There are a lot of different definitions in the secondary literature to give an answer to this question. But, one of the most declaratory definitions which could be found is Bennett’s definition:

Dyslexia is best described as a combination of abilities and difficulties which affect the learning process in one or more of reading, spelling and writing. (…) It is particularly related to mastering and using written language, which may include alphabetic, numeric and musical notation. Some have no outstanding talents. All have strenghts. Dyslexia can occur despite intellectual ability and conventional teaching. It is independent of socio, economic or language background. (Bennett 2013: 17)

So, dyslexia could be defined as a learning difficulty in written language wich complicates linguistic learning processes for people affected by it. As it was said before the cause of dyslexia is not connected to the social, economic or linguistic background of a person.

This leads to the question what the actual cause of dyslexia is. The causes of dyslexia are diverse and not fully researched yet. Nevertheless, since the 1970ies certain causes and problem fields have been crystallized (Gerlach 2010: 19). Amongst those problem fields the most important ones are genetic causes and neurobiological impairments as these prove that dyslexia is not the result of insufficient school education, low intelligence or physical or psychological diseases (cf. Schleider 2009: 13). Furthermore, Gerlach names some more fields which will be mentioned in the following: perception and processing of visual information, perception and processing of acoustic information, and attentiveness and concentration (cf. Gerlach 2010: 19).

How can a teacher recognize when a student is dyslexic? Dyslexic students show weaknesses and difficulties in different areas as reading, writing, spelling, numeracy, speaking and listening, learning to read musical notation, organization, time management (cf. Bennett 2013: 23). To be more specific, dyslexic students might show some of the following symptoms when reading a text: omission, addition or the exchange of words, weaknesses in the optical differentiation in words, slow reading pace, mistakes in the order of words and difficulties in the reflection of a text (cf. Schleider 2009: 16). Additionally, dyslexic students might also show some the following symptoms in spelling: contortion of letters, mistakes in the order of letters, omission of letters, insertion of wrong letters, mistakes in the perception of certain letters and inconsistency of mistakes (cf. Gerlach 2010: 32). It is also important to note that there are different forms of dyslexia. Hence, the symptoms can differ depending on which form of dyslexia a student has (cf. ibid. 33).

2.2. Dyslexia in the EFL Classroom

Everything described above is related to the written language acquisition of the first language of a dyslexic person. But, the most important thing in context of this paper is how the difficulties named above can affect the learning process of dyslexic students in the EFL classroom and especially in the EFL writing class.

Written language acquisition is a major problem for dyslexic students in general (cf. Gerlach 2010: 46). So, learning a foreign language is, as it can be predicted, related with a variety of difficulties for dyslexic students (cf. Bennett 2013: 83). Even though, English and German have the same historical origin, Latin, there are major differences which can be spotted. Gerlach names three problem fields; phonology, syntax and morphology, and grammar and semantics, for German EFL learners (cf. Gerlach 2010: 48). The main focus of the foreign language lesson is set on the written language in form of reading, learning new vocabulary, gaining grammatical knowledge and writing own texts (cf. Gerlach 2015: 141). Latter ist most problematic for dyslexic students. The difficulties that dyslexic students experience with their writing, for example spelling mistakes, in the EFL class are a result of limitations in their technical skills: motor coordination, word encoding and sound-letter analysis (cf. Daloiso 2017: 145). To be more specific, dyslexic students have difficulties in matching phonemes with graphemes which leads to a phonetical spelling of many words (cf. Gerlach 2015: 142).

There are many suggestions in the secondary literature on how to encourage and support dyslexic students with their foreign language learning process despite their difficulties. These will be reviewed in the following.

2.3. Support of Dyslexic Students in the Classroom in General and in the EFL Classroom

The most effective way to support dyslexic students in the EFL writing class is to motivate and make them continue their learning process (Zander 2005: 9). As Bennett says, most dyslexic students struggle from low levels of self-belief which can lead to negative experiences as sensing failure and a lack of motivation (cf. 2013: 32f.). In order to change that, teachers should be aware of how to deal with failure, how to give feedback and how to do marking. Many students might fear negative evaluation and therefore perceive every correction as failure, this feeling may be intensified in the foreign language learning (cf. Daloiso 2017: 41).

That is why teachers should be aware of how to deal with failure. More specifically, they should let failure seem as an essential part of the learning process (cf. Bennett 2013: 42). So, it should be a teacher’s objective to to highlight that failure is not anything negative or to make fun of, but in opposite something positive as one can learn from mistakes (cf. ibid. 46). This is important in relation to feedback.

Feedback is a fundamental component of communication in the educational context (cf. Wilbert 2010: 74). The way how a teacher gives feedback is closely linked to the performance motivation of a student (cf. ibid.) Therefore, feedback and marking should be done with the psychological support and the proficiency level of the student in mind (cf. Gerlach 2010: 55). The language of the given feedback should be chosen carefully. Feedback should be specific, not personal and last but not least constructive (cf. Bennett 2013: 42f.). Gerlach suggests that mistakes should be marked colorless and instead correctly written things should be highlighted as colors would put the memorization of falsely written words in danger (cf. Gerlach 2015: 158). In addition criticism, for example of the writing, should be sandwiched in between two pieces of praise (cf. Bennett 2013: 44). These methods would not only support the learners self- belief but also help them to strengthen their awareness of mistakes. Thus, students could learn to identify their own mistakes in moderation (cf. Gerlach 2015: 158).

As the focus of this paper is writing in English as a foreign language, methods on supporting dyslexic students writing, more specifically spelling and text production, will be given in the following.

One of the most important aspects of writing is correct spelling. Even though correct spelling represents a major problem for dyslexic students there are possibilities for teachers to support their students by using different methods. One of these methods is to use multi-sensory learning which makes use of all the senses; visual, auditory, kinaesthic, olfactory and gustatory (cf. Bennett 2013: 51). Multi- sensory learning can be used to improve spelling for example when new vocabulary is being introduced by highlighting difficult words (cf. Gerlach. 2015: 155). Bennett introduces the LSCWC method in which is an abbreviation for look, say, cover, write and check (cf. 2013: 73). This method could be used for learning vocabulary with index cards (cf. Gerlach 2015: 156f). Overall, LSCWC does not only offer the activation of multiple senses but also gives space for learning in ones own pace and having enough repetitions to be able to memorize the spelling of a word.

[...]

¹ Convention of the United Nations on the rights of persons with disabilities. New York (2006) https://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf (24.07.19)