Support for Learning

Background to the study

This research was carried out whilst Wales was introducing significant school improvement reforms which mainly aim at improving all learners’ literacy and numeracy skills’ development. Since challenges identified by the OECD highlight the fact that learners’ diverse needs are not consistently met in schools, it is worthwhile exploring the experiences of learners with dyslexia. After Wales showed significantly lower than average performance in the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), education has become a national priority (OECD, 2014).

Across European countries, children are taught how to become literate from a very young age. Depending on their abilities, they find the process more or less challenging. Some children take longer to achieve literacy than others and some seem to have persistent difficulties which are not always addressed by the various teaching methods used. The term ‘dyslexia’ is used to refer to one pattern of difficulties which some children encounter during this learning process. Dyslexia is a major cause of adults who have or had access to education not achieving a good standard of functional literacy.

There are many controversies around the term ‘dyslexia’. Defining such a complex learning difference as dyslexia is a challenge. It is agreed that the definition should refer to difficulties reading text but ‘the field has been unable to produce a universally accepted definition that is not imprecise, amorphous, or difficult to operationalize’ (Elliott & Grigorenko, 2014, p.5). The fact that no two cases of dyslexia present exactly the same characteristics (Reid, 2011) leads to even more confusion.

The variation in focus amongst these definitions mirrors the complexity of the on‐going debates around the nature, and characteristics of dyslexia and how learners with dyslexia can best be supported. The authors have chosen to refer to dyslexia as a learning difference. This is consistent with Reid's view of dyslexia as ‘a difference’ (2011, p.9). The term ‘difficulties’ will only be used when referring to difficulties associated with the learning difference and when discussing literature or policies which use such terminology.

This study aims at gaining an appreciation of the experience of learners assessed as having dyslexic tendencies in the Welsh and French comprehensive systems; investigating the impact of the support provided should enable things to be seen from the perspective of individual learners in the two countries. The insight into the experiences of French learners and British learners (people living in Wales are British citizens) should give the reader a window on British cultural expectations and hopefully offer a new perspective on how to support learners with dyslexia.

Dyslexia across orthographies: cross linguistic analyses

In Europe, most languages are considered to be alphabetic. A child uses the regularity between graphemes and phonemes to learn how to decode or encode written language (Ziegler & Goswami, 2005).

English and French are often considered to be non‐transparent or opaque languages due to the unpredictability of their orthography (Caravolas et al., 2005; Rontou, 2012). Learners with dyslexia learning to read or write non‐transparent orthographies such as English or French have to develop additional strategies such as learning about ‘letter sequences that connect to whole words’ (Goswami, 2002, p.160). The development of such coping strategies slows down the acquisition of the literacy process and requires intense concentration (Hulme & Snowling, 2009). In addition, such efforts do not usually result in the acquisition of highly accurate phonemic awareness or of grapheme‐phoneme recoding abilities (Elliott & Grigorenko, 2014).

Linguistic factors in reading acquisition of learners with dyslexia

The French language is said to be inconsistent (Dulude, 2012). It presents a strong level of consistency in terms of grapheme‐phoneme correspondence yet shows very weak correspondence in terms of phoneme‐grapheme association whereas the English language is irregular in both cases (grapheme‐phoneme and phoneme‐grapheme).

Landerl et al. (2013) worked on the ‘relationship between phoneme awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), verbal short‐term/working memory (ST/WM) and diagnostic category’ (2013, p.686) in control children and children with dyslexia, and on the extent to which their performance depends on orthographic complexity. Findings highlight that in more transparent orthographies, participants’ reading achievement is generally higher, even for children with dyslexia. ‘Thus, variance in reading skills is reduced, and so is variance in phonological skills, given the influence of the former on the latter’ (2013, p.692). Landerl et al.'s findings are largely consistent with existing literature on predictors of dyslexia and literacy skills (Goswami, 2008; Hulme & Snowling, 2013; Rontou, 2012; Ziegler et al., 2003; Ziegler and Goswami, 2005; Ziegler et al., 2010), by demonstrating how orthographic complexity exacerbates some symptoms of dyslexia.

The assessment of dyslexia

Assessment practices vary from one country to another (Smythe et al., 2005). Backhouse and Morris (2005, p.5) suggest that assessment should actively involve the learner as it is often ‘a turning point in terms of building up confidence, self‐concept and self‐esteem’ (Glazzard, 2012, p.167). The process should be collaborative and aim at gaining a better understanding of a learner's profile (Jones & Kindersley, 2013, ix).

