Country Studied: Norway
Area of Focus: Spelling
Type of learning difficulty the Case Study is supporting:
- Dyslexia
Aims and objectives of Case Study
Τhis study explored the effect of specific teaching accommodations for English language learners with dyslexia in a Norwegian primary school. Specifically, this single group intervention project investigated the impact of a range of multisensory techniques on spelling skills and motivation.
The study has a single-group before-and-after design (Check & Schutt, 2012), whereby participants are exposed to an experimental treatment and are tested prior to and after an intervention.
Short description of Case Study
The Norwegian participants of the study were:
- One special education teacher.
- Five primary school pupils from the fifth and sixth grades officially diagnosed with dyslexia. These years are critical because learners often experience failures with respect to learning outcomes. and their struggles become more apparent (Høien & Lundberg, 2012). Three of the participants were 10 years old and recruited from the fifth grade (two boys and a girl), and two were 11 years old and recruited from the sixth grade (a boy and a girl).
The spelling test consisted of a selection of high frequency words from the McNally Wordlist (McNally & Murray, 1962), a collection of 250 high frequency words. Some 70% of the texts that children and young adults read in English are composed of these 250 high frequency words (Holmberg, 2019). To ensure that the test was not too long, only 16 items were chosen from the McNally Wordlist. These were considered sufficient to display spelling development. Since the pupils seemed insecure in their alphabetic knowledge, an additional focus point of the intervention was the alphabet.
The spelling intervention was designed and executed in the form of a series of lessons. The intervention was also aligned with the English subject curriculum and its competence aims (Ministry of Education, 2020), for example:
- Use simple strategies for language learning, text creation and communication;
- Follow rules for spelling, word inflection and syntax.
The spelling intervention maintained a multisensory approach featuring a focus on letter names through auditory and visual presentation and practice through hands-on and online training. Phonological awareness was practised through explicit instruction, worksheets and sorting activities. In the more explicit spelling-oriented activities, the pupils were expected to colour, build or paint words in their distinct sounds. The pre-test results helped adapt the intervention materials to the needs of the participants.
3 Key learning Principles that were used in this Case Study to support learners with LD
- Perform varied and interesting multisensory tasks.
- Perform tasks that are appropriate in terms of difficulty.
- Use of ICT.
Strategies used as part of Case Study
- Creating a positive and supportive classroom environment.
Results and impact
The findings revealed that the intervention was quite successful. The group exhibited substantial differences in mean scores between the pre- and post-test. However, there were individual differences in scores and comorbid disorders appeared to impact the effectiveness of the intervention. Nonetheless, all of the pupils reported gains in their motivation and improvement in their attitude towards learning English, which was confirmed by their special education teacher.
The current study, undertaken in the interface between English didactics and special education, investigated the benefits of a multisensory spelling intervention for dyslexic learners, as reported in prior studies (Lim & Oei, 2015; Nijakowska, 2010). The overall group score of the statistically reliable spelling pre- and post-tests yielded a 38% increase in mean scores, improving from 4.7 in the pre-test to 7.6 in the post-test. Considering the relatively short duration of the intervention (only eight lessons), it can be concluded that this evidence provides a positive outlook for incorporating MSL methodology while teaching dyslexic students.
The findings are also in agreement with the consensus that dyslexic learners require specific interventions to compensate for their deficits (Kormos, 2017, p. 118). Although the dyslexic participants improved their performance after the intervention, they exhibited individual differences.
Another aspect of the study was the use of technology. ICT can be successful in providing an opportunity for the overlearning required by dyslexic learners when practicing spelling (Lyster, 2012; Philips & Kelly, 2016).
It can also be a useful alternative or supplement to individual or small-group interventions (Galuschka et al., 2020). This study employed technology, e.g., Book Creator, Quizlet, an alphabet game, and a smartboard activity, and the pupils seemed positive about this. However, it was not employed as extensively as originally planned, so future research and experimentation may be needed to provide a more detailed account of this aspect.
Why can this Case Study be useful for the project research?
This study is the result of a group intervention project aimed to explore how EFL teachers can support their dyslexic students.
Pre- and post-tests were administered to observe development in spelling, while data were also collected via a pupil evaluation questionnaire and a teacher interview after the intervention.
Transferability
Some potential areas of transferability:
- Other Language Learning Contexts: While your study focused on EFL, the techniques and strategies developed could be applicable to other language learning contexts as well, such as second language (L2) acquisition classrooms or bilingual education programs.
- Special Education Settings: The multisensory techniques you explored may not only benefit dyslexic students but could also be effective for students with other learning differences or difficulties, such as ADHD or dysgraphia.
- General Education Classrooms: Even in classrooms where dyslexia isn’t prevalent, multisensory techniques for teaching spelling skills and enhancing motivation could still be beneficial for all students, potentially improving overall literacy outcomes.
- Further Research and Innovation: Your study could inspire further research into the effectiveness of multisensory techniques in different educational contexts and for different learner populations. This could lead to the development of new interventions or refinement of existing approaches.
Critical issues
Although the factors impacting on an inclusive learning environment should not be underestimated, dyslexic learners will likely require extra support outside the classroom, as well. The environment in which the extra support is executed should also be considered, as dyslexic learners require a peaceful environment to enhance their learning, so distracting factors should be avoided, if possible. Moreover, learners with severe spelling problems would probably benefit more from assistive technologies such as word processing, spell-checkers or speech-to-text technology.
Any additional learning that we can take from this Case Study, example:
“Finally, we would like to invite future researchers from the field of dyslexia and foreign language learning to further investigate the effects of MSL and phonological training, as well as the benefits of using technology for the teaching of spelling and other language skills to dyslexic learners in order to accumulate evidence that will help accommodate and support learning for this special group of learners.”
