Lazy or Dyslexic: A Multisensory Approach to Face English Language Learning Difficulties

Abstract

An investigation was conducted to help weak academic English learners in a public high school in Colombia, as they seemed to be facing a learning specific difficulty called dyslexia. A focus group of ten students from ninth and tenth grade was the beneficiaries of the design, implementation, and assessment of five multisensory activities to help students decrease their struggles while learning the foreign language (English). For the present action research, five activities were applied during two academic terms (six months) where students were taught verbs, grammar rules, question words, and minimal pairs to help them do better while reading. Outcomes showed that low academic students tend to have a better performance when teachers target multisensory activities to assist them in their learning process related to grammar within the English sessions. Color-coded activities help low achieving students to exercise and remember more easily as senses are engaged while learning, reading exercises are better approached if their workload is split into smaller quantities compare to regular learners.