Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
D R . SHAYE S . A L SHAYE
Curriculum and Instruction Department
College of Education
Kuwait University
* This study was funded by the Public Authority of Applied Education and Training in Kuwait
499
500 / Education Vol. 132 No. 3
teachers' knowledge and awareness level ing prevalence of dyslexia in Kuwait: 6.3%
of dyslexic students. of the students attending primary school.
Recently, there have been increasingly In 2005 the Kuwaiti Minister of Educafion
concerned calls from educators and par- issued a Ministerial Decree for establish-
ents to assist and solve the challenges of ing a Dyslexia Higher Educational
high numbers of slow learners and students Committee to raise awareness of dyslexia
with learning problems in Kuwaiti public in mainstream Kuwaiti schools. (Elbeheri,
schools . There are demands to diagnose 2008) The awareness campagin has had its
and develop programs to help slow learn- impacts; however, the effectiveness of the
ers and learners with disabilifies to cope in campaign hasn't yet been evaluated.
Kuwaiti mainstream schools. (Kuwait The KDA's awareness campaign aimed
Dyslexia Association, 2002) Recent stud- towards "dyslexic-friendly schools," in
ies have demonstrated that intervention is other words to encourage schools to make
effective and that prevention of reading themselves more responsive to the needs
failure is possible if preschool and school- of dyslexic learners through educafing,
children at risk of dyslexia are identified preparing, and evaluating teachers and par-
early and offered timely and evidence- ents about dyslexia and efforts to be done
based training. For example. The to help dyslexies. (Kuwait Dyslexia Mag-
International Dyslexia Asssociafion (2009) azine, 2007; Center for Child Evaluafion
reports that about 13 to 14% of the school and Teaching, 2007 )
population in the USA have a handicapping Hence, given the urgent and increasing
condition that qualifies them for special need for more extensive programs of inte-
education. Of this population, one-half of grated literacy and reading programs
all the students who qualify for special among the academic and therapeutic pro-
education are classified as having learn- grams in schools, it is important to
ing disabilities (LD) (6-7%). About 85% determine whether teachers share the basic
of those LD students have a primary learn- information about dyslexia, and what
ing disability in reading and language teachers' beliefs are about the essential
processing. Yet many more people, per- characteristic of the disorder. Also, it is
haps as much as 15-20% of the population important to collect scientific data on the
as a whole, have some of the symptoms of intervention techniques teachers think
dyslexia. These symptoms include slow or might benefit young learners with dyslex-
inaccurate reading, poor spelling, poor ia.
writing, or mixing up similar words. (Bums
Hurst, 2011) Teachers play a critical role Definitions of the study
in identifying and dealing with the first Dyslexia: refers to a cluster of symp-
signs of dyslexiaif they are aware of its toms that result in people having difficulties
symptoms. (Spirou, 2008) with specific language skills, particularly
Meanwhile, in Kuwait, a 2004 survey reading. Students with dyslexia usually
study conducted by the Kuwait Dyslexia experience difficulty with other language
Association (KDA) highlighted the alarm- skills such as spelling, writing, and pro-
502 / Education Vol. 132 No. 3
nouncing words. Dyslexia affects individ- level materials. In the ninth and twelfth
uals throughout their lives; however, its grade benchmarks, higher levels of criti-
impact can change at different stages. cal thinking, problem solving, analysis and
It is referred to as a learning disability synthesis are applied. Students are expect-
because dyslexia can make it very diffi- ed to practice communication as skillful
cult for a student to succeed academically listeners and proficient speakers." (Min-
in the typical instructional environment, istry of Education, 2010)
and in its more severe forms will qualify A primary focus of recent research in
a student for special education, special education has been the prevention of read-
accommodations, or extra support services. ing problems in students' school careers.
