EFL teachers’ awareness of dyslexia

Abstract

Dyslexia is one of the most common learning disabilities among students, and teachers are often the very first to notice dyslexic students. It is therefore imperative that teachers be well-prepared to intervene appropriately and effectively once they encounter dyslexic students. The current study investigates teachers’ knowledge about the disorder in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Employing a questionnaire designed by Soriano et al. (2016), the study evaluates the awareness of dyslexia among 84 Iranian English teachers working in language institutes. The findings revealed that the majority of the teachers lacked adequate knowledge of the disorder but that they wished to learn more about this learning disability. Furthermore, the teachers’ awareness of the disorder was found to be independent of their demographic characteristics such as gender, previously completed programs, years of teaching experience, and experience with dyslexic students. The findings of this research can be informative for teacher educators, curriculum designers, and materials developers as there seems to be a need for revisions in teacher training curricula, instructional policies, and materials.