Approaches to supporting learners with dyslexia in Europe: cultural differences

Various associations such as the British Dyslexia Association provide their own definition of dyslexia and make recommendations about approaches to educational support. Nonetheless, it is up to individual countries to decide on a legislation regarding the education of learners with dyslexia. Smythe et al. (2005) mention that educational policies are written in concordance with their own linguistic and cultural context.

The Research approach & design

This is a qualitative study and the data collection tools used were semi‐structured interviews, archival records, documentary data and lesson observations. As this research project is mainly concerned with understanding phenomena through different lenses, it was sensible to adopt an interpretative approach. In this way, the viewpoint of the participants themselves is reflected in the study. The interpretative approach leads to an in‐depth understanding of the particular but also contributes to building a framework of ‘multiple realities’ (Thomas, 2009, p.78).

The cross‐cultural aspect of the study lent itself to a multiple case study design. According to Rihoux and Ragin (2009, p.XVii), comparison lies at the heart of human reasoning and is always there in the observation of the world. They also believe that the observation of singular phenomena is empty if the observer does not engage in a comparison. The analysis of perceptions of support for learners with dyslexia in a Welsh secondary school will be more meaningful if readers are given a window on their own cultural expectations by these being seen against the backdrop of the expectations and practices of another country, in this case France. Thomas (2009) claims that educational thoughts can develop in an insular way in particular environments and that the recognition that another country does things differently can offer new ideas.

This project uses a ‘simple’ multiple‐case design as it only involved two secondary schools. Indeed, according to Yin, the simplest multiple case studies consist of two or more cases ‘that are believed to be literal replications’ (2009, p.59). The two schools and participants were therefore selected meticulously so that experiences could be compared. The study involved 24 participants:

• Six learners.
• The two Head Teachers.
• Conseillère Principale d'Education (CPE). [No real equivalent in Britain. In collaboration with the Head Teacher, the CPE is in charge of sharing information with staff about learners with special educational needs. The CPE is also responsible for the well‐being of all learners. It is a non‐teaching post; CPEs are civil servants.
• AENCO (Additional Educational Needs Coordinator).
• Six parents.
• Six teachers.
• Specialist Dyslexia Teacher.
• Orthophoniste.

This study uses an imbedded multiple case design (Cohen et al., 2011) as it involves different sub‐units (See Figure 1) in each of the cases (3 in France and 3 in Wales).

While carrying out this research project the first author was an insider researcher in Wales but an outsider researcher in France. The sets of British data were collected in her work place. Although there are some definite advantages to ‘researching your own organization while being a complete member’ (Coghlan & Brannick, 2014, p.121), it also involved a need for ‘thoughtful examination of the ethical implications of the research on individuals’ (Coghlan & Brannick, 2014, p.146). Knowing the Welsh school setting well enabled her to acquire an ‘understanding in use’ of the systems in place rather than ‘a reconstructed understanding’ (Coghlan & Brannick, 2014, p.121). However, her roles as a researcher and as the school's AENCO became ‘blurred’. Indeed, ‘role duality’ (Unluer, 2012, p.2) could have led to a loss of objectivity during the research process. Another potential disadvantage was regarding the unequal power dynamics between the learners involved and herself (Alderson & Morrow, 2011). She had to make a point of explaining that her activity in respect of this study was completely separate from her employment (AENCO) and that taking part in the study would have no effect on them as learners.

On the other hand, she went into the French school as an outsider. Alderson and Morrow (2011, p.5), highlight that the advantages of being an outsider researcher include seeing issues that insiders overlook and being free to take ‘the independent critical view that is vital to the research’. Her independence as an outsider meant that participants talked to her honestly about problems.

The data collection process was conducted in two stages: this enabled the authors to undertake data analysis at two specific points. The data gathered during the first stage was used to gain a sound understanding of learning environments in the two countries. This first set of data helped inform the data collection of the second stage.

The first stage of the data collection process involved:

• Collecting the documentary data.
• Interviewing the Head Teacher.
• Interviewing the AENCO or equivalent.

The second stage of the data collection process involved:

• Interviewing learners.
• Interviewing teachers and specialist teachers.
• Interviewing parents.
• Collecting archival records.
• Interview with the orthophoniste.
• Running formal classroom observations of learners.

Stage 1 of the data collection enabled the authors to gather information about existing structures of support for learners with dyslexia in the two countries. Stage 2 of the data collection process provided the opportunity to explore in depth the areas of difficulty learners with dyslexia experience in school and how this impacts on progress. It also enabled a full exploration of the dyslexia assessment process in the two countries.

