Teacher knowledge of basic language concepts and dyslexia

Abstract

Roughly one-fifth of the US population displays one or more symptoms of dyslexia: a specific learning disability that affects an individual's ability to process written language. Consequently, elementary school teachers are teaching students who struggle with inaccurate or slow reading, poor spelling, poor writing, and other language processing difficulties. Findings from studies have indicated that teachers lack essential knowledge needed to teach struggling readers, particularly children with dyslexia. However, few studies have sought to assess teachers' knowledge and perceptions about dyslexia in conjunction with knowledge of basic language concepts related to reading instruction. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine elementary school teachers' knowledge of basic language concepts and their knowledge and perceptions about dyslexia. Findings from the present study indicated that teachers, on average, were able to display implicit skills related to certain basic language concepts (i.e. syllable counting), but failed to demonstrate explicit knowledge of others (i.e. phonics principles). Also, teachers seemed to hold the common misconception that dyslexia is a visual processing deficit rather than phonological processing deficit.

How Should Medical Schools Respond to Students with Dyslexia?

“…Dyslexia was first reported in 1896 in the British Medical Journal by a physician, W. Pringle Morgan [1], and, since that initial report, major medical journals including JAMA, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the Journal of Pediatrics have continued to publish research furthering the scientific understanding of dyslexia [2][3][4]. Given the scientific progress in understanding the epidemiology, cognitive basis, and neurobiology of dyslexia, it is surprising that ignorance of the condition persists [5]; such ignorance continues to result in faculty misperceptions of dyslexia. For example, the very common and physiologically based symptom of slow reading in dyslexia can be misinterpreted as slow thinking; a resulting need for additional time on tests can then be misperceived as trying to game the system.…”

Educators' Understanding of Dyslexia: A Survey Exploring the Need for Professional Development in the Areas of Prevention and Intervention

“…Recent findings, however, suggest that educators do not have adequate knowledge regarding dyslexia. Both pre-service and in-service teachers demonstrated inadequate knowledge about dyslexia, possessed inaccurate information, and embraced common misconceptions about dyslexia (Ness & Southall, 2010;Wadlington & Wadlington, 2005;Washburn et al, 2011).…”

“…Administrators were typically not included in these studies, although they did comprise part of the sample identified by Wadlington & Wadlington (2005). One study (Paradice, 2001) Studies evaluating educator knowledge of dyslexia consistently conclude that educators do not possess acceptable levels of knowledge (Aladwani, & Al Shaye, 2012;Leite, 2012;Wadlington & Wadlington, 2005;Washburn et al, 2011). Furthermore, the lack of dyslexia knowledge is not specific to any group of educators (e.g., classroom teachers, specialists, administrators).…”

“…In some instances, educators did not recognize the role of phonological processing deficits or that dyslexia was a language-based disorder. Instead, visual deficits were identified as contributing factors for reading disabilities when educators attempted to define dyslexia (Paradice, 2001;Washburn et al, 2011). When…”

“…Several studies that evaluated teachers' knowledge of dyslexia identified a number of common elements, including a lack of understanding of key characteristics of dyslexic readers, the acceptance of common misconceptions about dyslexia, and the need for information regarding strategies for supporting students in the classroom environment (Leite, 2012;Wadlington & Wadlington, 2005;Washburn et al, 2011).…”