I am currently in the credential program at Cal State Fullerton. As educators, schools, and parents have become more aware of reading disabilities the number of identified students has increased. Many schools routinely test for reading disabilities. I would like pose questions to experienced educators or special education specialists, about second language learners and reading disabilities in general and dyslexia specifically. The learning of a second language is difficult enough for students.
* When students are tested for reading disabilities are the tests designed to discover a specific area of problems? Alternatively, are the tests more a blanket testing procedure that discovers only that there is a problem?
* Is it possible to get an accurate test for reading disabilities with a second language learner?
* Do reading disability tests separate dyslexia into a separate category for exploration?
I would love to hear your opinions, and inside information that can only come from experience. Thank you for helping a teacher to be, to clear up an area of confusion and questions.
Reading disabilities and second language learners
Thank you for your prompt answer. I had been curious about the impact that reading disabilities could have on a second language learner. It is important for any readers’ development to have issues identified. What seemed to me as a probable area of oversight (that no one intends) was the area of ESL students.
Dyslexia caught my attention when I interviewed a school psychologist. In that particular district, dyslexia was not acknowledged as a disability. The psychologist did not appear to even understand what dyslexia was. Her answer to me was that any remediation or intervention the schools helped them with, would also handle the problems of dyslexia.
I left more confused. How can an intervention work, if you don’t know what you are trying to fix?
the psyche probably didn't receive training for that
Dyselxia is often misunderstood as a visual processing issue when it is an inablity to read that is usually a problem with auditory processing connecting the sounds in the language they hear to the symbols that represent those sounds on the written page.
With ESL issues one is dealing with the aquisition of two sound systems and two languages. So this would be a language issue not a psyche issue.
* When students are tested for reading disabilities are the tests designed to discover a specific area of problems?
This depends on if you are testing them in their native language or if you are testing them as an ELL
Alternatively, are the tests more a blanket testing procedure that discovers only that there is a problem? IT depends on the type of testing again…with an ELL I would do more of a portfolio assessment, and make sure it was bi-lingual as well.
* Is it possible to get an accurate test for reading disabilities with a second language learner?
Probably one could if you test them in their native language
* Do reading disability tests separate dyslexia into a separate category for exploration?
I dont’ think they do separate them into separate categories..
Did you talk to Ashley Bishop, Dr. Yopp-Singer in the reading department at CSUF?? In addition, Dr. Wyatt or Dr. Saenz as they are the multi-cultural pro’s in the communicative disorders program at CSUF…
I graduated from CSUF…a year ago with my MA…