(The International Dyeslexia Association, (Torgesen, 1999; Saher & Albazzaz, 2006;
2009) Arnold, 2009; Nellenbach, 2010) Because
reading is a linguistic function, reading
Literature Review disorders can affect all aspects of linguis-
Most educational experts believe that tic ability, including oral language, writing,
reading ability is the focal point for suc- and listening skills, as well as the mani-
cess in any educational system, and festations of a language disorder over time
learning to read is one of the most impor- (Beringer & Abbot, 2002).
tant events in a child's school career. A child who has difficulty reading is
(Anderson et al., 1985) In Kuwait, like likely to experience academic failure as a
other countries, reading is one of the basic result of diffculty in all academic subjects,
skills required in the study of language, and this is due to the importance of read-
whether a native or foreign languge. In the ing to most aspects of academic curricula.
Ministry of Education's 2005 report, it (Davis, 2010) As a result, a child with a
noted: reading disability will fall further and fur-
Reading is the most basic skill of all ther behind his/ her typically-developing
academic pursuits because all other peers due to the pervasive nature of his/
content achievement depends on the her disorder. During the early primary
ability to read and comprehend the school years, the synergistic relationship
materials presented. In the early between reading, writing, and spoken lan-
grades, early mastery of the skills guage is more evident than during the
necessary to unlock written language pre-school years. For a child, entering the
and of the strategies to translate that primary stage is a critical transition and
language into meaningful concepts challeging period in the process of lan-
is essential to success. (Ministry of guage acquistion. Prior to kindergarden,
Education, 2005; p. 5) most children take part in literacy skills
Moreover, in Kuwait the National Docu- without serious assesment, unlike a pri-
ment for English Language requires that mary-stage learner who has continuous
"At each grade level, students are expect- assesments and follow-up exams through
ed to read and use information from grade the year, in the formal styles of language.
Knowledge and Awareness... /503
which is the language of academics or cog- Recent research has documented evi-
nitive academic language proficiency dence of a phonological impairment in
(CALP) (Westby, 2005). children with dyslexia. (Marshall et al.,
In addition, a child who has proficient 2001) Children with dyslexia have diffi-
basic interpersonal communication skills culty with tasks that rely on processing
(BICS) for example, might develop a lan- that uses phonological awareness, which is
guage proficiency (CALP) that is required an "awareness of, and the ability to manip-
in academic environments. Or a child with ulate, the phonological segments
a specific language impairment as a represented in an alphabetic orthography."
preschooler might manifest a different (Blachman, 1994) These tasks are associ-
learning disability, such as dyslexia or ated with the development of reading skills
attention deficit disorder, once he is of repeating real words and nonsense words
exposed to the academic demands of read- (Abad, 2006); verbal short- term memory
ing and writing. (Wallach & Ehren, 2004) (Witruk & Shuster, 2002); and metalin-
An awareness of language develops as chil- guistic tasks involving phoneme awareness
dren become aware of language and its and segmentation (Snowling, 2000). These
function and develop a conscious aware- lines of research have led to a general
ness of language benefits into daily life. acceptance of the assumption that the core
Bashir and Heerde (1998) noted that problem in dyslexia is best described as
for children beginning their formal edu- phonological deficit. (Alliender et al.,
cation reading is either a tool for acquiring 2001) Others described dyslexia as a spe-
and using knowledge or an obstacle to cific reading disorder that can found in
learning. Educators have struggled with fifteen to twenty percent of the world's
the problem of school children who appear population as identified by the Interna-
normal intellectually, yet fail to gain com- tional Dyslexia Association (Faught, 2005).
miserate reading skills. A subcategory of In the last ten years dyslexia has been
these students with reading failure (often moved from a hidden disability to one that
referred to as Dyslexia or Specific Read- is aknowleged in academic, intellectual,
ing Disabled) consists of children who: and professsional fields through advances
in genetic and psychological research. And
a) had adequate instruction, while recent research into developmental
b) are normal learners in other subject dyslexia has led to a greater understanding
areas, of its neurological and cognitive bases
c) have no identifiable adverse envi- (Snowling, 2000; Firt, 1997), practition-
ronmental influences, ers have asked for a more comprehensive
d) demonstrate no emotional distur- description of dyslexia. In other words,
bance, and these different labels suggest that singular
e) posses normal vision and hearing language disorder might be represented by
(U.S.A. Department of Education, different names.
