1

QUIZ 3

University of Athabasca

EDPY 389 – Learning Disabilities

Karen Mayich

June 27, 2020

1. Define dyslexia and discuss how it can impact students.

Answer
 2

According to the International Dyslexia Association (2002), dyslexia is defined as a

“specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with
accurate and or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These
difficulties may result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often
unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom
instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and
reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background
knowledge”.

One major impact dyslexia has on students is that it affects students’ academic foundations
which include their ability to learn and these students with dyslexia thereby develop severe
difficulty in learning to read. Statistics showed that from about 10% - 15% of children who drop
out of school, over 75% of them will have difficulties learning to read while 76% of the children
who live in poverty have difficulty in reading skillfully. Consequently, the reading experience
has a significant impact on student’s lives, a strong influence on students’ self-image, and
provides a feeling of competency. Dyslexia can slow students down in classroom tasks as it
causes them to misread and misunderstand words and their meanings. This usually occurs
because of their inability to process words and understand written tasks and materials. In
continuation, it could also have an impact on students by causing misbehaviors, frustration,
anxiety, poor ability to concentrate, decreased ability in short term memory and a lack of
motivation, though these effects depend on the severity of the students’ disability and the type of
help the student receives. Furthermore, other impacts that dyslexia has on a student are the
difficulty in writing with lots of mistakes and requiring more time to write spoken sentences, the
struggle to recognize words, and understand vocabulary as well as the struggle in the processing
of correct spelling. These contribute to the academic challenges students with disabilities face as
compared to other students without disability and creates cognitive problems that make reading
difficult. However, with the effort of good educators, students with dyslexia can be supported in
the learning environment.

2. Discuss phonology, morphology, and syntax, and give several examples of deficits that
might occur in each area.

Answer
 3

Phonology, morphology, and syntax are among the components of language and it is
important students understand them to have academic success. Phonology is the sounds of a
language that provides rules which oversee sound combinations to form a speech or words. It is
expressed in phoneme and it is the smallest unit of sound that is used to form a word. There are
40 phonemes in the English language which are classified as either vowels or consonants
depending on where in the mouth the sound is produced or how it articulates the sounds.

Students with phonological deficits are those with the difficulty in connecting and
blending sounds and letters. These students find it challenging because phonology involves
mastering the sounds, but they have poor inner representations of sounds of language. Dyslexia
is an example of a phonological disorder that can cause reading and writing difficulties and
delays, slow word processing and cause the inability to recognize sounds and words as well as
the inability to articulate speech. In other words, these deficits could result in an overall poor
academic performance, indicating that there could be a relationship between phonological
disorder and academic performance. For example, if the kindergarten students are not aware of
these phonemes, there is a greater chance that they would have difficulty in reading in the other
grades. In continuation, a deficit in the understanding of these phonemes can impede the
knowledge of decoding words, which is making sense of and understanding the concept that
letters and sounds go together. Furthermore, students who are phonologically deficit in the areas
of spelling, reading, and writing, could be a source of concern when creating the appropriate
intervention and prioritizing these intervention procedures.

Morphology as another component of language is the system of word-forming, which

includes the elements and processes in a language and how meanings are conveyed. It can be
expressed by a morpheme, which is the smallest form within a language that cannot be further
divided. These morphemes can either be a content of a word or a function of a word. There are
two types of morphemes, bound and free. Bound morphemes may not stand alone but are
attached to other words to form a meaning. Affixes and prefixes such as ful, dis, ment, er, are
examples of bound morphemes. Meanwhile, free morpheme can stand alone, for example, bike,
teach, and well. Many words in the English language are free morpheme. Additionally,
morphemes can either be derivational such as adding -er or inflectional such as adding -s to
words suffixed.
 4

Students that are morphologically deficits have a poor understanding of grammatical

structuring of words and how to use grammar in words. These could be seen in the use of
inappropriate inflectional endings in their speech, difficulty learning language code, and linking
these codes to what is known in the environment. These poor grammatical understanding could
be a result of dialect as there are inflectional differences in different dialects. Besides, the student
with this deficit might have the inability to identify and correct grammatical errors in sentences
or a speech, and might not use correct nouns, adjectives or pronouns in their speech or written
work. These could be because of a lack of understanding of the rules for word-formation.

