Reading Errors in the Malay Language by Dyslexic Students from the Perspective of Levinson Theory

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the reading errors in the Malay language among dyslexic students. The study sample consisted of 100 dyslexic children selected from 10 branches of the Malaysian Dyslexia Association. This study is based on Levinson’s Theory (1994) which underlines seven types of reading error mechanisms: elimination, transfer, insertion, substitution, reversal, condensation, addition or guessing. The study data were collected through observation and testing methods. The researcher used reading texts according to the appropriate level of learning to examine the reading errors of dyslexic students. The study results proved that dyslexic students showed difficulty in several aspects of reading, namely elimination, reversal, substitution, insertion and guessing. These five types of reading errors were found to support Levinson’s Theory (1994), while the study results have also proven some reading errors among dyslexic students beyond the expectations of the theory.