Background information

This school supports students who need intensive individual attention with regard to learning ability and social development. English teachers have accumulated some experience in tailoring teaching objectives and adapting materials for the students over the past years. However, they consider that much is still needed to improve the learning of students with particular learning difficulties like dyslexia. Three teachers including the Panel Head and NET started a two-year project focusing on diagnosis, modification and remediation in English curriculum planning for a cohort of P4 students.

As reported by the teachers when the project commenced in 2006, P4 students were weak in learning in many subjects and were not particularly interested in English. They found it difficult to follow the lessons and tended to forget new language taught. For this reason the teachers decided on an in-depth study of the problems encountered by their students and were willing to try out different teaching strategies to help them.

Identification of concerns

The teachers wished to find answers to the following questions:

• What is dyslexia?
• How can we identify features of dyslexia and students' support needs?
• What particular language learning problems for dyslexic students can be identified?
• What can be done in regard to classroom teaching, materials, strategies, techniques, instruction to overcome these problems?

Strategies adopted

With the support of an officer from the Language Learning Support Section, the school embarked on a project to catering for the needs of dyslexic students in learning English at upper primary level. The main strategies of the project included:

• Enhancing professional knowledge: literature research on dyslexia including typical examples of dyslexic behaviour, and difficulties of dyslexic learners.
• Curriculum planning: e.g. enhancing student motivation, assigning tasks and project work and selective use of textbook content.
• Instructional strategies: trying out a multi-sensory approach, e.g. including realia, PowerPoint presentations and other materials and techniques appropriate to the ability levels and interests of the students.
• Monitoring the problems of dyslexic students: keeping portfolios and collecting student work to keep track of their progress.