The syntax is also another component of language that shows how words or morphemes
are combined to make grammatically correct sentences. It is a set of rules that are used to design
coherent languages like word order and sentence organization. Therefore, syntax requires
students to organize sentences, make relationships between words, and specify word order as
well as other sentence constituents. Through syntax, the student could tell which word
combination is correct grammatically. In other words, syntax is all about grammar and can be
developed early in children between ages 18 and 24 months. However, the development is done
gradually transitioning from the two-word utterances to two-word grammar. Deficits in syntax
could be because of an impaired reading achievement which can be seen through a lack of
understanding of and poor use of grammar in phrases and sentences, and it could take up to a
year for students to recognize words in sentences if they have are deficit in syntax. Moreover, as
a result of this deficit, these students prefer using simple words and basic sentence structures,
because of the difficulty they have in understanding sentences that are complex, interrogative,
and negative sentences. For example, students could use sentences that lack length and are not
complex, such as “who there” instead of “who is there”. In addition, the deficit can be seen when
the students find it difficult to express the relationship between direct and indirect objects, mood
as well as passive sentences.

3. Discuss the language difficulties of students across three age levels: preschool and
kindergarten, elementary, and secondary.

Answer
 5

Students with language-learning disabilities might show signs of academic difficulties

across the different age groups such as preschool and kindergarten groups, elementary and
secondary school groups. Despite early intervention, it has been observed that most language
problems require an interactive method that can be achieved on a long-term basis, this method
also changes with the children’s needs. The language difficulties which could be seen among the
preschool and kindergarten students however, may be difficult to assess because students at this
level of schooling normally experience some delay in developing reading skills like counting,
naming colors, naming days of the week, inability to follow stories, books or movies or
immaturity in sounding words. Therefore, learning disability that is spotted at that age may be
misdiagnosed as the child might be experiencing a lag in skill development because of
immaturity.

Nevertheless, the students with language learning disabilities may show the following
signs of deficit at this level, delay in sound development, difficulty in word findings, difficulty in
naming and describing objects, delay in acquisition of words as well as articulating these words,
difficulty in making one-to-one correspondence between letters and sound as well as difficulties
differentiating sounds that are the same. The formula known as the mean length of utterance
(MLU) can be used to calculate the number of morphemes in a child’s sentence, and this can
foretell the level of complexity of language acquisition. In other words, the formula assists in
determining how complex a child’s language ability is and where the weaknesses can be found.
Furthermore, preschool and kindergarten children with language disability also seclude
themselves from other children, exhibit parallel play pattern, where the children play besides but
not with each other, as well as other social deficits. Behavioral characteristics could equally be
seen in these students, such as attention deficit problems, poor tolerance for frustration, crying
easily, finding it difficult to complete tasks at school classroom and talking excessively to
themselves. They also show poor communication skills that translate into an inability to adapt,
along with signs of hyperactivity and impulsivity, as well as difficulty in following direction and
immaturity.

Some students in elementary schools who struggle with language problems may show
signs of difficulties in identifying, analyzing, understanding, and synthesizing sound sequences
and problems segmenting words into grammatical units. This language problem becomes more
 6

pronounced among this group as compared to the kindergarten group because children in
elementary school level are required to take part in more extensive and complex tasks that have a
higher level of expectation. Furthermore, the students with language learning disabilities at this
level might show difficulty in moving from narrative to expository writing which is a part of the
school’s curriculum for the elementary level. When it comes to retrieving words, students with
learning disabilities tend to use word fillers or circumlocution, that is the student uses many
words or talks around words, to describe another word or phrase in question. Consequently, these
students may require more time to process a word, sentence, or question, as they have issues with
response time, error-index, or word selection process and substitutions.

