Martin Williams
Jon Gore, now 25, was not diagnosed with dyslexia until after he'd struggled through French and German classes at school. "I always found the written part of it particularly hard," he says. "It's almost like a mental block when it comes to thinking what it is I need to say. I struggle with that in English, so when it comes to French and German, it's exacerbated."
"I can't imagine the spelling in my mind. Sometimes I can't even begin to formulate what letters it's made up of. If I was trying to spell "bibliothèque", I know it starts with a "b", and there's got to be a "q" in there somewhere. I usually end up having to spell it phonetically, but obviously that doesn't always work out."
Every year thousands of language learners struggle with the additional challenge of a learning disability. In England alone, there are more than 229,000 school students with special education needs (Sen), with many going on to successfully take qualifications in French, Spanish and German.
Retired special needs teacher David Wilson says: "Even those who are suffering from learning difficulties in the purest sense, if you delve deeply enough, you'll always find there's a real spark in there."
Sen covers a wide range of learning disabilities, from mild dyslexia to severe, non-verbal autism. "There's not a one size fits all approach for teaching languages to Sen students," says Wilson. "You have to look for the strengths rather than worrying too much about the weaknesses."
Dr Judit Kormos of the University of Lancaster says teaching methods should be adapted for dyslexic students, rather than taking them out of language classes. "Dyslexic students can learn another language quite successfully and they have to be given a chance. The teacher just needs to be aware of the dyslexia and teach slightly differently: much more visually, acting things out and explaining things a bit more explicitly than they would to other students. Some people are more receptive to audio channels of learning, others to visual, so using a combination of the two can be really effective."
Gore agrees, saying that learning methods held him back before he was diagnosed. "I've learned languages since being diagnosed with dyslexia," he says. "I learnt quite a bit of Spanish last year when I went travelling. I learnt far more in a far shorter period of time than I ever did with French or German in school, just because I had to listen and repeat it far more. If my school lessons had been taught with less reading and writing, I think I would have been able to pick up far more. I think the teaching format held me back more than my actual dyslexia."
"I have found that dyslexic students often lack confidence and self-esteem," says Kormos. "But they have to be convinced that, yes, they can do it and they can be successful. You also need to think about what it is they want the language for – many people want to learn a language for speaking, but not so much for writing. I have seen many, many successful students who can speak well, even if they can't write brilliantly. And in this modern world, we do speak a lot and we have spell-checkers and apps that recognise what you're trying to type. So I think you can set slightly different goals for dyslexic students, in terms of what they need to achieve."
Dr Margaret Crombie agrees, suggesting that the written side of language learning can be played down if a dyslexic student is struggling. "Let them enjoy the language. Don't take away the written word, but maybe don't assess them in it. It can be a very stressful experience if you're struggling with it and it can knock your confidence."
Crombie runs the Languages Without Limits website with former teacher Hillary McColl and has written extensively about dyslexia in language learning. "Multi-sensory teaching techniques are particularly effective for dyslexic students," she says. "Hearing it, seeing it, saying it, writing it, doing it, acting it out. Slowing down the language helps as well. Slow it down for the learning stage, and once they become familiar with the language, then speed it up."
For language learners with more severe disabilities, however, it can be easy to assume that learning a second language may be too challenging. But it's always worth letting people try, according to Sally Holmwood who works at Indigo languages teaching Sen students. "I think everybody should have a chance to learn a language, but it's going to depend on the individual child. Obviously, if you've got a non-verbal autistic child, you're not going to be able to get them to speak in a foreign language.
"But you can still introduce them to foreign cultures – to the food, the clothes, the art. In one school I went to, they had a Spanish day and people brought in Spanish food. I remember one child who had quite a restricted diet, but he tried some quite spicy Spanish sausage and he seemed to really enjoy it. We've done things with games, mime, drama things and using lots of interactive ICT."
David Wilson recalls how he approached teaching German to a boy with Asperger's Syndrome. Wilson taught the pupil one-on-one and would let him talk about Dr Who for the first 10 minutes of the lesson. "You have to go through the obsessions and enthusiasms to get them on side," he says. "The reward for me was that we worked hard for the rest of the lesson."
Willson added: "A child with autism really enjoys grammar – they like the regularity of it and the way it goes together. They often enjoy speaking the language less; a lot of them don't see the point. So, to some extent, you've got to do it on their terms. You've got try to meet them halfway."
Even for pupils with the most severe disabilities, being exposed to another language could always be a positive experience. "On occasions I've seen young people who are so turned off by the language that they don't want to go to school and it's affecting their wellbeing," says Crombie. "If it gets to that stage then I think the time has come to ask whether it's worth it or not. But I would always let everyone have a try."
