2.1 Katty's Background

"Katty" is a 25 year-old girl that lives in Escazú, a few kilometers west of the city of San José, Costa Rica. She is an adopted child and lives with a well-off family who loves and supports her. When she was born, an intracerebral hemorrhage was detected by doctors. This condition was accompanied by different problems that have resulted in many surgical operations through the years. For example, when she was five months old, she underwent a heart operation. At the age of eleven, she was operated in her trachea, and more recently, she received a titanium implant in her spine. In addition to this, she suffers from frequent amnesia, periodical seizures that must be treated with pills, and dyslexia (difficulty in reading and writing). She also presents a speech problem that needed to be treated first with surgery and later with speech therapy. She still has a moderate impairment that requires keen attention and "breaking in" from her listeners in order to clearly understand her.

In general terms, Katty appears to be younger than her age. She is quiet, shy, sweet, and shows a sincere attitude towards people. She is also very attentive to her surroundings and in many ways she is the "typical teenager": she is interested in pop music, fashion, having fun outdoors with her friends and cousins. Besides, she has been studying and playing the keyboards for several years now, and has recorded a CD with 20 traditional Latin American and pop classics played by herself. She also performs periodically at the Catholic Church in San Cayetano, San José, private universities, and shopping malls.

In spite of her medical background, Katty enjoys life like any other young woman. She quit formal education when she was in 8^th grade of secondary school, due to learning problems and the increasing need for curricular accommodations. More recently, she has taken photography as a semi-professional activity, and she has been studying English for nearly two years at Fundatec, an Adult Program offered by a public university.

2.2 Katty's Dyslexia

As it was stated above, Katty suffers from a moderate speech problem, dyslexia, and amnesia. According to an interview with her mother, the doctors' common opinion is that her dyslexia and other learning characteristics stem from her condition of being born with an intracerebral hemorrhage. In fact, doctors thought Katty would not live for more than a couple of years at the most, taking into consideration that she had been born also with a delicate heart malformation that required a risky operation in her first months of life. Later operations and rehabilitation have also affected her primary and secondary education, forcing her to quit formal education altogether.

First of all, Katty has problems dealing with written information. In this respect, she presents some of the basic features of students with dyslexia: inability to concentrate on written texts, inability to differentiate important from non-important information, poor spelling, frequent repetitions, fragmentation of sentences or omissions, organization problems, and difficulty when writing or copying from the board or a book (^{Baumel, 2003}).

Regarding memory, she has good retention for long-term events (last year, her school years, childhood in general), but very short working memory for contents studied the previous week or even some minutes before in class. This is most severe with auditory memory, such as new words, or the sounds that compose them. On the other hand, she works better with visual aids or stimuli, like cards and concrete objects.

Emotionally, Katty evidences at moments insecurity, frustration, and anxiety when trying to understand instructions and keeping up with her peers. This is particularly notorious during assessment activities. In contrast, she exhibits compensating skills like musical abilities, sensitivity towards others, and the capacity to arise empathy on her classmates.

2.3 Katty's Self-evaluation

According to the information gathered in two in-depth interviews, Katty does not think she has any real problems for learning English. She believes that the disadvantages she may have suffered during primary and secondary school do not exist any longer. For her, English classes have been a fulfilling experience since she has received plenty of support from her family, teachers, classmates, and school staff.

In addition, she prefers oral activities and oral exams to written tests. When dealing in particular with grammar, books become confusing and boring for her, due to the fact that font size may be considered too small and the "texts too dense" (^{Rondot-Hay, 2006}, p. 4). She has been studying English at this specific Adult Program for nearly two years now, and she is currently in the last level of the Intermediate Courses (8^th level). Although she failed and had to repeat a couple of courses, she is very motivated to finish the basic and intermediate levels. Next year she will move on to the advanced courses, which she thinks will be easier because they include neither books nor written exams.

In general terms, she has found English studies to be enjoyable because they have allowed her to overcome her shyness, make new friends, meet new challenges, learn a lot of new things, and become more independent, according to what she expressed in an interview.

2.4 Family

Katty's family, her mother in particular, has been very supportive during her whole life and during her English classes. Katty studies and reviews class notes mainly with her relatives: mother, brothers, sisters, and cousins. With them, she has found motivation to carry on. After interviewing Katty and her mother E, it was evident that there is a very strong tie between the two, which transcends mere mother-child relationships: English classes have in fact given them the chance of becoming friends and partners. Their attitude is one of shared accomplishments. In fact, they have developed a routine of studying, reviewing, practicing, and doing homework together at least three times a week.

In an interview, E comments that from the first day of classes, Katty is able to "predict" if she will pass or fail the course depending on the professor's way of speaking. That is, those who talk very fast are really hard to understand for Katty, so she or her mother has to ask the professor to slow down and talk more clearly. Most teachers, they explained, comply with this request, although they have had the experience of having to deal with others who stuck to their normal rate of speech. This, according to Katty and her mother, resulted in frustrating experiences and failed courses. Nevertheless, E added also that in general, Katty has always had very good personal relationships with her teachers. As ^{Krzyzak (2005}) suggests, "many of the achievements as well as failures that happen in a dyslexic student's school life depend on the teacher's attitude to a great extent" (p. 2).