In addition, these elementary students show problems relating to phonological disorders

and reading achievement, as the demand for reading and understanding comprehension at this
level tends to be higher. Also, difficulty in decoding words with multiple meanings and abstract
concepts as well as difficulty in mastering foundational skills and building other relevant skills
needed to achieve academic success may surface as they progress in their elementary education.
Since these students show a lack of understanding and recognition of materials, comprehensions,
and concepts, they find it challenging to participate in group discussions, share ideas, or develop
ideas. Moving forward, students at this level show a deficit in expressing spoken or oral
language, integrating critical parts of a story, and performing logical operations for interpreting
and understanding complex concepts. In summary, these deficits show the academic difficulties
these students face, and as a result, difficulties in joining conversations, adjusting to their
listener’s needs, interpreting social cues and thinking of others, or understanding their thoughts
and feelings will be observed.

In the third level which is the secondary level, students with language-learning disabilities
may show difficulties that tend to be less obvious as they could appear not to lack the required
cognitive abilities to perform skills, but, they might lack the awareness or the knowledge to
perform complex academic tasks, as they are presented with the most complex learning styles at
this level. This complexity in academic tasks occurs because secondary school students have the
highest expectations as regards completing assignments independently and their level of
understanding is expected to be higher. Also, since the learning style is predominately
approached in a written form, the need for written and oral assignments increases significantly.
 7

However, secondary students with language learning disabilities lack most of these basic skills
especially the ability to use and understand higher-level syntax, semantics, and pragmatics in
both production and processing, in other words, they cannot understand language and linguistic
relationships alongside having problems with their short term memories.

Therefore, though these students might not lack cognitive abilities, the educators might still
be able to spot these disabilities easily at this stage because these students might not participate
in tasks or classroom activities as the disabilities affect the receptive and expressive expectations
needed at this stage. Consequently, this deficit tends to affects their ability to learn effectively,
gain information in the classroom, complete tasks and homework, follow classroom rules, take
test, express thoughts through writing and pass minimum competency exams, as their results
show lower test scores. In addition, these students also show difficulty in using appropriate
languages, poor organization and categorizing, which contribute to poor notetaking, test-taking,
and study skills, because they cannot interpret or integrate information or comprehensions. It
could also be added that as a result of this disability, these students show poor emotional and
social developments that affect their understanding of motives and intentions others show them,
thereby causing them to have increased aggression, frustration, withdrawal, or inattention.

4. Discuss how fixed and flow word lists can be used with students with learning
disabilities.

Answer
The fixed and flow word lists are ways which educators use to teach students how to spell
words. A fixed word list is a list of unfamiliar words given to students to be practiced every
week and these students need to master the words for a test at the end of the week. These words
list is made up of 10-12 words the students must master, and it is replaced the following week by
more difficult words. The disadvantage of this method of teaching is that the student does not
master the words before new word lists are given and the teacher does not follow up with the
misspelled words before giving new words. This strategy might not be effective for students with
learning disabilities but might be good for those students without disabilities. On the other hand,
the flow word list is a list of words for the students to practice, however when there are
 8

misspelled words, the students have the opportunity to practice these misspelled words, as the
words reappear in the next week’s list for two consecutive times in a row. The word is only
removed from the list of words and replaced by a new word when it has been mastered. This
method of assisting students in spelling is more efficient because it provides the opportunity for
these students to practice words at their own pace and master them before new words are added.
In addition, this flow word list changes slowly depending on the students’ progress, thereby
giving the students opportunities to be coached. For example, if a student is successful in
spelling “mop” then replacement words such as “hop” or “top” or “shop” can be used to build
the student’s vocabulary and spelling skills. The McGuigan teaching procedure which is called
the add-a-word program is an example of a teaching method that makes use of the flow word list,
and research showed that the program allowed students the opportunity to learn at a quicker rate.
Also, it was observed that students with learning disabilities spell about 10% to 20% of words
incorrectly when they write and this percentage of the misspelled word need to mastered by the
student, therefore using fixed or flow word lists can be very helpful for the students especially
for those with learning disabilities, to master these words. However, the fixed word list does not
provide an opportunity for the students to master the misspelled words before moving on the
next list of words, but the flow list often is more effective for students with learning disabilities.
Furthermore, for a student who has a learning disability, it is essential that words are
mastered and as much as possible, the words should be high-frequency words and misspelled
words from their writing. Also, the words should be limited to 6 - 12 words for students who find
spelling words challenging, and then not more than 20 words for students with better skills.
Nevertheless, these criteria for the word list depends on the academic presentation and needs of
the child. Additionally, only about 2 -3 words should be added daily which should add up and
not exceed 7 -8 new words per week so that maximum spelling capacity could be achieved. The
educator has the responsibility to understand each student’s needs and choose words that the
student can be successful with when replacing the mastered words. This adds to the student’s
success and learning experience.
5. Discuss several strategies that can be used by students in the writing process to help them
write.

