Thursday, 14 May 2026

working with dyslexic students in the esl classroom

Some analysis and tips for working with dyslexic students in the ESL classroom:

TRAITS

SOLUTIONS

difficulties with reading and writing texts

– incl spelling errors and reversing letters/words

Building text-based skills through oral/aural skills

 

1: using text-to-speech and speech-to-text software

·         voice recognition and pronunciation apps

2: watching videos with English subtitles

3: doing fun dictations

·         dictogloss, loop/gapped/collocation/running dictation

 

slow reading and writing

Enabling and simplifying

 

1: using different fonts/colours/spacing on laptops

2: using texts on coloured paper

3: seeing language in chunks

4: not reading out loud!

 

difficulties with processing texts

Going beyond the text

 

1: multi-sensory ways of using language (Gardner’s multiple intelligences)

·         visual timetables, mind maps, storyboards, flashcards

·         movement-based games, acting out scenarios

·         images, mnemonics, personalization

2: both reading and listening to the text

·         songs, shadowing

 

difficulties with organizing thoughts

Helping to put things in order

 

1: working through a lesson by scaffolding; learning step-by-step

2: having clear instructions; getting manageable chunks of info

3: focussing on one single grammatical/spelling feature at a time

4: continuing/finishing stories

·         sentence-starters; chain story-making

 

5: working on structures for essays/reports

·         visual paragraphing, oral note-taking

·         working on sentence structure

6: delivering oral presentations (Mark Powell: Presenting in English) and working on oracy skills

7: working on problem-solving skills

 

8: repeating, revising, reinforcing

9: focussing on meaning over accuracy

10: comparing L1: using bilingual capacities

 

See: How to teach English to students with dyslexia

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