Dyslexic students in english language classes

Concepts

Before we define “the concept of dyslexia”, it is important to understand what is meant by the word “concept”. In classical terms, everything that conforms to the same criteria may be considered to belong to that class or concept.

Consider the concept of "square". Everything that is a square must have four sides, each side must be equal, each angle must be 90 degrees, and it must be closed. In the classical view of concepts, everything belonging to that group must have the same characteristics. Otherwise it does not belong to that group. However, consider board games, card games, team ball games or children’s playground games; these are all considered games. These are all very different so it is difficult to specify the concept of a game. What are the criteria?

Historically, much of the work on dyslexia has been approached from a “classical concept” perspective. That is, there has been an assumption that there must be a core deficit that is common to all dyslexic individuals.

Wittgenstein, the Austrian philosopher, suggested that it was possible to have
a concept where there were no defining characteristics, but that there were "family resemblances". We hope to show that the approach of Wittgenstein, which would see concepts as a “network of overlapping and criss-crossing similarities may be more appropriate for dyslexia.

Definitions users

Now consider who can write a definition. The answer is that anybody can write a definition. What is important is who accepts that definition. Stanovich (1992) noted that definitions of dyslexia may serve many different groups, and each will have their own definition. These groups include:

1. 
   researchers who needs to construct good research, and provide a consensus on cause, effects, consequences, remediation etc.
   
2. 
   education personnel (including teachers and educational psychologists) whereby additional services may be provided for low achievers.
   
3. 
   parent groups who will use a definition that will help ensure their children will be allocated appropriate resources (human and financial).
   
4. 
   dyslexic individuals who, among other things, wants to have a label to help understand their difficulties.
   

Each interest group - researchers, teachers, educational psychologists, politicians, employers, parents and dyslexic individuals - has a reason why they should be interested in dyslexia, and their requirements of a definition may vary. Of these, the most powerful may be considered the school personnel, as it is usually they who decide who gets help. Therefore, it may be argued that their definition is the most important since it has far reaching

implications. However, like all definitions, it should be based on good research, and take account of the role of the parents, as well as aspects that may not be directly relevant to the classroom environment.

While discussing the defining "authority", let us also consider how that is turned into practice. To decide who is given support, one must determine criteria which have to be met. No matter what research may show, it is likely to be the criteria of the funder that will determine if support is provided.

Unfortunately around the world many funders still use inappropriate criteria to decide who gets help. One example is the continued need to provide an intelligence test score (IQ), even though research clearly demonstrates that this is irrelevant. This will be discussed later in more detail.

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