2004).
504 / Education Vol. 132 No. 3
A recent study showed that poor Ara- are learning two languages (English and
bic readers show weak phonological Arabic) together from first grade, and both
decoding and low levels of phonological languages are completely different from
awamess in comparison to matched normal each other. This factor adds another dimen-
readers. This pattern of inter-relationship sion to the teachers' responsibilities to
between literacy and phonological aware- diagnose the symptoms: Are these symp-
ness is consistent with conclusions derived toms and letter-reversals related to the
from English speaking cohorts. (Elbeheri child's having dyslexia, or should they be
& Everatt, 2009) Throughout the literature considered a developmental error, and can
concerning reading proficiency and dis- the learner experience this error and over-
ablities, a number of recurring themes come it with a teacher's constant
appear. These include the lack of an agreed- corrections?
upon a definition of dyslexia among A teacher's preparation and awareness
professionals, the importance of phono- level plays a significant role in identifying
logical awareness in language acquition the early signs of dyslexia. The importance
and mastery of literacy, the role of teach- of the learner's phonological awareness in
ers in the identification and treatment of the acquisition and mastery of literacy, the
dyslexia, and the evolving role of teachers role of teachers' prepration program in the
in discovering and tracking the treatment students' identification, teachers' role in
of reading disorders. participation in screening of dyslexic stu-
Determing who is at-risk for dyslexia dents, the assessment phases of language
is complicated by the fact that the term teachers in the primary stage in Kuwait
dyslexia has been confusing and misun- public schools, the teachers' support in
derstood. Some researchers assert that one many ways for dyslexic children to teach
of the most defining characterisic of the them reading by using multi-sensory meth-
dyslexic learner is his/ her tendency to ods, using computer-based applications
reverse letters. Catts and Kamhi (2005) that include animated characters and text-
note that despite a lack of evidence sup- to-speech (TTS) technology, all these
porting this notionespecially when a methods are important in helping dyslex-
child acquires two languages together at the ic learners.
same time, they commonly reverse letters- The study evaluated the teachers'
-it seems that teachers, among others, still knowledge, awareness level, and possiple
rely on this attribute to describe dyslexia. ways to diagnose learning disabilities.The
That definition presents two chief charac- emergentfindingshighlight the importance
teristics of dyslexia that are frequently of imparting knowledge and providing ade-
addressed, which are the deficit in word quate technical skills for teachers to cope
recognition, and the lack of phonological with dyslexia and dyslexia tendencies in
awareness. Kuwaiti public schools.
However, there is a unique characteris-
tic of Kuwaiti learners, which is that they
Knowledge and Awareness... / 505
Method Participants
This section is divided into the follow- The population of this study was all
ing parts: (a) research hypotheses; (b) a English and Arabic language teachers in
description of the participants; (c) instru- primary schools (700 teachers), who work
mentation for the study, including a across Kuwait's six educational districts.
description of the independent and depen- The sample size of the study was 75 teach-
dent variables; (d) data collection; and (e) ers, and they were divided based on gender,
data analysis. educational degree, nationality, and teach-
ing experience (see table 1).
Research hypotheses
HI- Teachers in Kuwaiti primary Instrumentation for the Study
schools are trained to deal with students Data were collected through the use of
a survey administered to the participants.
with dyslexia.
