Sparks Ganschow-Dyslexia
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L. Ganschow and R.L. Sparks
94
significant differences in IQ, native language skills, FL aptitude, FL
grades and overall grade point average.
QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
In our research we have barely scratched the surface. Heretofore, however,
no one in the US had examined the FL learning difficulties of students
classified as LD/dyslexic. We have addressed the topic of foreign languages
and learning problems from one perspective, that of the American student
who is having difficulty learning a FL in high school and/or college. From
this research we have drawn the strong inference that those who have
difficulty learning a FL by and large have varying degrees of difficulty with
the rule systems of language (for discussions of this inference, see Sparks
and Ganschow, 1993d, 1995b; Sparks, 1995). Perhaps we were simply in the
right place at the right time to initiate this line of research. There is yet so
much to be done. In particular, we are excited about the possibilities for
collaborative research on LD/dyslexia and FLs from a global, cross-cultural
perspective. We present here a few thoughts and ideas for those who
identify and serve at-risk FL learners in their countries. Readers should keep
in mind, though, that our vision has been limited to those experiences we
have from our perspective in the US, where the study of a FL is not essential
to an individuals livelihood or to graduate from high school.
We might begin with the question: What linguistic differences between
languages have their greatest impact on individuals with language learning
problems? Here we would see the need for educators to understand major
similarities and differences between the native language and FL under
consideration. An example is moving from Hebrew to English. Native
Hebrew speakers who study English must learn an entirely new alphabet
with new sounds and symbols. Kahn-Horwitz, Roffman and Teitelbaum
(1998) point out that voweled Hebrew has a highly transparent orthography
because of its one-to-one grapheme/phoneme correspondences. English,
however, has as many as eight spellings for one sound, e.g. {long a=a
(table), a-e (came), ai (rain), ay (play), ey (obey), ei (reign), eigh (eight), ea
(steak)}; many letters have several sounds for a single spelling, e.g. (/y/ =
y
6
es, happy
6
, by
6
, gy
6
m). Also, unlike English, in which a single phoneme is
usually the smallest unit of instruction, in Hebrew the smallest unit of
instruction generally includes two phonemesa consonant letter and vowel
diacritical mark. Hebrew, then, requires a different kind of metalinguistic
awareness than the English language. Linguists and dyslexia educators need
to work together to understand differences between languages in order to be
able to diagnose problem areas in both languages.
Another question for consideration is: To what extent does an individuals
ability to learn a new language depend upon that individuals native
language in relation to the FL with which s/he is having difficulty? For
example, are speakers of Eastern languages likely to find English harder to
learn than speakers of Western European languages? Are speakers of tonal
languages likely to find it easier to learn other tonal languages than non-
tonal languages? Here again we would see the necessity for collaboration
Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Dyslexia 6: 87100 (2000)
Foreign Languages and At-risk Learners
95
among linguists and dyslexia educators/researchers to analyze each lan-
guage and assess major problem areas for students with language learning
problems in both languages.
Once we are aware (metalinguistically) of similarities and differences
across languages, we confront questions about instruction: To what extent is
metalinguistic knowledge about the FL necessary for the student to acquire
the new language? Is multisensory structured language instruction more
effective for some languages than others? For example, does explicit multi-
sensory structured language instruction work well with logographic lan-
guages such as Chinese? Studies show that phonologic (and orthographic)
processing is important in Chinese (Leong, 1997; Suk-Han Ho and Bryant,
1997). This finding suggests that direct instruction in the sound and sound/
symbol system and orthographic structure of words may benefit learners of
Chinese as well. Our research findings with students in the US who have
difficulties learning a FL indicate that explicit instruction about similarities
and differences between languages is important if they are beginning the
study of a modern FL as teenagers or young adults. Native language
research on explicit multisensory structured language also supports the
importance of explicit awareness of the rule systems of ones language
(Miles, 1992; McIntyre and Pickering, 1995). Further, our research indicates
that most at-risk FL learners who receive specialized instruction on language
structure of modern FLs do learn and some can compete fairly successfully
in FL classes with students who are not at risk (Sparks and Ganschow, 1993c;
Sparks et al., 1998c). There needs to be communication among educators
from countries that speak different languages about approaches they use
that work for students with language learning problems. We need to deter-
mine whether specific methods work well across languages and whether the
same best approaches are best for all.
This question then leads to further questions having to do with time to
acquire a FL: Might learning a FL for students with language learning
problems be easier if they are exposed to the language early on? If so, how
early? Is amount of time needed to learn the language an important variable,
regardless of an individuals age? Bilingual educators struggle with these
issues as they witness young children failing to acquire adequate language
systems in either language. In his model of school learning, for example,
Carroll (1973) suggests that starting to learn a FL in adolescence might
require almost twice as much time to learn as starting a language in the early
years (see also Skehan, 1986). Researchers need to conduct longitudinal
studies on bilingual/multilingual dyslexic populations to begin to answer
these questions.
To date, instruments to assess FL performance have not been developed.
Though there are numerous formal and informal instruments in English and
some have been translated into Spanish, there are few language assessments
in other languages. Further, if we are to examine a students ongoing
performance in both the native language and the FL, we would need
comparable measures in both languages. A question for further study, then,
is: What formal and informal assessments might be developed to assess the
FL (and native language) learning problems of at-risk students? To assist in
their endeavours, researchers might consider modifying existing assessments
Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Dyslexia 6: 87100 (2000)
L. Ganschow and R.L. Sparks
96
such as the Bangor Dyslexia Test (Miles, 1992). To assess adolescents and
adults, Carroll and Sapons (1959) Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT)
might be restandardized and adapted for other languages. Also, researchers
might examine some of the new, less formal methods of ongoing assessment,
such as dynamic assessment, and apply them to different languages (for a
review of dynamic assessment procedures, see Schneider, 1999).
4
We conclude with the question: What alternatives, if any, exist for stu-
dents who have difficulty attaining appropriate reading, writing and
spelling levels in their own native language and in the FL? For example,
pressure appears to be increasing throughout the non-English-speaking
world for students to study English as a FL. In some countries (Germany
and Israel, for example), many students who fail to learn English adequately
prior to high school graduation will not have access to higher levels of
education (Schneider and Ganschow, 1997). Educators need to collaborate
across languages to discuss alternative approaches to the study of ones
native language and the FL. Educators need to find ways to enable students
with language learning problems to surmount the obstacles that might
otherwise prevent them from attaining levels of education commensurate
with their overall ability.
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