Get in Touch for Dyslexia Support & Assessment Services
At Insight Dyslexia Services, I provide specialist dyslexia diagnostic assessments, one-to-one literacy support, and professional guidance for schools across the UK. Whether you’re a parent seeking answers or a school looking to build a more inclusive learning environment, I’m here to help. With years of teaching experience and specialist training, you’ll receive support that’s personalised, practical, and evidence-based. Appointments available.
Contact Info
Sandra Siggins Buckinghamshire UK Phone: 07513 287608 Email: contact@insightdyslexiaservices.co.uk
Schedule your consultation with Insight Dyslexia Services by calling 07513 287608.
Spelling, grammar and punctuation (otherwise known as SPaG) is assessed in several GCSE subjects, from English to History, to Business and Physical Education. For this reason alone, it is worth considering how we can better equip students to develop a range of spelling strategies.
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Much of the instruction on spelling in primary schools focuses on phonics (matching the sounds of letters to the correct letter or groups of letters). In the classroom, students will be asked to ‘sound it out’, or ‘divide the word into syllables.’ This approach fails to consider the rich complexity of the English language and it is often not helpful to children.
It also ignores recent research which highlights the importance of developing many approaches: morphological, semantic, etymological and syntactical knowledge. Masterson and Apel’s Repertoire Theory argues that to decode the spelling of unfamiliar words learners rely on a range of strategies (2010, cited in Gillon, 2018).
Consider the example below from GCSE Physical Education:
Teaching a phonetic approach
Where the phonetic approach breaks down:
The hard initial hard ‘c’ sound can also be true of the letter ‘k’.
The ‘dio’ letter combination is tricky as learners may expect a diphthong like ‘oe’ or ‘ow’.
It is also tricky because ‘io’ is not a common vowel combination in English.
The hard ‘c’ sound in the fifth syllable can be true of the letter ‘k’.
The final syllable contains a weak vowel sound ‘ar’ which students often mistake as ‘er’.
The fact that it is a 6 syllable word taxes working memory as the student must labour to determine the correct spelling of each syllable.
Some 80% of the words used in Science and Maths subjects have Latin or Greek roots which means that English phonics is a much less effective spelling strategy for these academic terms.
Teaching underpinned by the Masterson and Apel’s Repertoire Theory (2010)
Building learners’ semantic, morphological, syntactical and etymological knowledge will also help them spell words which use the same roots or affixes. Using the example of cardiovascular, students learning the prefix ‘cardio’ can use this to spell words related words like cardiologist and cardiology. Adoniou (2014) argues that English morphemes are quite consistent and can be used to improve both spelling and vocabulary acquisition. Visual and phonetic strategies alone, Adoniou (2014) contends, are not sufficient in helping learners acquire good spelling skills.
Advice from another spelling expert is also worth considering. Lyn Stone (2021) advocates using a spelling formula and a vowel generator to help students develop more accurate spelling.
Sources:
Adoniou, M. (2014) ‘What should teachers know about spelling?’, Literacy, 48(3), pp. 144-154. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/lit.12017
Gillon, G. (2018) Phonological Awarenessfrom research to practice. 2nd edn.New York: The Guilford Press.
Stone, L. (2021) Spelling for Life. 2nd edn. London: Routledge.
EAL and Dyslexia
As an AMBDA accredited assessor, I am a member of both the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) and the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC). My assessments are informed by the guidelines published by SASC.
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Students who speak English as an Additional Language need to have spent 7 years in an English language environment before they can be assessed for dyslexia. The SASC guidance (2019) offers practical advice about how to administer the assessment and be sensitive to cultural and linguistic impediments while maintaining the integrity of the tests. It also provides an extensive list of background questions written to elicit information about early language experiences in L1 and L2.
If a child is struggling academically, it may not simply be because they speak an additional language. Fernando and Horobin (2018) speculate that a reluctance to test EAL students may be due to a concern that students acquiring English may exhibit some traits of dyslexic learners such as letter confusion and phonology. A diagnostic assessment examines a broad range of underlying abilities and skills and will result in a profile of learning strengths and weaknesses—information which can be used to support an EAL student who may have additional needs.
If you are a teacher or a SENCO, The Bell Foundation (2024) has published a practical guide on integrated provision for EAL and SEND.
References:
The Bell Foundation. ‘EAL and SEND A framework for integrated provision in schools’ February 2024
Fernando, J. and Horobin, L. (2018) ‘Dyslexia and Languages’, in Eastap, L. and Gregory, J. (eds.) Dyslexia-Friendly Schools: Good Practice Guide. 2nd ed. Great Britain: British Dyslexia Association.
The SpLD Assessment Standards Committee S. A. S. C. (2019) Guidance on the assessment of individuals for whom English is an additional language (EAL)and/or where there is a complex linguistic history: SASC. Available at: https://www.sasc.org.uk/sasc-downloads/ (Accessed: 18.07 2024).
How do assessments work?
At heart, a diagnostic assessment is a series of tests conducted by me one-to-one with your child. The process begins with a conversation with parents: I listen to concerns and advise whether or not an assessment is the best course of action.
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. If it is, then we begin gathering details about family history, relevant medical and developmental history and educational background. There are questionnaires to complete and an eye examination and a hearing test will need to be completed before the assessment. This can take some time, so it is best to schedule an assessment date 3 weeks from your initial inquiry. It is important that all the questionnaires are completed in a timely manner, or the assessment may need to be rescheduled. After the tests are completed, I will write a diagnostic assessment report following professional guidelines which will include background information, standardised scores, the interpretation of these scores and my recommendations. I will normally complete this within 3 weeks of completing the tests. Then I will contact you to schedule a 20–30-minute call to explain the results.
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