Dyslexia

Ex. 1. Learn the new words:

1. to achieve – добиваться, достигать;

2. to affect – трогать, затрагивать, оказывать влияние;

3. to appear – показываться; появляться;производить впечатление; казаться;

4. to confuse – смешивать, спутывать (with); конфузить, смущать;

5. to delay – задерживать, замедлять; препятствовать;

6. failure – неудача, неуспех, провал;

7. hemisphere – полушарие;

8. infancy – раннее детство, младенчество;

9. latent – скрытый, латентный;

10. to pronounce – сообщать; произносить;

11. to screen – подвергать испытаниям, производить проверку

Ex.2. Read the following text.

Disorder of reading is called the dyslexia. Damage to the left hemisphere will generally result in dyslexia.

Psychologists distinguish:

- phonological dyslexia, which affects letter-sound conversion. The individual cannot convert written words to their sounds directly or pronounce written words he/she hasn’t seen before. So vowel and consonant sounds may be confused.

- surface dyslexia, which affects whole word recognition. The individual can only recognize a word by sounding than reading it by sight.

- deep dyslexia affects reading for meaning. The individual is unable to pronounce aloud non-words, has difficulty with function words (sometimes substituting one for another), and often responds to real words with words of similar meaning.

Many dyslexics are left-handed or are able to write with either hand. They often confuse left and right. Learning to speak may also be delayed beyond infancy. The condition seems to be inherited. It may persist into adulthood. However, with early recognition and specialized methods to teaching reading, most dyslexics can learn to read.

Some psychologists believe that latent dyslexia may be aggravated by the way reading is taught. The modern whole-word, or look-and-say, method seems to be more of a hindrance to learning for dyslexics than it is for ordinary pupils. The phonetic method of teaching students to learn letters and sound them out appears to achieve better reading results. The problem of words that cannot be sounded out—such as rough, laugh, or through—is not solved by phonetics. These words must simply be memorized.

For children with dyslexia the problem can be produced by the failure of parents or teachers to recognize the condition. This can easily lead to emotional problems for dyslexic children, who cannot understand their failure to keep up with their classmates.

Psychologists use a variety of tests to screen children and adults for dyslexia and other learning disabilities. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the International Dyslexia Association, and many other groups can provide information on dyslexia and current testing procedures.

1. hindrance– барьер, помеха, преграда, препятствие (to);

2. toaggravate– отягчать, усугублять; ухудшать;

3. topersist– удерживаться, сохраняться, продолжать существовать.

Ex.3. Practice to pronounce the following words.

Dyslexia, dyslexic, disorder, average, damage, perceptual, vowel, consonant, ability, disability, procedure, adult, adulthood, current, to memorize, to recognize, to specialize, to distinguish.

Ex. 4. Read and translate the following words and word-combinations.

Latent dyslexia, the whole-word method of reading, ordinary pupils, left-handed, to perceive correctly, average intelligence, to keep up with classmates, a variety of tests, learning disabilities, a perceptual disorder, to be inherited, specialized methods, the phonetic method, testing procedures.

Ex.5. Match the words with opposite meanings:

3. latent, normal, late, able, easy, ability, failure, separate, correct, real, quickly, sensitive, ordinary, worse, inherited;

4. open, disability, combined, success, wrong, abnormal, early, slowly, difficult, acquired, unusual, unable, better, unreal, insensitive.

Ex. 6. Answer the questions on the text:

1. What is dyslexia?

2. What kind of dyslexias do psychologists distinguish?

3. What is deep dyslexia? surface dyslexia?

4. Are there any methods to teach dyslexics to read?

5. What is the phonetic method?

6. What can aggravate the problems of dyslexics to read and learn?

Ex. 7. Continue the following sentences:

1. Dyslexia is the result ...

2. Phonological dyslexia affects …

3. Surface dyslexia affects …

4. Deep dyslexia affects…

5. The dyslexics confuse …

6. Psychologists use a variety …

Ex.8. Choose the right variant:

1. Hurry! You (can, may, be able to) miss the bus.

2. (Can, May) you help me translate this article. It’s rather difficult.

3. The problem of reading (can, be able to) be recognized by special tests.

4. He (can, could, may) read in English but had problems in writing.

5. You (may, might, be able to) use my dictionary any time you need it.

6. He (can, could, may) speak Italian fluently when he was a child.

7. The children with phonological dyslexia (can, may, be able to) read all the words but no non-words.

8. Dyslexia (can, may, be able to) be developmental or acquired.

9. If the children with surface dyslexia (can, may, be able to) (not) read the word, they (can, could, may) understand it if you say the word to them.