Yin's theory of Convergence of Evidence (Yin, 2009) was applied as it stresses the importance of using multiple sources of evidence to gain an insight into ‘the same phenomenon’ (Yin, 2009, p.117) in order to enhance the quality of the research design. The data gathered mainly consisted of narrative reports which were coded and analysed.

The documentary data collected during stage 1 fed into the preparation of interview and observation schedules used during stage 2. All recordings were transcribed and translated into English when necessary.

The archival records collected for this project were learners’ reports and samples of written work. As with the documentary data, they provided background information about the learners thus giving a wider picture of their academic progress.

For the case study, it was important that observations took place in the participants’ ‘natural setting’ (Yin, 2009, p.109) where the data collected naturally occurred in social situations.

The observational data collected, as well as the interview and documentary data, converged towards gaining an insight into the same phenomenon. Data triangulation was a way to enhance the quality of the research design and to increase understanding of each case.

The comparative element of the study is present throughout the analysis as each documentary analysis; each interview and each observation was repeated in the other country.

The analysis of the collected data was completed following Yin's advice and driven by the idea that thematic analyses should refer to all the data collected in order to illustrate the complexity of the findings.

Research Findings

Dyslexia assessment (England & Wales) or diagnosis (France)

The following table provides an overview of professionals involved in assessing dyslexia in the two countries. Five out of six learners were assessed while in primary school:

Participants perceived the learning difference differently. One of the French learners’ mother associated dyslexia with an incapacity to comprehend written material:

‘Pour moi, c'est une forme de handicap, de fonctionnement du cerveau en fait, qui l'empêche d'assimiler la lecture, pour elle, c'est essentiellement au niveau de la lecture, après, d'autres enfants ont peut‐être d'autres problèmes…’.

[For me it's a sort of handicap, the way the brain works actually, which prevents her from developing her reading skills; for her it's mainly reading, perhaps other children have got other problems…].

On the other hand, when learners were asked to define dyslexia, they referred to cognitive abilities, auditory memory, but also encoding, decoding and handwriting. Two learners even associated dyslexia to having difficulties with speech and language:

‘Être dyslexique, c'est avoir une difficulté à je sais pas moi, à lire, à écrire, à prononcer des sons’.

[Being dyslexic means…I don't know…having difficulties with reading, writing and pronunciation.]

The range of definitions given by participants supports the view that no two cases of dyslexia present exactly the same characteristics.

Learners’ description of difficulties they associate with the learning difference mainly related to academic performance. Although learners were young when assessed, it seems that their perceptions of the difficulties associated with dyslexia originate from the foci of the assessment process. Learners focused on areas of difficulties identified by professionals involved in assessing them. The two countries have very different approaches to assessing learners with dyslexic tendencies: dyslexia is perceived as a handicap in France and the assessment process is therefore medicalised.

Support available to learners

Learners have access to more support in the Welsh school setting. All the British learners attended support sessions in school and had a modified timetable. At the time of the interview, only one out of three French learners attended support sessions with the orthophoniste.

The mothers of five learners mentioned strategies they had developed to support their child with their learning at home:

‘Velcro with a strip with cards and we used to have pictures as well like if it was brushing teeth time, there should be a picture of toothbrush and also the word so she'll have a look at the word as well and show her pictures and then we progressed to just words so she would then have to not just recognise the picture…so we did things like that’.

All strategies relied on using multi‐sensory techniques to help develop numeracy, literacy and organisational skills.

Learners’ progress

Learners’ progress is monitored differently in France and in Wales. It was therefore not possible to rely on quantitative data to compare participants’ progress. However, teachers’ comments provided an overview of each learner's progress. The analysis of French learners’ work samples mainly showed difficulties with spelling nasal sounds, conjugation and punctuation. Teachers often referred to them falling behind with their work and not keeping up with the pace of lessons. On the other hand, British learners had difficulties with letter formation, mixing upper and lower case, phonic awareness, short and long vowel sounds and letter reversals. French learners are taught in mixed ability groups and therefore are often compared to the rest of their tutor group. Although this could be perceived as a way of raising aspiration, it could also be demoralising.

Despite British learners having access to more support in school, their difficulties were more pronounced: this could suggest either that they had a more severe form of dyslexia or that the lack of emphasis on grammar in the early years of schooling in Wales has affected them adversely.

