Knowledge of Dyslexia among Teacher Trainees in Malaysia

Abstract

Teacher trainees are a critical group of professionals responsible for identifying students with dyslexia in schools. This study aimed to examine the common understanding and misconceptions concerning dyslexia among Malaysian primary school teacher trainees. The study was conducted using a set of questionnaires known as the Knowledge and Belief about Developmental Dyslexia Scale (KBDDS) developed by Soriano et al. (2015) to investigate teachers' general knowledge, symptoms and diagnosis, and treatment of dyslexia. The questionnaire consists of 36 questions that require a true or false answer. Ninety-nine teacher trainees participated in the study. The results showed that there was a moderate proportion of teacher trainees who were not familiar with dyslexia in terms of general information (34%, n = 39), symptoms and diagnosis (23%, n = 23), and treatments (32%, n = 32). Based on the results, we can conclude that there were teacher trainees who were unfamiliar with dyslexia regarding the general information, symptoms and diagnosis, and treatments. Teacher trainees need to master every aspect of dyslexia because it will help them to enhance their skills in teaching students with dyslexia. This study's implication for improving pre-service teacher training programs for preparing teacher trainees to master the issues related to learning disabilities, special education, and especially dyslexia are discussed.