The survey questionnaire was developed
H2- Teachers in Kuwaiti primary
after reviewing several studies that com-
schools have adequate knowledge and
pleted a survey of teachers' knowledge and
awareness about the early signs of
awareness of dyslexia. (Davis,. 2005;
dyslexia. Towler,. 2006; Scott, 2005; Spirou; 2008;
H3- There are mean differences Regan & Woods, 2000) Regan and Woods
between teachers' training, knowledge, (2000) have completed a survey of teach-
and awareness levels, and their ability ers' awareness of dyslexia from the
to diagnose symptoms of dyslexia, perspective of the educational psygholo-
compared with their demographic back- gist, not educational linguistics. The survey
gound (gender, nationality, educational consisted of the following parts:
degree, and teaching experience). 1- Independent variable: the independent
variable includes personal information
(demographic background) such as
Table 1
Table 2
Descriptive Statistics and Reliability Coefficients of
learning difficulties, while only 15% or more workshops at the Kuwait Child
attended more than 4 workshops. Mean- Evaluation Center. When teachers were
while, when teachers were asked if they asked if they attended workshops run by
attend any workshops conducted about the Kuwaiti Dyslexia Society, as seen in
dyslexia in the Ministry of Education, 45% table (3), those who never attended any
reported never having taken or having taken workshop were (13.3%), while, those who
only one workshop. Moreover, (38.2%) of attended only one workshop represent
teachers either never or taken only one almost one fifth of the sample (21.9%),
workshop run by the Kuwait Child Eval- meanwhile, only (8.3%) attended more
uafion Center (a nonprofit organization for than 4 workshops in Kuwaiti Dyslexia
students with LD). More than third (31%) Society.
of language teachers have attended three
Table 3
Distribution of teacher's training & appropriate Preparation to identify Dyslexic learners and
Learning Difjiculties.
No Item More than4
In addition, the case was simmilar when almost third of them (29.6%) had an
when teachers were asked about taking acceptable level in the reading skill. Only
training workshops in the Teachers' Soci- 1.7 % of the sample reported having a very
ety. There were (15%) of teachers who good level of reading skill by looking to
never attended any training, while only question #14 that considers one of the basic
(6.6%) took more than 4 training work- indicators of a dyslexic learner, reversing
shops there. letters, almost a fourth of the paricpants (
25%) indicated they have a weak knowl-
Research Question 2 edge about this problem. Only 14% of the
Question two concerned whether or not study participants had an adequate and
teachers in Kuwaiti primary schools have good knowledge about this problem for
adequate knowledge and awareness about dyslexic students.
dyslexia (4).
As shown in table (4), the teachers lack Research Question 3
knowledge and show a low awareness level The third question was concerned with
of the early signs of dyslexia. Only 6.9% whether there are any mean differences
reported having a high level of knowledg between teachers' training, knowledge, and
about language disorders in language awareness level, and their ability to diag-
acquistion. Meanwhile, reading skill is nose dyslexia symptoms, compared with
considered one of the basic skills of lan- their demographic backgound. The results
guage acquistion especially for primary are shown in tables (5-6).
stage learners. Langauge teachers in This question was answered by using
Kuwait Public schools reported weak or both t-test for gender, and One Way
acceptable levels of reading skills, while ANOVA test or other demographic vari-
Table 4
Distribution of respondents according to their Knowledge & Awareness level of Dyslexia
510 / Education Vol. 132 No. 3
Table 5
Means and Standard Deviation for Teachers Preparation, A wareness and Diagnosing
Symptoms of Dyslexia by Gender
Variable Category Mean SD. Sig
Table 6
One-way ANO VA of mean differences of teachers ' Dyslexia awarness levet and their
Nationality.teaching experiene, and educational degree:
Variable Category Mean SD. f SIG
Nationality Category (Nationality')
Preparation Kuwaitis 11.07 8.13 2.20 .087
Egyptians 9.411 6.52
Mediterraneans 10.44 6.52
North Africans 10.77 6.8.55
ings of Al-Sharaa and Al-Bakir (2000) personal or institutional level. This result
who showed that the female teachers were contrasts with other reports in Kuwait,
better than male teachers in dealing with which indicated that the MOE & other local
underachievers. Indeed, Saban (2003) organizations such as the UNDP Report &
reported that a significant difference exists the Centre for Child Evaluation have con-
between male and female prospective ele- tributed succesfully to the dyslexia
mentary school teachers' preconceptions awareness campaign; saying, for example:
of the teaching profession. In term of " .. List of achievements is outstand-
teachers' nationalities, only Mediterranean ing, notably the success of the vigorous
teachers showed a higher level of aware- awareness campaign,,," (Elbeheri, 2008,
ness compared to other teachers' P-2).