Parents and learners’ views on the support offered

Parents’ views on the support offered to their children were on the whole negative:

‘Just general awareness is needed, I think … when Laura is in a mainstream classroom. I think that's when it kind of slides. When she asks a question, teachers go we've already told you so. Teachers need to be a bit more supportive and a bit more understanding. Laura gets fed up with the response so then she doesn't say anything’.

Only one parent was completely satisfied. A lack of communication between the management team and school teachers was highlighted by French parents. In Wales, a lack of challenge in the work set by teachers was pointed out by one parent. Another parent was in favour of a full time differentiated curriculum for her daughter.

Learners’ suggestions for improvement

Learners shared their views on the support offered during the interviews and were invited to make suggestions for improvements. Two learners (French and British) wished for more differentiation in the mainstream classroom.

All French learners wished they could do more work on grammar:

‘Oui sinon je sais pas moi… des règles de grammaire à apprendre (…) ben oui ça m'aiderait ça.

[Yes otherwise…I don't know… learning grammar rules (…) well yes, this would help me.]

They found grammar helpful and wanted to do more of it. On the other hand, British learners did not refer to grammar. The French learners used terms such as ‘verb endings’ or ‘conjugation of verbs’. French learners showed a better understanding of linguistic terminology.

Working in partnership

In France and Wales, Individual Educational Plans (or in French, Projet d'Accueil Individualisé) are drawn up for learners with dyslexia. The data shows some similarities between the two countries: class teachers are not involved in drawing up IEPs or PAIs. The documents are shared with them and they should implement them in the mainstream classroom. Another similarity between the two countries is that half (Wales) or over half (France) of the professionals involved in the study criticised the communication systems in place. In France, four of the five professionals interviewed suggested that communication between teachers and outside agencies/services was poor. Similarly, in Wales, three out of six professionals interviewed highlighted issues regarding exchange of information to do with supporting learners with dyslexia in the mainstream classroom. Lack of time to discuss teaching approaches, exchange information or apply IEP/PAI recommendations came across as the main cause of support shortcomings.

The data also shows marked contrasts between the two countries: in France, the drawing up of the IEPs or PAIs is medicalised as the process is coordinated by a General Practitioner. On the other hand, Education is responsible for drawing up IEPs; the process is coordinated by the AENCO (teachers are not involved).

Discussion

The advantage of a case study approach lies in its potential ‘to gain a rich, detailed understanding of the case by examining aspects of it in detail’ (Thomas, 2009, p.115). The small sample of learners selected for the study emphasises depth over breadth. The views of six learners from two secondary schools clearly cannot be taken as representing views of all learners with dyslexia in all secondary schools in Wales and in France. However, the study aims at retaining ‘the holistic and meaningful characteristics of real life events’ (Yin, 2009, p.4) through thick (Thomas, 2009, p.202) and analytical description.

Learners’ literacy acquisition

Learners who took part in the study had difficulties acquiring the necessary skills needed to become competent readers and spellers in primary school. English speaking learners with dyslexia's literacy acquisition could have been affected by the irregularity of the language in comparison with other European learners with dyslexia. However, a study by Ziegler et al. (2003) demonstrated that there were more similarities than differences between learners with dyslexia coming from different European countries. Indeed, there would be more similarities in reading processes between learners with dyslexia from different countries than between ‘normal’ readers. This idea is reinforced by the findings of this research project. In the two countries, learners noticed the first signs of dyslexia in primary school while learning to read and spell. Despite French orthography being more consistent than English, learners noticed first signs of dyslexia in primary school. Goswami (2002) explains that children with dyslexia who are learning to read languages with less consistent orthographies, ‘must develop recoding strategies at multiple grain sizes (whole word, onset, rhyme, phoneme), and these grain sizes are not easily accessible to them in either the phonology or the orthography because of their problems in phonological representation’ (Goswami, 2002, p150). Thus the development of phonological recoding and reading acquisition would be expected to be slow in comparison with learners without a learning difference (Goswami, 2008; Hulme and Snowling, 2013).

The impact of dyslexia on French and English/Welsh secondary school learners

While British and French learners noticed first signs of dyslexia in primary school, the analysis of participants’ work showed significant differences at secondary school level. Indeed, the analysis of French participants’ written work showed a wider range of language and was more accurate.

This might suggest that learners with dyslexia notice first signs of the learning difference in primary school regardless of the level of consistency of their native language. Nevertheless, findings from this study suggest that native English speakers with dyslexia make slower progress than French native speakers; possibly because the English language is less transparent than French. Alternatively, the British learners in this study's progress might have been hindered by a more severe form of dyslexia. Since ‘dyslexia is individual’ (Reid, 2011, p.16), this could also be an illustration of individual differences in dyslexia or a consequence of teaching approaches adopted in Welsh primary and secondary schools: indeed the results of the PISA 2012 reading assessment showed that France significantly outperformed Wales, which could be linked to the nature of the English language's orthography or a consequence of the teaching approaches adopted in Welsh schools.