Answer
 9

In the process of writing, the student needs to learn to organize expressions logically and
follow the proper mechanics of writing including punctuation and capitalization for effective and
accurate communication to be achieved. However, for students with disabilities, this writing
process might not be easy to achieve but with specific and careful strategies in place for the
writing process, the student can achieve success. Therefore, writing skills for students with
learning disabilities may be improved by combining process writing and skill-oriented
instructions. According to Gersten and Baker (2001), three characteristics were identified that
could assist students with learning disabilities to effectively write expressions. The first involves
planning, followed by writing, and then revising. In the second characteristic, students have an
opportunity to learn and understand the various types of writing that is narrative, persuasive or
descriptive writings, while the third characteristic allows students to get feedback on strengths,
quality of writing, and missing elements. Therefore, the skill-based approach to expressive
writing instruction should focus on a scope and sequence of basic skills while systematically
developing these skills is essential for students with academic learning problems.

Therefore, the following strategies and recommendations were given based on research
for developing an effective writing process. Firstly, there is a need for the students to devote
sufficient time to writing so that they can develop appropriate writing skills. The teacher on their
part should create a comfortable environment for the student to express their thoughts and
feelings, as writing instructions start from creating a positive environment before the required
skills can be developed. Another way to assist students to effectively write is by encouraging the
student to participate in lots of writing activities and try combining these writing skills with other
language arts activities. This can assist in increasing the frequency of writing while developing
relevant writing skills. Besides, the educator can create spontaneous writing tasks about events in
the student’s life especially on topics that the student is most comfortable with, or give the
student the opportunity of choosing the topics they are more comfortable with that can help them
build their writing skills. Next, these students could be taught the prewriting, writing, and
rewriting processes that could lead to effective writing and they could also taught appropriate
task-specific and metacognitive strategies. Nevertheless, the students must begin writing by
brainstorming because it can help the students generate ideas and words that could be used for
the writing. Also, these ideas could be listed or clustered in a way that the information can be
organized into details and /or examples.
 10

The next strategy that could assist students in proper writing is when the students practice
using the mechanical skills, sentences, and paragraph production taught by the teacher. However,
while teaching, the educator could use errors the students made in their writing, to teach the
proper use of skills and point out how to enhance meanings. Also, the educator could encourage
students to read books of their level, tape-record stories to spot corrections, and improve their
vocabulary. The educator needs to explain the usefulness of each of the writing mechanics so
that students’ awareness could be increased and confusion and frustration that is felt by the
student because of lack of understanding could be reduced. Also, the educator could clearly state
in detail without leaving room for confusion, the characteristics of good writing through
continuous reading, presentations, and by demonstrating the steps for effectively recognizing as
well as writing different kinds of sentences. These steps include picking a sentence type, note the
words, and search for verbs.

Furthermore, in other to assist the students in the writing process, students and the
teachers could monitor the student’s progress by setting writing goals, evaluating how they write
sentences and paragraphs based on specified criteria, and going through feedbacks on errors.
However, the teachers should explain the feedbacks in a way the students could understand and
also limit the feedback to one or two frequently occurring errors at a time so that the student
would not be discouraged or frustrated while expressing their ideas. In addition, the teachers
could also use positive reinforcements to reduce the frustrations that are felt by students before
giving negative feedback. Therefore, a balanced instruction should aim at enhancing the quantity
and quality of writing, should focus on thinking as a critical aspect of the writing process and
writing should be practiced regularly.