nationalties. These teachers are from Jor- Another finding showed that the years
dan, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon, of experience have significant differences
countries known for their adequate prepa- in the teacher preparation level, awareness,
ration for teachers, especially linguistically. and Dyslexia diagnosis. This result raised
In addition, a country like Jordan, from another question mark about the role of
which many language teachers come, has higher education institutes programs
many institutes recognized for their con- (school of Education in Kuwait Universi-
tribution to the dyslexia campaign. This is ty & the College of Basic Education in the
in contrast to Kuwait, which has only two Public Authority of Applied Education) in
educational institutes for teachers' prepa- providing adequate preparation of current
ration: College of Education at Kuwait Learning problems among Public schools
University and the College of Basic Edu- learners.
cation at the Public Authority for Applied These results open our minds as edu-
Education and Training. At both institutes, cators, teachers, and specialists support
students need to complete four years in groups, and take us forward in asking what
order to gain a bachelor's degree. Both are the practical implications for practi-
institutes prepare teachers for all stages tioners and course designers. Dyslexia is
(kindergarten, elementary, intermediate, known but hardly diagnosed by the front-
and secondary school). Without a com- line educators of those fresh minds and
pulsory general course about students with young learners in primary school. These
learning disabilities, only those in the pecial issues are pressing and urgent, and need
education program (S. Ed) in the College practical actions from all educators in the
of Basic Education are prepared to teach system. Several factors contributed to the
such students, and only in schools for the findings. We can attribute some to poor
disabled. teaching preparation programs. Other fac-
The major findings of the current study tors include the Kuwait educational routine
show that language teachers in Kuwait, and schools' ethos in the Ministry of Edu-
regardless of their nationalities or their cation. As reported by Alsahil (2005), most
years of experience, have had a very low of the teachers feel that they have to con-
level of awareness and training either on a form to a narrow routine in which they are
Knowledge and Awareness... 7 513
not able to develop themselves and their significantly correlate with teachers' con-
styles of teaching. An addifional factor is ception of teaching (Vries and Beijaard,
the teachers' evaluation system, which 1999).
emphasizes administrative issues rather Additionally, teaching a large class is
than teaching activities (Al-Hamdan, very common in Kuwaiti public schools,
1998). Other studies have shown an addi- where one language teacher is teaching a
tional factor to be teachers' attitudes and huge number of students, such that they
their dedication to the teaching career. can hardly find time to tackle reading or
Teachers in Kuwait are overloaded with writing problems among their students.
many duties away from adapfing to new Therefore enhancing and facilitating tech-
methods or attending workshops or con- nology use in these cases is important.
ferences to update their knowledge and Many reading CD programs can provide
abihty to cope and overcome daily school valuable support to reading-aid applica-
problems. dons, that students can be aware of their
According to Al-Kandary et al. (1995), phonemic representations (Phonemic
Kuwaiti teachers are suffering from the awareness is the awareness that spoken
following problems: language consists of a sequence of
1- Weakness in the sense of feelings of phonemes). They can learn reading and
belonging to their vocafion. spelling by stressing symbol-sound rela-
2- Passiveness in pardcipadon in school donships (in alphabedc orthographies, for
development and the teaching process. example: the symbol m is used to represent
3- A low prestige value given by the italicized sounds in the following
Kuwaiti society to teachers, particular- words: ham, jump, my) (Odegard, et al.,
ly at elementary school. 2009).
4- The complexity of preparing teach- Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education
ers resources for one stage (e.g. has tackled the dyslexia problem and taken
elementary stage). steps, but according to the results of this
5- The promotion system whereby study, it hasn't been able to successfully
teachers need to wait a very long time overcome the above impediments. More
to obtain an upgrade. acdons should be taken to face them, such
Other factors contribute to the low level as:
of awareness, knowledge, and preparation - Introducing compulsory courses or
such as teaching experiences, gender, social workshops for newcomers on students
background, and low job satisfacdon when with learning disabilides.
