INGLÉS 5

2nd TERM

PART 2: Reading comprehension

The following excerpt has been adapted from Chapter 7 in Geoff Petty’s book Teaching
Today; it focuses on promoting equal opportunities for every student in the classroom. Read
the excerpt and answer the questions:
You are likely to come across students who are much better at answering questions verbally
than they are at writing and especially at reading. In some cases this can be extreme, and the
student seems very bright, but is not able to read one sentence or one phrase at a time, and
instead seems to labour over each word in turn. However, there are a number of possible causes
of reading difficulties, so only a qualified person, often an educational psychologist, is able to
diagnose dyslexia.

The US government commissioned the National Institute of Health to carry out and enormous
study of dyslexia. As part of this, 5,000 children aged 4-18 were tested by specialists three times
a year. Brain scans, genetic tests and other investigations were also carried out, and thanks in
part to this study we now know very much more about dyslexia. For example:

• About 15-20% of people have a language-based learning difficulty, and dyslexia is by far
the most common.
• The condition is inherited, and the gene for it has been identified.
• It is the leading cause of school dropout in the US, and probably in the UK too. The majority
of young offenders, and probably the older ones too, are dyslexic.
• Dyslexia is a lifelong condition, but special teaching can greatly reduce its negative effects.
This should start as early as possible and certainly at age 5.
• People with dyslexia process language in a different area of the brain than more fluent
readers.
• About half the children with dyslexia were found also to have an entirely separate condition
called attention deficit disorder (ADD), or the hyperactive version of this condition (ADHD).
• Dyslexia is not related to intelligence, and it does not necessarily inhibit achievement.
There are a large number of very gifted and successful people who are dyslexic such as
Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Beethoven, Whoopi Goldberg, Muhammad Ali, George
Washington, John Lennon and W. B. Yeats, to name a few.

The researchers found that the root difficulty suffered by dyslexic children was a lack of phonemic
awareness. A phoneme is a sound such as the ‘c’, ‘a’ or ‘t’ sound in ‘cat’. If you ask a young dyslexic
child what rhymes with ‘cat’ or what the word ‘cat’ would sound like if you removed the ‘c’
sound, they can’t work this out. However, if phonemic awareness is taught with direct, explicit
instruction before the child is taught to read, then the child can learn to read almost normally.
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Exercises

As well as difficulties with reading, a dyslexic student may have ‘dysgraphia’, which means
they have difficulty with handwriting, even to the point where they cannot read their own
handwriting.

Why can you read tihs?

Aocincrdg to a resaecrh at Cimbardge Uinveisrty, it deson’t mtater in waht odrer the ltetres
in a wrod are, the olny imtaponrt tnihg is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are at the rgiht pclae.
The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wthiuot pblroem. Tihs is beacuse the
hmaun mnid deos not raed evrey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wohle.

First of all, if students have been identified with dyslexia, talk to them. Symptoms vary greatly
from student to student, but those with the condition are often very clear about what helps
them. So ask:

• What would help you most?

• Am I delivering material too fast?
• Do I do anything that you find difficult, or that makes you feel uncomfortable? (dyslexic
students may not like to have to read or write for classmates, for example)
• Is there anything else I can do to help?

Make it clear that it is not their fault they have dyslexia, and that you understand it causes
difficulties. Stress that students can succeed if ‘we work together to find what support you need.’

1. Having read the text, decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F):

a. There is a negligible proportion of the population who has language-based learning

difficulties.

b. A large proportion of dyslexics end up getting in to trouble with the law.

c. Dyslexia is a genetic condition for which instruction can do little.

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2nd TERM

d. Dyslexics also suffer from attention deficit disorder.

e. Dyslexic children have difficulty in grasping phonetics.

f. Dyslexics have a poor understanding of what helps them learn.

2. Explain the following words found in the text:

a. To labour over:

b. Commissioned:

c. To work (something) out:

d. To drop out: