16.2565, Sum: Dyslexia and Learning Syntax

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-16-2565. Tue Sep 06 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.2565, Sum: Dyslexia and Learning Syntax

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1)
Date: 06-Sep-2005
From: Mai Kuha < mkuha at bsu.edu >
Subject: Dyslexia and Learning Syntax 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 18:41:46
From: Mai Kuha < mkuha at bsu.edu >
Subject: Dyslexia and Learning Syntax 
 

Regarding query: http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-2487.html#2

Having also had a dyslexic student in an introductory syntax class, Gabi
Danon reports that it was useful to allow the student to type her final
exam and take extra time to complete it. 

Peter Daniels explained that ''dyslexia'' is a cover term for a number of
different conditions with different effects, so I did a little (very
little!) reading on the issue. One thing I learned was that processing of
spoken language can also be influenced by some types of dyslexia. A
strategy planning session with my student led to a couple of practical
ideas for her particular case: I'll give her a copy of my lecture notes or
any other materials ahead of time so that she can read them before class
and be better prepared to follow along, and I should probably be even more
meticulous than usual about including a specific example of every
generalization and every syntactic term. 

It seemed striking to me that a brief web search yields a number of
websites with guidelines for those who teach very young dyslexic students,
but not for those of us who teach adults. (I did just a brief search.) I
don't think we should assume that dyslexic students have developed all the
strategies they need by the time they enroll at a university, because
academic work at this level may ask them to grapple with unfamiliar
disciplines.

Mai Kuha
Department of English 
Ball State University
Muncie, Indiana, USA 

Linguistic Field(s): Neurolinguistics
                     Syntax





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