Taking L3 learning by the horns: benefits of computer-mediated intervention for dyslexic school children

Abstract

This study investigates the interrelation of motivation, autonomy, metacognition, and L3 gains made as a function of three months of intervention with computer software specifically designed for the private use of dyslexic Swiss German learners of Standard German as a second language (L2) and English as a third language (L3). Based on questionnaire data and phonological/orthographic and semantic L3 measures gathered from 40 subjects (ten dyslexic participants receiving special training, ten normal readers matched on training situation, ten controls matched on reading ability, ten controls with median reading abilities), it was found that self-directed, multi-sensory training in the L3 is a potentially important tool in intervention for dyslexic students, as it not only allows the students to improve in learning foreign languages but also to move from feelings of apprehension and doubt to linguistic self-confidence. Thus, the results allow us to gain further insight into the L3 learning experiences of dyslexic elementary school students in a learner-directed learning environment, contributing to the existing body of research on the educational importance of learners developing autonomy and metacognition.

Keywords:

• dyslexia
• L3 acquisition
• motivational strategies
• autonomy
• multisensory instruction
• CALL

Acknowledgments

I am deeply indebted to Urs Maurer, Aleksandra K. Eberhard-Moscicka, and Lea B. Jost at the Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience (University of Zurich), who have collaborated with me over the past years. Many thanks also to all the children and parents who invested their time and effort in participating in this study.

Notes on contributor

Simone E. Pfenninger is a Senior Research and Teaching Associate at the English Department of the University of Zurich. She holds a Ph.D. in historical linguistics and her principal research areas are multilingualism, psycholinguistics, and contrastive linguistics of early Germanic languages from a cognitive perspective. In recent years, she has participated in several national and international research projects on the performance and motivation of Swiss learners of multiple FLs. She has been involved in EFL in Switzerland for eight years at different levels: secondary school, adult education, higher education, assessment of processes and outcomes in language education, and language policy.

Notes

1. Three subtests of Hamburg-Wechsler-Intelligenztest für Kinder (HAWIK IV, see Petermann and Petermann 2010) were used to evaluate children's non-verbal reasoning ability (vocabulary, block design, and digit span forwards and backward). All the participants had IQ scores within or near the average range.

2. According to their parents, all the subjects were enthusiastic computer users.

3. Note, however, that in Switzerland, all school subjects are taught in Standard German.