Teaching English to Students with Dyslexia

Boelo van der Pool

Summary

Between 10% and 15% of the population has dyslexia, and many of us don’t even know it. Dyslexia is a different way of processing the information in our brains. It’s, thus, also a different way of learning. Therefore, teachers need to be aware of what dyslexia is, how to recognize it, and, most of all, how to adapt their classes. The good news is that this is all possible. The even better news is that whatever we do for our dyslexic students also works for students with ADHD, and the neurotypical ones. In this talk, we are going to look at what dyslexia is, why it exists, how to recognize it in your students, and how to adapt dyslexia-friendly teaching strategies and material. And you will have a brief experience of what it feels like to be dyslexic.

Biodata

Boelo has over 30 years of experience in the international language teaching industry. Being born and raised in the Netherlands, since 1994 he has worked and lived in the UK, Germany, and Spain. He has occupied many roles in language schools, from marketing manager to school owner and course developer, and for the past 8 years, language coach, international researcher, dyslexia expert and teacher trainer. Being a dyslexic himself and a fluent speaker of 3 languages, he has developed a dyslexia-friendly language teaching and coaching strategy that has already significantly improved the learning outcomes of over 150 dyslexic language learners in Spain and Latin America. Boelo is a member of the European Dyslexia Group and a board member of the International Language Coaching Association.

Presentation Details

Type of presentation: Plenary
The presentation is for: General audience
The presentation focuses on: Various
The session is: A balanced mixture of theory and practice
Category: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, including Catering for Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Presentation is commercial: No
Speaking on behalf of a publisher, examination board, or commercial organisation? No

Scheduled for

Date: Saturday, 2024-09-21, 13:20 - 14:00
Place: AUD 2 012/013 NE