Applying ICT appropriately to MFL: Case Studies
Case Study: John — a Foreign Language Learner with Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia)
John is a boy in your Year 7 MFL class. He has a Statement of Special Educational Needs. His educational psychologist has diagnosed Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia). John has average to above-average intelligence and a wide range of interests. He plays for the town under-13 football team. He has a Reading Age of 8 years 3 months, which is on the low side.
During the early months of learning the MFL he appears to be enjoying the subject and making good progress, but you have noticed that he is having difficulty with certain aspects of the subject and particularly with written work. His father has just informed your school's Special Needs Coordinator that he would like John to be withdrawn from MFL lessons. He believes that a second language only serves to confuse John when his basic literacy is so weak. He would like John to do extra English instead during his MFL lessons.
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Problem 1: Does John's father have the right to insist that his son should be "disapplied" from his National Curriculum entitlement to a MFL? Do you as John's MFL teacher agree that "disapplication" is appropriate in John's case? |
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Problem-solving: Towards the end of January 1999, a message seeking advice about the disapplication of a dyslexic MFL learner was sent to SENCO Forum, a discussion group for Special Needs professionals. Find and read the Disapplication from Modern Languages messages in that month's SENCO Forum Archives. |
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Problem 2: Your Head of Department wants John to continue with his MFL and asks you to find out more about his condition and to devise strategies that will help him access the subject better. |
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Problem-solving: For information about the implications of Specific Learning Difficulties for MFL, browse through Margaret Crombie's paper Teaching and learning of Modern Foreign Languages for Dyslexic Students on the British Dyslexia Association's website. Also read Bilingualism and Dyslexia – A Practitioner’s View, and more particularly Cooreman's case study of Toon, a Dutch speaker, who though fluent now in spoken English and Spanish, still has poor literacy skills. |
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Problem 3: You decide to find out how other countries address the issue of SpLD and MFL. |
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Problem-solving: The American counterpart of the British Dyslexia Association is the Orton Dyslexia Society. Many US colleges now have a foreign language requirement. Read the comments about the significance of this requirement for dyslexic students on the Orton-Dyslexia Society Message Board and browse through the ERIC Digest Foreign Language Requirements and Students with Learning Disabilities. Compare this information with the University of Hull Open Learning Centre for Languages guidelines Dyslexia and Learning a Modern Foreign Language. |
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© 2000 David R. Wilson |