Browsing by Subject "dyslexia"

Lukivaikeus on verrattain yleinen oppimisvaikeus, johon jokainen opettaja luultavasti törmää uransa aikana. Koska lukivaikeuden taustalla on kielitietoisuuteen ja erityisesti äännetietoisuuteen liittyviä ongelmia, se aiheuttaa erityisiä hankaluuksia lukemisen ja kirjoittamisen lisäksi myös vieraiden kielten oppimisessa. Näin ollen olisi tärkeää, että vieraiden kielten opettajat ymmärtäisivät lukivaikeuden taustoja sekä eriyttämiskeinoja, jotka hyödyttävät erityisesti lukivaikeudesta kärsiviä vieraiden kielten oppijoita. Siksi tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kartoittaa suomalaisten englanninopettajien kokemuksia lukivaikeuteen liittyen. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, (1) mitä englanninopettajat tietävät lukivaikeudesta ja mistä he ovat tietonsa saaneet, (2) millaisia asenteita heillä on lukivaikeudesta kärsiviä oppilaita ja opiskelijoita kohtaan, (3) millaisina he näkevät lukivaikeuden vaikutukset englannin oppimiseen ja (4) miten he ovat ottaneet lukivaikeuden huomioon opetuksessaan. Kysymyksiin etsittiin vastausta kyselytutkimuksen keinoin. Kyselyä jaettiin sosiaalisessa mediassa ja sen täyttäminen tapahtui internetissä. Kaikki osallistujat (n = 72) olivat muodollisesti päteviä opettajia ja opettivat englantia suomenkielisissä alakouluissa, yläkouluissa, lukioissa ja/tai ammattikouluissa. Kyselyllä kerätty aineisto sisältää sekä määrällisiä että laadullisia tietoja. Määrällinen aineisto analysoitiin deskriptiivisin tilastollisin menetelmin ja laadullinen aineisto sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Tutkimukseen osallistuneilla opettajilla oli verrattain hyvä tietämys lukivaikeudesta, vaikkakaan he eivät kokeneet omaavansa tarvittavaa tietotaitoa lukivaikeudesta kärsivien oppijoiden tukemiseen. Lukivaikeutta ei joko ollut käsitelty ollenkaan tai ei riittävästi osallistujien opettajaopinnoissa. Sen sijaan osallistujat olivat saaneet tietonsa lukivaikeudesta muista lähteistä, kuten erityisopettajalta tai kirjallisuudesta oman aktiivisuutensa turvin. Osallistujien asenne lukivaikeutta ja siitä kärsiviä oppijoita kohtaan oli laajasti ottaen positiivinen. Opettajan näkökulmasta lukivaikeus vaikeuttaa englannin oppimista sanaston, kieliopin, kirjoittamisen, lukemisen, kuuntelun, ääntämisen ja äänne-erittelyn osalta. Oppijoilla saattaa myös olla erilaisia negatiivisia tunteita itseään, kieliä tai oppimista kohtaan. Lisäksi lukivaikeudesta kärsivät tarvitsevat enemmän aikaa tehtävien tekemiseen kuin luokkatoverinsa. Lähes kaikki osallistujat ovat ottaneet lukivaikeuden huomioon opetuksessaan esimerkiksi eriyttämällä arviointia, materiaaleja ja opetustaan. Osallistujille tutuimpia eriyttämisen keinoja olivat arvioinnin eriyttämiseen liittyvät keinot sekä sellaiset keinot, joita yleisesti käytetään kaikkien oppimisvaikeuksien huomioinnissa ja kaikkien oppiaineiden opetuksessa. Osallistujille vähemmän tuttuja olivat opetuksen eriyttämiseen liittyvät keinot, joita suositellaan nimenomaan lukivaikeudesta kärsiville vieraiden kielten oppijoille. Tutkielmassa pohditaan, miten hyvin opettajakoulutus valmistaa opettajia käytännön työhön, ja kritisoidaan sitä lähtökohtaa, että lukivaikeudesta kärsiviä kielten oppijoita tuetaan kouluissa ensisijaisesti arvioinnin keinoin oppimisen edesauttamisen sijaan.

Introduction. Previous studies suggest that dyslexic pupils have inordinate difficulties learning foreign languages at school. The present study examined the mismatch negativity (MMN) brain responses elicited by foreign language words and nonwords in dyslexic children compared to typically reading controls. MMN reflects early processing stages in auditory cortex. The aim of this study was to determine whether dyslexic pupils have impaired MMNs for foreign language words or speech stimuli in general, and whether word familiarity has a different effect on the two groups. In addition, the correlations between MMN differences and reading and cognitive skills were analysed. Methods. Participant groups consisted of 14 dyslexic school children, and 14 typically reading controls. Before brain recordings, literacy skills and cognitive functioning were tested. Brain responses to English words (she, shy) and nonwords (shoy), and Finnish words (sai, soi) and nonwords (sii) were measured with electroencephalography (EEG). Results and conclusions. The results suggested that compared to controls, dyslexic children's MMN responses to foreign language were impaired for a familiar word she, but only. However, the groups did not differ in processing speech-sounds in general. In addition, weak MMN responses to the foreign word were associated with poorer reading skills and slower rapid naming in mother language. The results of this study suggest that the establishment, access and activation of memory representations for foreign words is impaired in dyslexia. In addition, the finding that poor performance in native language reading is correlated with the strength of brain responses to foreign language suggests that there are common factors underlying literacy skills and foreign language learning.

