Including You -Strategies for Including Students with Dyslexia in Regular English Classroom Practice

Abstract: This study aims to investigate what strategies teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) apply in their teaching in order to include students with dyslexia in the regular classroom practice, with regard for the effects that the learning disorder has on English acquisition and the possibility to successfully learn the language. The purpose is to research how the participating teachers view inclusion, what strategies they apply in their own teaching to provide it, and how familiar they are with theoretical approaches regarding inclusion for students with dyslexia, in order to provide better insight into which strategies that are used and teachers’ preparedness to accommodate to the educational needs of today’s diverse student body.The study is based on a questionnaire where ten teachers of English in Upper secondary school answered questions regarding their view on inclusion, what strategies they use to include dyslexic learners in their classroom practice, how familiar they are with theoretical approaches in the field, and their perceived confidence in teaching students with dyslexia and the level of support provided by the school. The theoretical approaches used in this study are combined strategy instruction, multi-sensory approach, and meta-cognitive approach, resting on the premise of an inclusive teaching method.Results show that the participating teachers are accustomed to teaching students with dyslexia, and that a majority feel confident in their practice. Furthermore, teachers have a good insight into what difficulties dyslexia can pose for the students. The strategies most used among teachers to include these students are auditory aid alongside written text, digital tools, cognitive strategies such as predicting, summarizing and discussing, visual aid through pictures and colour-coding, focus on comprehension rather than spelling, larger print in texts, and building confidence among the dyslexic students. Regarding usage of theoretical approaches, visual displays, predicting, and summarizing were most used. Regarding familiarity and use of combined strategy instruction, multi-sensory approach, and meta-cognitive approach, the majority of the teachers did not explicitly state that they use these strategies, but their accounts given on strategies used suggests that they are familiar with the methods but that the terminology might differ. Moreover, while the participating teachers stated that they feel comfortable in teaching students with dyslexia, reports of constricting factors such as time, group size and lack of equipment makes it difficult to accommodate the needs of a diverse learner group.The results from the study are discussed in light of the theoretical background. Based on this, and the answers provided by the participating teachers, it can be affirmed that a more extensive use of strategies such as movie maker journaling, multi-sensory approach and meta-cognitive strategies could improve the learning of English among students with dyslexia. However, governing factors on an institutional level have to be considered in order to increase teachers’ ability to accommodate to the needs of these students.