“Fingers, Eyes and Ears to Words”: LESLLA teachers learn from dyslexia educators

Abstract

In LESLLA classrooms all over the world, teachers focus much attention on reading instruction. Their students are beginning readers, tackling this challenging task in a new language. In the absence of a wide research base for LESLLA, teachers turn to related fields for guidance on the complexities of teaching struggling readers. In this study, several LESLLA teachers explored the field of dyslexia education, searching for insights to improve their literacy instruction. Both LESLLA learners and dyslexic children are grappling with reading an alphabetic print language. Both groups of students work on building phonological skills, recognizing word patterns, and applying reading strategies to more complicated texts. While they struggle with reading for different reasons, LESLLA learners may benefit from the multisensory, systematic, and direct approach to reading used with dyslexic children. In the following case, several LESLLA teachers examined dyslexia education through a facilitated study circle and found a number of classroom practices worthy of applying to their learners.