they make judgments about students. - Designing a national awareness project
(Saban, 2003; Zhang and Stembeg, 2002) for in-service teachers to impart knowl-
Other research has shown still more influ- edge about Dyslexia by providing them
ences, namely the region in which the with training in technical skills about
school is located, the characterisdcs of the this problem, and update them with new
students, the subjects, and general devel- methods.
opments in society, all of which - Also, increase awareness in the gener-
514/Education Vol. 132 No. 3
Brady, S., Shankeweiler, D. & Mann, V. (1983) International Dyslexia Association (2007), from:
Speech perception and memory coding in rela- http://www.ldonline.org/article/16282?gclid=
tion to reading ability. Journal of Experimental COWNz7DYtqgCFYbb4AodHHmKBw.
Child Psychology, 35, 345-367.
International Dyslexia Association (2009), from:
Burns Hurst, E. (2011) Passing as Literate: Gen- http://www.interdys.org/ewebeditpro5/upload/
der, dyslexia, and the shaping of identities. report 1102bFINAL 1 reduce(4) .pdf
Paper presented at the International Reading
Kuwait Dyslexia Association (2002) A survey
Association (IRA) 56th Annual Convention,
study of dyslexia in Kuwait, Kuwait city:
Orlando, FL. USA.
Kuwait Dyslexia Association.
Catts, H. (1989) Defining dyslexia as a develop-
Kuwait Dyslexia Association (2007) Kuwait
mental language disorder. Annals of Dyslexia,
Dyslexia Magazine, 5, June, 20-21.
39, 50-64.
Marshall, C , Snowling, M. & Baily, P. (2001)
Catts, H. & kamhi, A. (2005) Defining reading dis-
Rapid auditory processing and phonological
abilities. In H. Catts, A. Khami (Eds)., ability in normal readers and readers of dyslex-
Languge and reading disabilities (pp. 50-71). ia. Journal of speech, language and hearing
Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Research, 44, 4, 925-940.
Center for Child Evaluation and teaching. (2007) Ministry of Education (2005) National Education
Kuwait Center for child services: Aim and Ser- document of the Ministry of Education Kuwait.
vices for learning disabilities. Ministry of p5.
Education, Al-Surra- Kuwait.
Ministry of Education (2010). Annual report about
Davis, N. (2006) Evaluation of phonological sen- education development in the state of Kuwait.
sitivity in research age children. Unpublished
thesis. University of Colorado. U.S.A. Nellenbach, K. (2010). Contributions of oral lan-
guage, problem-solving, and reading attitudes
Davis, R; Braun, E (2010). The Gift of Dyslexia, to young adolescents' silent reading compre-
Revised and Expanded: Why Some of the hension. The University of North Carolina at
Smartest People Can't Read...and How They Chapel Hill. Doctoral dissertation AAT
Can Learn. Published by The Berkey Publish- 3428389.
ing Group, New York.
Odegard, T. N.;. Farris, E. A.; Ring, J.; McColl,
Elbeheri, G. (2005) Dyslexia in Arabia: The R. and Black, J. (2009) Brain connectivity in
Kuwait story. Dyslexia Review, Volume 17 non-reading impaired children and children
Number 1. Dyslexia Institute: Staines, UK. diagnosed with developmental dyslexia. Neu-
Elbeheri, G. (2008) Disabilities & Inclusion ropsychologia,Yol 47, 8-9, P 1972-1977.
in Kuwait: A success story. United Orton, Samuel T. ( 2002) The International
Nations Development Program. From: Dyslexia Association USA. Annals of Dyslex-
http:llwww.undp-kuwait.orglmdglUNDP%20 ia (Volume 52).
achievements%20.iummary%209-2008.pdf
Pedhazur, E.J. & Schmelkin, L.P. (1991). Mea-
Elbeheri, G. & Everatt, J. (2009) Cross-linguistics surement, design, and analysis: an integrated
research and our understanding of Dyslexia: approach, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
the case of Arabic. Perspectives on language
and literacy. Vol35, N.5. 41-42. Regan, T., & Woods, K.( 2000) Teachers'
understanding of Dyslexia: Implications for
Faught, L. A.( 2005) An analysis of Dyslexia inter- educational psychology practice. Educational
vention program on the instruction of Psychology in Practice, 16, 333-347.
identified dyslexia students. Unpublished dis-
sertation. Texas A & M. University. Kingsville, Saban, A. (2003) A Turkish Profile of Prospective
U.S.A. Elementary School Teachers and Their View
of Teaching, Teaching and Teacher Education
19(8):829-46.
