Dyslexia in EFL Course

Course: Teaching English to Moroccan Students with Dyslexia

Different Learning in English Dyslexia in EFL Course

Teaching English to Moroccan Students with Dyslexia

Course Info Booklet Oct 2020 Kenitra, Morocco

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IncLDE Teachers

Dyslexia in EFL Classroom The course will introduce the specific issues that Teachers of English might face in a classroom with a student(s) with dyslexia. Its premise is that there are about 10% people of the total population with dyslexia, of various degree, either diagnosed or not. Within the policy of iclusion, issued in 2019 by the Moroccan Government, it will be necessary to adapt the teaching methods to the needs of those 10%. As dyslexia primarily affects the written language acquisition, as well as differentiating sounds within a word, learning a foreign language can be very stressful and discouraging if done in a ‘traditional’ way. In order to understand the difficulties that dyslexic students face, the course will first cover the theoretical background. The teachers will be able to recognize the subtle signs of the ‘dyslexia spectrum’, and learn which principles to apply to their practice. In the second module, however, the teacher-participants will apply those principles and adapt and create activities that will boost the learning not only of the students with dyslexia, but all others as well.

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Course: Teaching English to Moroccan Students with Dyslexia

In this Couse, Participants will - Get an overview of basic myths and theories of dyslexia.

- Gain awareness of the specifi c characteristics of dyslexic individuals: cognitive and behavioral.

- Understand how dyslexia manifests in EFL and why.

- Learn about basic specific learning diff erences and how they might aff ect language learning.

- Gain awareness of typical signs of dyslexia observed among dyslexic learners.

- Learn how dyslexia can be identified.

- Gain awareness of the importance of native language

skills in the process of learning a foreign language.

- Find out what effects dyslexia has on foreign language learning and types of difficulties students encounter.

- Define and explain the principles of inclusive education, diff erentiation, and accommodation - Identify the most suitable educational adjustments that can be introduced in the foreign language classrooms to accommodate the needs of students with dyslexia - Adapt, alter, and rearrange the existing classroom routines and practices

to accommodate the needs of their learners with dyslexia - Become aware of how important individualization and differentiation of the teaching approach in order to suit the learning needs of the students - Define and explain the principles of Multisensory Structured Language (MSL) teaching - Understand what makes an activity MSL - Critically evaluate activities - Identify the most suitable adjustments to the activities that can be introduced in the foreign language

classrooms so that they allign to - Get experience in creating original material and activities - Become comfortable with digital tools - Learn simple tricks and tips how to make your activities more engaging and multisensory - Understand how to apply appropriate changes to your tests, i.e. typical accommodations.

- Develop sensitivity for different approaches and task adaptation related to different skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing

The material and the content in the course, unless stated otherwise, is based on two online courses: 1. http://dystefl2.uni.lodz.pl/ By: Nijakowska, J., Kormos, J., Hanusova, S., Jaroszewicz, B., Kálmos, B., Imrene Sarkadi, A., …Pižorn, K. (2015).

DysTEFL2 – Dyslexia for teachers of English as a foreign language. Self-study course. Erasmus Project.

2. https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/dyslexia DYSLEXIA AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING LANCASTER UNIVERSITY By Lancaster University.

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IncLDE Teachers

Overview and Structure Blended Course: 2h face-to-face + 2h online (‘homework’, projects, research, videos) Facilitator: Martina Matejas, MEd Resources: - Online platform Google Classroom is used for course management (storing resources, videos, communication, assigning projects and homework), and Padlet for sharing and reviewing products, i.e. Final projects, activities, etc.

- IncLDE website for reference - Teacher Manual - with sources and main topics covered in each lesson Topics: - Recognizing Dyslexia and Dyslexia-like symptoms - Inclusion - Differentiation - Multi-sensory Structured Learning - Teaching Speaking and Listening - Teaching Reading - Teaching Writing - Accommodations (in instruction) + adapting the tests - Kineasthetic Activities Final Project: Teachers demostrate their activities and a test/exam, how they adapted the existing activities from their coursebooks and the test(s); Final test: 20 questions - 30 min

Completion Requirements: Attendance 70%,

Complete Final Project, Final test 70%

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Course: Teaching English to Moroccan Students with Dyslexia

Module 1 - Understanding the principles of teaching EFL within the context of inclusion of students with dyslexia in the classroom Week 1: Recognizing and understanding Dyslexia, brief overview of LDs Week 2: Inclusion, Differentiation, Accommodation, LDs in Morocco (The Guide) Week 3: MSL activities Week 4: Creating appropriate material, Accommodations for testing + Half term QUIZ One week break - teachers develop their materials and prepare for demonstrations

Module 2: Hands-on activities created by teachers/participants, each session ends with peer review and critique Week 5: Teaching Speaking and Listening Week 6: Kineasthetic Activities Week 7: Teaching Writing and Reading One week break - teachers edit and modify their activities/material/sample tests and study for the final test Week 8: Demonstration of Final projects + Final test

NOTICE The information in this document is designed to be used by the course participants and facilitators.

IncLDE reserves the right to change the segments of the course under circumstances such as, but not limited to, less time available, significantly increased or decreased number of participants, non-availability of technical equipment at the venue. All the pertinent material will, however, be available digitally.

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IncLDE Teachers

Who is this workshop for?

This 10 week course is about teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to Moroccan students with dyslexia.

It is ideal for Elementary and Secondary school English teachers. It can also be beneficial for High School teachers as well as young trainee teachers or University students within Methodology or Didactics courses.

The course is an introductory level, handson experience aiming to give a general perspective on the issue of having one or two students in a classroom who have dyslexia or other dys-constellation Learning Difference.

Participants are not required to do any work prior to or after the course, but they are invited and encouraged to. They are encouraged to attend all sessions to gain a fuller and deeper understanding as well as develop skills to design and adapt their classroom activities.

Apart from the couse, there is a series of four workshops on similar topics, where atendees learn and discuss current issues related to dyslexia within the framework of teaching practice. The course is a more comprehensive opportunity to create activities and put into practice what is being learned.

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Course: Teaching English to Moroccan Students with Dyslexia

About the instructor

Martina Matejas has a Master’s Degree in Education (English Language and Literature) and over ten years of teaching EFL experience in three countries. She specialized in teaching to students with reading difficulties and online teaching.

Her interests are predominantly digital - creating activities and learning material which is multi-sensory and interactive, as well as captivating. Some examples are: mind maps, quizzes, vocabulary study sets, comic books, and videos.

She has been living in Kenitra sice 2016, working at ALC as a teacher and administrative assistant. She speaks French and Arabic, as well as Swedish and a bit of Italian. Her mother tongue is Croatian.

Apart from being an English teacher, Martina is a part-time yoga teacher and a massage therapist. She likes art and design, and her favorite hobby is knitting.

You can contact her via the website inclde.weebly.com, or by email inclde.maroc@gmail.com, and follow her writing on Medium.com.

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IncLDE Teachers

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ďƒźTeachers This study material has been developed for the purpose of the Course Teaching English to Moroccan Students with Dyslexia.

The activities have been developed for the Moroccan EFL lessons. Creative commons attribution licence applies.

Morocco, 2020

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Different Learning in English