Dyslexia in Italian. A phonological approach and original teaching materials.

Abstract

Dyslexia is a disorder of spelling and writing that can arise from a specific phonological learning disorder or a more pervasive language disorder and can have a significant negative effect upon both early and later language learning. A proper diagnosis of dyslexia should not be confined exclusively to a person's native language as it manifests as well in other acquired languages, although differences may be seen due to specific language characteristics. It is assumed both challenged and non-challenged learners will encounter some difficulties with acquiring the phonemic system of dense orthographies, e.g. English. This does not preclude that similar problems may be encountered also by non-typical language learners of transparent orthographies, e.g. Italian. The present work adopts a phonological awareness approach for dyslexia in Italian. After a comparison of English and Italian phonemic and orthographic systems, original teaching phonologically-based materials for dyslexics in Italian are presented and discussed, with regard to similar English language materials. The ultimate scope is to propose markers of dyslexia in Italian, as well as to confirm the crucial advantages of a cross-linguistic approach in our multi-society, in order to minimize the risk that no student should be left behind academically in the presence of language and learning challenges.