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Best practice in the teaching of reading and writing - Dyslexia ...

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The nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> meta-l<strong>in</strong>guistic <strong>in</strong>sights that are important for read<strong>in</strong>g depends upon <strong>the</strong><br />

writ<strong>in</strong>g system. In an alphabetic writ<strong>in</strong>g system such as English, <strong>the</strong> crucial <strong>in</strong>sight beyond <strong>the</strong><br />

concept <strong>of</strong> a word is that letters represent phonemes. However, Ch<strong>in</strong>ese characters do not<br />

encode grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences, but <strong>in</strong>stead character-to-syllable <strong>and</strong><br />

character-to-morpheme correspondences. So, learn<strong>in</strong>g to read Ch<strong>in</strong>ese requires ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />

different <strong>in</strong>sights from young readers than does an alphabetic system.<br />

In <strong>the</strong> presentation, <strong>the</strong> reform <strong>of</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese character <strong>in</strong>struction <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese schools will be<br />

briefly <strong>in</strong>troduced, <strong>the</strong> characteristics <strong>of</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese orthography <strong>and</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese orthographyphonology<br />

correspondence: regularity, consistency <strong>and</strong> a new method <strong>of</strong> character <strong>in</strong>struction<br />

termed morphological <strong>in</strong>struction will be expla<strong>in</strong>ed. Grounded <strong>in</strong> psychol<strong>in</strong>guistic research <strong>in</strong><br />

Ch<strong>in</strong>ese literacy, morphological <strong>in</strong>struction emphasizes knowledge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternal structures <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> writ<strong>in</strong>g system. This method helps children with dyslexia to master <strong>the</strong> structural rules <strong>of</strong><br />

different types <strong>of</strong> characters <strong>and</strong> to apply rules analytically when learn<strong>in</strong>g to read <strong>and</strong> write<br />

new Ch<strong>in</strong>ese characters.<br />

Draffan (ICT solutions)<br />

E.A. Draffan tra<strong>in</strong>ed as a Speech <strong>and</strong> Language Therapist, before specialis<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> Assistive Technologies. She has s<strong>in</strong>ce worked with disabled students<br />

<strong>in</strong> Fur<strong>the</strong>r <strong>and</strong> Higher Education, set up an Assistive Technology Centre,<br />

contributed to <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> TechDis <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>in</strong>stitutions <strong>and</strong> groups. She is now<br />

a Research Fellow at <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> Southampton with <strong>in</strong>terests <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> ease <strong>of</strong><br />

use <strong>and</strong> accessibility <strong>of</strong> e-learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> has recently been work<strong>in</strong>g on <strong>the</strong> LexDis<br />

project funded by <strong>the</strong> Jo<strong>in</strong>t Information Systems Committee (UK).<br />

Abstract - Teacher <strong>and</strong> parent support forums – how to make <strong>the</strong>se work<br />

The presentation will explore <strong>the</strong> pros <strong>and</strong> cons <strong>of</strong> us<strong>in</strong>g technologies to collaborate with<br />

those support<strong>in</strong>g students with dyslexia: <strong>the</strong> excit<strong>in</strong>g nature <strong>of</strong> real time communication<br />

versus <strong>the</strong> issues <strong>of</strong> threaded forums <strong>and</strong> mail lists, <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> text to speech <strong>and</strong> text<strong>in</strong>g<br />

along with <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> participation at all levels. A feel<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>volvement <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

real help that can be provided results <strong>in</strong> positive outcomes as aga<strong>in</strong>st <strong>the</strong> trials <strong>of</strong> poor<br />

connections, costly devices, complex s<strong>of</strong>tware <strong>and</strong> time management.<br />

Forums that can be used at any time have been shown to be safe <strong>and</strong> ‘easy to use’<br />

environments by some researchers 1 . They can provide a more comfortable feel<strong>in</strong>g when<br />

personal issues are discussed <strong>and</strong> possibly act as an alternative to face-to-face groups 2 .<br />

The effectiveness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> emotional <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>formational support that onl<strong>in</strong>e forums provide<br />

has been reported 3 . Confidentiality may be an issue but usually computer based onl<strong>in</strong>e<br />

forums require registration <strong>and</strong> passwords, so discussions can be kept away from <strong>the</strong><br />

public eye if required.<br />

It is hoped that delegates will leave with a clear underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> types <strong>of</strong> free Web<br />

2.0 collaborative onl<strong>in</strong>e applications available <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir accessibility. Individual <strong>and</strong> group<br />

chat <strong>and</strong> text messag<strong>in</strong>g, webcam / video systems as well as e-mail lists will be<br />

discussed <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> mobile phone technologies for support networks.<br />

1. Anderson & Kanuka, 1997; Hsiung, 2000<br />

2. Kramish et al., 2001<br />

3. Hsiung, 2000<br />

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