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Second GCC Learning Disability Conference held in UAE

Not only do learning and literacy difficulties in individuals differ but it is also different in the acquisition of one language to the other as differences in phonological features has varying outcomes on literacy, said a keynote speaker.

  • By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:58 October 15, 2008
  • Gulf News

Dubai: Not only do learning and literacy difficulties in individuals differ but it is also different in the acquisition of one language to the other as differences in phonological features has varying outcomes on literacy, said a keynote speaker.

In the 2nd GCC Learning Disability Conference held in UAE, Dr. John Everatt, from University of Canterbury, gave a lecture on the "Assessment of Learning Difficulties across Language," saying that dyslexia is one of the commonly known learning difficulties caused by phonological processing deficits.

Learning disability (LD) is regularly perceived as a problem with learning in educational settings and more importantly it defies the notion that it is due to major intellectual and sensory problems.

Dyslexia in the educational context occurs when problems processing sounds within words lead to difficulties in processing and/or learning written words, said Dr. Everatt.

Since the transparency relationship between the sounds of words and its written form differs from one language to the other, the result of dealing with dyslexia various although the measuring tools could be the same.

English is one language that a low transparency relationship which makes it a more difficult task for a person with dyslexia as opposed to learning Herero and Tagalog.

In the context of Arabic, there is evidence of variable transparency since with short-vowel marks in Arabic letters makes it relatively transparent or easier to read.
In terms of LD in Arabic, word level literacy (accuracy, rate, and comprehension) seems to be the main problem for dyslexic children, which is similar in English, said Dr. Everatt, who is closely working with the Centre for Child and Evaluation and Teaching, in Kuwait.

As for the argument of focusing on enhancing the acquisition of only one language for a person with dyslexia, Dr. Everatt said that he personally encourage bilingual literacy as one language can help enhance the acquisition of the other language. "It can help boost the emotional barrier in a child's life," said Dr. Everatt.

Dr. Everatt said that phonological processing seems to predict ability and difficulties across languages tested. "However, manifestation varies with language, which means that assessment methods need to be considered carefully. An assessment measure in one language may not be appropriate for another."

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