516 / Education Vol. 132 No. 3
Saher, A.,& Albazzaz, A. (2006) An introduction Todd Rose, L. (2007) Focus on development, not
to Morphology. Kuwait Society for Special disorder: Interdisciplinary trends in the study
Studies and Research, Kuwait. of Dyslexia. Unpublished thesis. Harvard Uni-
versity. U.S.A
Scott, K.W. (2005) Relationships between opera-
tionalizations of dyslexia and attitudes and Torgessen, J. (1999) Assessment and instruction
perceptions of earning a foreign language. for phonemic awareness and word recognition
Unpublished dissertation. The University of skills. In H. Catts& A. kamhi (Eds.), Language
Tennessee. Knoxville. U.S.A. and reading disabilities. 128-153. Needham
Heights, MA: AUyn & Bacon.
She, H. (2000) The Interplay of A Biology
Teacher's Beliefs, Teaching Practice and Towlerk, K. (2006) An investigation of Automatic-
Gender- Based Student-Teacher Classroom ity in learning Disabled (LD) and non- clinical
Interaction, Educational Research 42(1): adults. Unpublished dissertation. The Univer-
100-11. sity of Tennessee. Knoxville. U.S.A.
SiUiman, E., & Wilkinson, L.C. (1994) discourse U.S.A. Department of Education (2004) Individu-
scaffolds for classroom intervention. In G. als with Disabilities Education act (IDEA).
Wallach & K. Butler (Eds.), language learning Retrieved July 12, 2005 from http://
disabilities in school age children: some prin- www.csus.edu/ier/ reading.html.
ciples and application. 27-52. Vellutino, F. (1979) Dyslexia: Theory and
Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P. research. Cambridge,
(Eds.).(1998). Preventing reading difficulties Vries, Y. and Beijaard, D. (1999) Teachers' Con-
in young children. Washington DC: National ceptions of Education: A Practical Knowledge
Academy Press. on "Good" Teaching', Interchange 30(4):
371-97.
Snowling, M. J. (2000) Dyslexia, (2nd ed.) Oxford,
UK.: Blackwell Publishers. Wallach, G. & Ehren, B. (2004) Collaborative
models of instruction and intervention. In E.
Snowling, M.J. (2002) language and literacy skills:
Silliman& L. Wilkinson( Eds.) language and
Who is at risk and why? In D.V.M. Bishop & Literacy learning in schools. 39-59. New York,
L.B. Leonard (Eds.), speech and language NY: The Guide ford press.
impairments in children: Causes, characteris-
tics, intervention, and outcome. 245-259. Westby, C. ( 2005) Assessment and remediation
Hove, East Sussex UK: Psychology press. of text comprehension problems. In H. Catts
& A. Khami (Eds.), language and reading dis-
Spirou, D. M. (2008) Importance of teachers' abilities. 157- 2320. Boston, MA: Allyn &
knowledge of phonemic awareness and years Bacon.
of experience in identifying dyslexia. Unpub-
lished PhD. Thesis. Waiden University, Witruck, E. Ho, G.S.,& Schuster, U. (2002) Work-
Minnesota. U.S.A. ing memory in dyslexic children: How general
is the deficit? Neuropsychological and cogni-
Strong, S., Ward, T., Tucker, P., & Hindman, J. tion, 30, 281-297.
(2008). What is the relationship between
teacher quality and student achievement? An Zhang, L. and Sternberg, R (2002). Thinking
exploratory study. Journal for Personnel Eval- Styles and Teachers' Characteristics. Interna-
uation, 20(3-4), 165-184. tional Journal of Psychology 57(1): 3-12.