Developmental dyslexia (DD) affects the accuracy and the fluency of reading without influencing the intelligence of an individual. Problems in phonological awareness (PA), the ability to manipulate the sound structure of words, has been proposed to be the key predictor of DD across languages. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been used to investigate white matter (WM) structure in DD. The DTI research has concentrated mainly on fractional anisotropy (FA) values, that measure the integrity of WM, and volume of the WM tracts, but also on lateralization differences. Structural alterations have been reported in multiple WM tracts, but left arcuate fasciculus (AF) have most consistently been associated with problems in phonological processing. Also, individuals with DD have been reported to have less prominent leftward lateralization in AF, and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) compared to non-DD individuals. The participants consisted of 23 individuals with confirmed DD and 21 without DD. In this thesis the reading-related WM tracts were evaluated using deterministic tractography, and the goal was to 1) compare DD and non-DD participants in the FA and volume in reading circuitry, 2) study the associations between reading skills and FA and volume of the WM tracts, and 3) study the lateralization differences in FA and volume. The results of this thesis did not support the current view of the neuroanatomy of DD. Although groups did not differ in FA or in volume of the reading related WM tracts, the groups differed in the lateralization of the WM tracts. Both DD and non-DD participants manifested a rightward lateralization of WM volume in the AF, opposing the earlier findings. Furthermore, DD participants had a unique rightward lateralization of volume in uncinate fasciculus. Subthreshold results in correlations between reading skills and DTI indices also hint toward the heterogeneity found in the DTI research of DD, and do not confirm the role of the AF as the neural correlate of the phonological processing. It seems that no single abnormality in WM structure is responsible of DD. Rather, it seems that DD compiles a vast spectrum of symptoms, with possibly multiple trajectories, and individual compensatory mechanisms in adult samples.

The purpose of this study was to find out what kind of means do preschool teachers have for identifying dyslexia and how they evaluate these means. Earlier research has proven that dyslexia can be identified before school-age. An abnormal linguistic development, a deficiency in phonological skills, slowness in naming and especially having challenges in learning the alphabet are all possible signs of dyslexia. I find this topic to be worthy of studying because preschool and the fall of 1st grade are crucial periods in which a child’s self-image as a learner is built. Identifying dyslexia in preschool enables an early intervention and the successful construction of a capable learner self-image. The study was carried out with a qualitative research method and material was gathered using a theme interview. The material was gathered during October and November 2016 interviewing five preschool teachers who had experience of working in preschools in Helsinki. The material was transcribed and separated into groups by themes which demonstrated themes used in the research questions. The material was analyzed using a theory based content analysis method. According to the results of the study preschool teachers used observation, tests, professional and occupational co-operation and co-operation with parents, as ways of identifying the dyslexia. Nevertheless all means were considered to reinforce one another The most useful and easier to use way proved to be observation and specified tests. The availability of useful means were considered to vary depending on the activity of the teacher. Teachers wished to receive more information on tests to survey the matter within preschoolers. As a conclusion it can be stated that preschool teachers use diverse ways of identifying dyslexia. Specific tests applicable for preschoolers for surveying the skills used in reading and the preparedness for it, are needed and asked for. Because the study was carried out in only one county, the results can not be transferred to others. Counties have their own ways of identifying dyslexia and deciding on the proper assistance needed around the matter. The results of this study could be utilized for improving and developing ways or means of identifying dyslexia.

Goals. Immigrant pupils are over-represented in special education. Linguistic difficulties are the most pivotal reasons for social exclusion of immigrant pupils during their school career. Addedly reading, writing, and language development disorders are the most common reasons for both part-time and extensive special education. I studied class teachers' perceptions of the typical linguistic difficulties of pupils who speak Finnish as their second language and of those who have dyslexia, because I suspect that telling the difference between linguistic competency in progress and the symptoms of dyslexia isn't easy. I look for overlappings in the perceptions of linguistic difficulties, their causes and their support measures, which would reveal the challenges in recognizing linguistic difficulties, which in turn might partly explain why immigrant pupils are over-represented in special education. Methods. This study was carried out as structured individual interviews with nine class teachers from the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. To increase reliability, complementary information was gathered about the same phenomenon with a questionnaire that each interviewee filled out at the end of the interview. It was required that the interviewees have experience of teaching both dyslexic pupils and pupils who speak Finnish as a second language. The material analysis was mainly deductive, but the material that wasn't in line with the theoretical frame of reference was analyzed inductively. Results and conclusions. There were overlappings in the class teachers' perceptions of the linguistic difficulties, support measures fitting them and, based on the questionnaire results, also of the causes of these difficulties. Additionally all the interviewees said it to be difficult to recognize dyslexia in a pupil who speaks Finnish as a second language. I came to the conclusion that distinguishing different linguistic difficulties from one another is a challenge to which class teachers don't always feel competent to rise, which is why they consider the assistance of special teachers and other professionals beneficial.