Country Studied: Spain
Area of Focus: Children with dyslexia
Type of learner the Best Practice is supporting:
- Children and adults with dyslexia.
Aims and objectives of Best Practice
Learning English for someone with dyslexia is not easy. Even less so for a Spanish speaker, since they start from a language (Spanish) that is very “transparent” to learn another (English) that is one of the most “opaque” there is.
For this reason, many people with dyslexia find that traditional English courses do not work for them. A lot of English grammar, a lot of text, scattered books, everything very abstract… And these are just some of the things that our students with dyslexia tell us.
And of course, there are teachers at school who make adaptations so that boys and girls with dyslexia go from course to course without pain or glory, but, above all, without learning English. To obtain the ESO degree it may be useful, but for their future work it is disastrous. Hence, practically all adults with dyslexia who call us need to learn English in order to advance in their professional careers.
Given all these problems with the English of students with dyslexia, we are more than convinced that YES, IT IS POSSIBLE to learn English with dyslexia and for that we have created the DIS IS ENGLISH method, which not only adapts the material for English classes, but also the way of teaching classes.
Short descriptor of Best Practice
The DIS is English method, which is based on several years of study, development and experience, is based on the fact that the dyslexic brain learns differently. Also when it comes to learning English.
Dyslexia is not only about decoding writing, but there are more factors at play. Some that work against it, but there are also others that work in its favor, such as the great creativity that the majority of our students with dyslexia have and how tremendously visual they tend to be, which can help us when learning English.
At DIS is English we adapt the rhythm of the classes, we adapt the English material to our students with dyslexia, we create knowledge little by little, we start from the student’s focus; not from the teacher and we give a lot of importance to emotional intelligence. Many students, when they begin their English course, have their self-esteem at rock bottom, but, as the months go by, we see how it rises and rises and helps and motivates them to learn English and reach results never imagined by themselves.
3 Key learning Principles that were used in this Best Practice to support learners with LD
The work ideology and the general objectives that they propose in the educational project in the center, always thinking about the education of the students and the development of their skills from the perspective of equal opportunities, are:
- Give individualized attention.
- Student-centered methodology.
- Promote the use of language.
- Adapt the rhythm of the classes.
- Adapt the English material to our students with dyslexia.
- Give a lot of importance to emotional intelligence.
- Motivate the student and focus in self-esteem.
Strategies used as part of Best Practice
- Individualized Learning Plans.
- Built on an understanding of how brains with dyslexia work.
- Guidance on creating and implementing individualized learning plans.
- Use of a lot of visual material.
- Adapt the rhythm of classes and offer multisensory material.
- Repetition, whether of English vocabulary or grammatical concepts, is essential.
- Adaptation and creation of specific class material for students with dyslexia.
- The material consists of worksheets, exercises, flash cards, activities, games, etc.
- Collaboration with support services and professionals.
Results and impact
We are specialists in teaching English to dyslexic students. Apart from teaching English, we also participate in several international projects on dyslexia and teaching.
Many of our teachers have specialized in teaching English to dyslexic students of all ages. This specialization has led us to create our own methodology and design specific material for dyslexic students.
For this we also have experts in the field in Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Croatia.
Furthermore, and understanding that learning English for students with dyslexia has a high emotional component, we have our own linguistic coach, specialized in assisting in the emotional and motivational part of our students.
Being pioneers in the field of dyslexia and English, many organizations at the national and European level request our collaboration so that together we can help more people.
Evidence as to why this was considered Good Practice
In May 2022, the DIS is English method was recognized with the national “FECEI TOP AWARD for INNOVATION” award, which is awarded each year by the Spanish Federation of Language Teaching Centers to the center with the most innovative project.
Resources used as part of Best Practice
Any Additional Information or Resources