The research project was interestingly carried out while Wales embarked on a significant school improvement reform. As mentioned in the Findings section, all French learners said they would like to have the opportunity to do more grammar in school. Considering the teaching of grammar is part of the French national curriculum (MEN, 2008, p.1) and referred to by French participants as helpful (they would like to more of it), it could suggest that the teaching approaches adopted in Wales should focus on grammatical understanding of the English language. As Myhill et al. (2012, p.29) mentioned, the teaching of grammar has been left out of national curriculums in some Anglophone countries. Myhill et al. provided strong evidence supporting that although the decontextualised teaching of grammar is not helpful in improving writing, a ‘writing curriculum which draws attention to the grammar of writing in an embedded and purposeful way at relevant points in the learning is a more positive way forward’ (p.32) to help learners develop their understanding of language. This raises a pedagogical question: ‘to what extent is the grammatical labelling necessary in helping young writers see the possibilities of language?’ (Myhill et al. 2012, p.37).

Findings from this research project supports Myhill et al.'s findings, as learners exposed to the teaching of grammar perceived it as a helpful tool.

Cultural differences: perceptions of the assessment process and support available

Findings show that the two countries have very different approaches to assessing learners with dyslexic tendencies.

Since assessments are carried out by the National Health Service in France, the process is medicalised. British parents whose child had been assessed did not comment on the assessment process. On the other hand, all French parents shared their experiences and referred to the process as a rather negative experience.

In the two countries, assessments are carried out in order to address concerns and identify needs. Standardised tests are used to assess children. The outcomes of the assessments are the same in the two countries: assessments mainly aim at diagnosing difficulties rather than building on existing competencies. This explains why assessment could be referred to as a negative process which makes children focus on areas of difficulty or on what they cannot do as well as others.

The findings of the study clearly showed that the medicalisation of the assessment process (France) was distressing for families but that the psychological benefits of knowing why learners had difficulties were considerable.

The format of support differed significantly from one country to the other. The involvement of the Health Service in France meant learners had to attend support sessions in addition to their school timetable. The lack of flexibility of the French school system seemed to be a barrier to inclusion.

Perceived effectiveness of support systems in place

In the two countries, issues regarding exchange of valuable information about learners were highlighted during interviews with parents and professionals. Lack of time to discuss teaching approaches or apply IEP/PAI recommendations came across as the main cause of support shortcomings. Participants were concerned about a lack of effective support networks. Indeed, four of the five professionals interviewed in France mentioned poor partnership work. Three out of six British professionals highlighted similar issues. Both Head Teachers interviewed expressed reservations regarding full and effective implementation of government policies regarding learners with AEN in their schools. Findings imply that issues regarding excessive workload prevent schools from supporting learners with dyslexia as effectively as required by the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (WAG, 2002).

Conclusion

Findings from this study showed that dyslexia affected learners in different ways. The analysis of participants’ views combined with the observation of their written work showed that the learning difference was ‘evident along a continuum from mild to severe’ (Reid, 2011, p.16). Participants’ comments regarding speed of information processing and preferred learning strategies show dyslexia is a learning difference (Reid, 2011, p.10).

It was noted that British learners appreciated the benefits of a modified curriculum and the opportunity to work in small groups. French learners mentioned that they found the teaching of grammatical concepts helpful as it gave them a better understanding of language therefore making written tasks more accessible. The flexibility of the Welsh National Curriculum facilitated the implementation of support sessions which were perceived as a relief to participants. Small group provision was perceived as helpful as learners having issues with the speed of processing could work at their own pace. Rose and the BDA (2009) mentioned that learners with dyslexia often develop strengths in problem‐solving but struggle with reading and spelling accuracy: this could explain why the French linguistic teaching approach was identified as helpful. The teaching of grammar helped learners develop their understanding of language by using problem‐solving skills (Myhill et al., 2012).

Disadvantages highlighted by participants in the two countries mainly regarded poor communication between families and professionals involved in supporting learners. In a highly literate world, poor reading and spelling pose a threat to academic achievement. Yet adopting a well‐coordinated approach to supporting children with a learning difference such as dyslexia could help them develop coping strategies which involve building on their own strengths.