Sally Holmwood agrees, pointing to the story of Carly Fleischmann, who eventually learned to communicate after years. "It brings it home that you don't necessarily know how much a child has understood, just because they're not verbally telling you that they've understood. You can't underestimate them."
"I can't imagine the spelling in my mind. Sometimes I can't even begin to formulate what letters it's made up of. If I was trying to spell "bibliothèque", I know it starts with a "b", and there's got to be a "q" in there somewhere. I usually end up having to spell it phonetically, but obviously that doesn't always work out."
Every year thousands of language learners struggle with the additional challenge of a learning disability. In England alone, there are more than 229,000 school students with special education needs (Sen), with many going on to successfully take qualifications in French, Spanish and German.
Retired special needs teacher David Wilson says: "Even those who are suffering from learning difficulties in the purest sense, if you delve deeply enough, you'll always find there's a real spark in there."
Sen covers a wide range of learning disabilities, from mild dyslexia to severe, non-verbal autism. "There's not a one size fits all approach for teaching languages to Sen students," says Wilson. "You have to look for the strengths rather than worrying too much about the weaknesses."
Dr Judit Kormos of the University of Lancaster says teaching methods should be adapted for dyslexic students, rather than taking them out of language classes. "Dyslexic students can learn another language quite successfully and they have to be given a chance. The teacher just needs to be aware of the dyslexia and teach slightly differently: much more visually, acting things out and explaining things a bit more explicitly than they would to other students. Some people are more receptive to audio channels of learning, others to visual, so using a combination of the two can be really effective."
Gore agrees, saying that learning methods held him back before he was diagnosed. "I've learned languages since being diagnosed with dyslexia," he says. "I learnt quite a bit of Spanish last year when I went travelling. I learnt far more in a far shorter period of time than I ever did with French or German in school, just because I had to listen and repeat it far more. If my school lessons had been taught with less reading and writing, I think I would have been able to pick up far more. I think the teaching format held me back more than my actual dyslexia."
"I have found that dyslexic students often lack confidence and self-esteem," says Kormos. "But they have to be convinced that, yes, they can do it and they can be successful. You also need to think about what it is they want the language for – many people want to learn a language for speaking, but not so much for writing. I have seen many, many successful students who can speak well, even if they can't write brilliantly. And in this modern world, we do speak a lot and we have spell-checkers and apps that recognise what you're trying to type. So I think you can set slightly different goals for dyslexic students, in terms of what they need to achieve."
Dr Margaret Crombie agrees, suggesting that the written side of language learning can be played down if a dyslexic student is struggling. "Let them enjoy the language. Don't take away the written word, but maybe don't assess them in it. It can be a very stressful experience if you're struggling with it and it can knock your confidence."
Crombie runs the Languages Without Limits website with former teacher Hillary McColl and has written extensively about dyslexia in language learning. "Multi-sensory teaching techniques are particularly effective for dyslexic students," she says. "Hearing it, seeing it, saying it, writing it, doing it, acting it out. Slowing down the language helps as well. Slow it down for the learning stage, and once they become familiar with the language, then speed it up."
For language learners with more severe disabilities, however, it can be easy to assume that learning a second language may be too challenging. But it's always worth letting people try, according to Sally Holmwood who works at Indigo languages teaching Sen students. "I think everybody should have a chance to learn a language, but it's going to depend on the individual child. Obviously, if you've got a non-verbal autistic child, you're not going to be able to get them to speak in a foreign language.
"But you can still introduce them to foreign cultures – to the food, the clothes, the art. In one school I went to, they had a Spanish day and people brought in Spanish food. I remember one child who had quite a restricted diet, but he tried some quite spicy Spanish sausage and he seemed to really enjoy it. We've done things with games, mime, drama things and using lots of interactive ICT."
David Wilson recalls how he approached teaching German to a boy with Asperger's Syndrome. Wilson taught the pupil one-on-one and would let him talk about Dr Who for the first 10 minutes of the lesson. "You have to go through the obsessions and enthusiasms to get them on side," he says. "The reward for me was that we worked hard for the rest of the lesson."
Willson added: "A child with autism really enjoys grammar – they like the regularity of it and the way it goes together. They often enjoy speaking the language less; a lot of them don't see the point. So, to some extent, you've got to do it on their terms. You've got try to meet them halfway."
Even for pupils with the most severe disabilities, being exposed to another language could always be a positive experience. "On occasions I've seen young people who are so turned off by the language that they don't want to go to school and it's affecting their wellbeing," says Crombie. "If it gets to that stage then I think the time has come to ask whether it's worth it or not. But I would always let everyone have a try."
Sally Holmwood agrees, pointing to the story of Carly Fleischmann, who eventually learned to communicate after years. "It brings it home that you don't necessarily know how much a child has understood, just because they're not verbally telling you that they've understood. You can't underestimate them."
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