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DysTEFL2 - Dyslexia for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language
Start date: Sep 1, 2014, End date: Aug 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

The problem we want to address in the DysTEFL2 project is that even though foreign language teachers have a legal responsibility both to anticipate the needs of dyslexic students and to accommodate them, this obligation notoriously fails to translate into practical applications in the classroom. Teachers of foreign languages are very poorly (if at all) equipped with knowledge and skills to effectively teach dyslexic students who tend to function rather badly in regular schooling, unless they are offered special accommodations and teaching methods. We believe that in order to improve the opportunities of learners with dyslexia to acquire another language, the process needs to focus on teacher training. At present, European teacher training institutions provide no or very little training on teaching learners with dyslexia. Foreign language teachers are at a disadvantage because not enough (if any at all) suitable training is provided during both initial and in-service training (see EFL teachers’ needs analysis report at www.dystefl.eu). A common practice has been to exempt dyslexic students from foreign language learning on the grounds that the successful attainment of L2 competence is beyond their reach. This practice, however, seriously disadvantages students with dyslexia in today’s globalized world, where proficiency in a foreign language might be as important as literacy and numeracy skills. Lack of a workable knowledge of another language might deprive these individuals of equal opportunities in education and at the workplace. For this reason, the lifelong professional learning needs of EFL teachers with respect to ways of accommodating specific needs of dyslexic students cannot be ignored. Thus, the target audience of this project includes pre- and in-service teachers of English as a foreign language but also institutions of higher education; local, regional, national and international institutions and associations preoccupied with the professional training of foreign language teachers; educational stakeholders and authorities. Indirectly, dyslexic learners are targeted. The aim of the project is to improve the scheme of initial and continuing professional development of teachers of English as a foreign language so that teachers can gain the necessary competences to adapt their teaching to special educational needs of students with dyslexia. DysTEFL2 is a continuation of the DysTEFL (LLP Comenius Multilateral) project. Its objectives follow from the ideas we put forward in the DysTEFL project and involve the exploitation of the DysTEFL’s outcomes, in particular the DysTEFL course (www.dystefl.eu). In DysTEFL2 we intend to further popularize the ideas promoted by DysTEFL among educational stakeholders. The EACEA, EFL and dyslexia experts as well as EFL teachers assessed DysTEFL’s results as excellent. We want to exchange and spread this good practice by providing EFL teachers with DysTEFL courses, organized in Poland and European countries which did not participate in the DysTEFL project, namely Greece and Slovenia, with the intention to reach teachers also from countries not involved in the DysTEFL2 consortium. DysTEFL2’s activities include conducting the EFL teachers’ professional needs analysis with regards to dyslexia and gaining special (certified) qualifications in the field of teaching foreign languages to dyslexic language learners, the preferred learning pathways/modes and course providers as well as course content. Also, the needs analysis will involve exploring legal requirements and possibilities of course certification in the project partner countries. Based on the needs analysis outcomes, updates and changes will be incorporated into the course, the major one involving introducing a battery of tests (on unit and course level) and procedures for confirming learning outcomes and certifying qualifications. The consortium will be involved in printing, promoting and exploiting the DysTEFL course and materials. To ensure the access of all interested parties to the project initiatives and outcomes, information and communication technologies (e.g. project website, newsletters, social media) will be used for promotion and dissemination purposes. Knowledge transfer activities such as providing seminars, workshops and conferences for teacher trainers, EFL teachers and policy makers, organizing and running the DysTEFL course (face-to-face, blended and e-learning modes) for pre- and in-service EFL teachers from the project partner countries and beyond will be part of the project partners’ work commitments. Project’s activities and products are impactfull in that they can close the apparent gap in foreign language teacher training and enhance competences of EFL teachers, thus maximizing the quality of teaching. Regional, national and international teacher training institutions and associations can easily and for free access the materials and use them in their training schemes.

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