Dyslexia and learning a foreign language: a personal experience.
Individuals with dyslexia can expect to have difficulties learning a second language since second language learning builds on native language learning. The factors that have a negative impact on learning one's native language have a similar impact on learning a foreign language (e.g., difficulties with phonemic awareness, retrieving and processing linguistic information, working memory, metalinguistic explanations, stabilizing sound-symbol relationships). This participant observer report provides (1) a brief review of research on how dyslexia complicates learning a second language; (2) a description of how dyslexia has affected my educational experiences; (3) a description of personal experiences learning a foreign language between 1992-1998; and (4) recommendations for individuals with dyslexia who are faced with fulfilling a foreign language requirement and for their foreign language instructors.
Simon
C S
CS
Speech-Language Pathologist & ESL Specialist, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007858:Learning; D019303:Multilingualism; D012660:Semantics; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities / Q000592:standards