2.5 School Context and Support

Fundatec (Fundación Tecnológica) belongs to the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (ITCR). It offers language courses throughout the country, but lacks physical facilities of its own, unlike most language academies. Instead, Fundatec rents public schools' classrooms, using these facilities during weekdays (evening classes) or Saturdays (mornings and afternoons.) In the case of Escazú, Fundatec leases a lower-middle class public school. Therefore, its facilities are not the best: they evidence the neglect and scarcity of resources Costa Rican public institutions have suffered in the last 30 years. This is seen as worn-out school desks, old blackboards and whiteboards, insufficient illumination, deteriorated restrooms, and lack of technological equipment like projectors or computers.

In the particular case of Katty, Fundatec does not offer any kind of specific support in terms of funding, special equipment, or training for her teachers. So far, Katty's professors have dealt with groups of up to 20-25 students, and although they have implemented some curricular or methological accommodations for her, special attention has always been dependent on the teachers' own initiative.

At the time this study was made, Fundatec's site in Escazú did notkeep records on students with special needs. Professors are either informed orally in advance by their coworkers (Katty's previous teachers) or by the coordinator herself. In Katty's school, L, who has been the main janitor of the school for 20 years now, has known Katty and her family since she was a young child. This kind woman has been who, in many cases, talks to Katty's teachers and introduces them to her special educational needs.

3.1 Dyslexia

According to the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), studies indicate that 15% to

20% of people suffer from reading disabilities, out of which "85% [have] dyslexia... [it] occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels." (2000, p. 2) In fact, ^{Baumel indicates that dyslexia is a "persistent, life-long condition" (2003}, párr. 7) that can be lessened in the classroom but cannot be permanently changed. Actually, "strong evidence shows that children with dyslexia continue to experience reading problems into adolescence and adulthood." (Shaywitz et al., in ^{Hudson, High and Al Otaiba, 2007}, p. 509). For some authors, like Hudson, High and Al Otaiba (2007), dyslexia is "a specific learning disability in reading that often affects spelling as well" (p. 506). A more complete definition, nevertheless, was stated by the British Dyslexia Association:

[A] Specific learning difficulty that mainly affects the development of literacy and language related skills. It is likely to be present at birth. [...] It is characterized by difficulties with phonological processing, rapid naming, working memory, processing speed, and the automatic development of skills that may not match up to an individual's other cognitive abilities. It tends to be resistant to conventional teaching methods, but its effect can be mitigated by appropriately specific intervention, including the application of information technology and supportive counseling. (quoted by ^{Nijakowska et al., 2013}, p. 9)

Regarding teaching implications, ^{Miller and Bussman Gillis (2003}) define dyslexia as "a deficit in language processing and knowledge of language structure is the key to successful remediation" (p. 218). According to them, working with dyslexia requires extensive understanding on the teachers' part on how "to present the structure of the language [phonemes, morphemes, syntax] while helping their students develop their ideas" (Miller and Bussman Gillis, 2003, p. 220). In the context of L2 teaching, where communication is a must in the classroom and in real life, being able to facilitate the student's efficient learning should be the focus of the teacher's efforts.

3.2 Causes of Dyslexia

Although several theories exist as to the origin of dyslexia, none of them has been accepted yet as the true or single cause. Thus, dyslexia could be due to brain development; predominant use of the right hemisphere; or evolution since speech was developed quite recently in our biological history as a species (^{Stevens, 2010}). In a classic approach, Snow, Burns and Griffin, consider it is "neurobiological in origin [and] not caused by poverty, developmental delay, speech or hearing impairments, or learning a second language, although those conditions may put a child more at risk for developing a reading disability" (quoted by ^{Hudson, High and Al Otaiba, 2007}, p. 508). On the other hand, ^{Bradford (2003}) thinks that dyslexia can be caused by inherited factors like left-handedness, or hearing problems during early childhood (p. 4).

3.3 Contributions of Neuroscience

More recent studies, nevertheless, point at other causes. According to ^{Nauert (2012}), Díaz et al., at the Max Planck Institute for the Human Cognitive and Brain Sciencies, have discovered neural mechanisms related to the identification of speech sounds in spoken language,

...researchers showed that dyslexic adults have a malfunction in a structure that transfers auditory information from the ear to the cortex. The short circuit in the medial geniculate body in the auditory thalamus causes an error in the process of speech sound. (quoted by ^{Nauert, 2012}, p. 2)

In fact, according to Díaz, abnormal responses were recorded during magnetic resonance tomographies (MRT) when engaging in tasks that required the recognition of sounds and phonemes: "The problem, therefore, has nothing to do with sensory processing itself, but with the processing involved in speech recognition" (quoted by ^{Nauert, 2012}, p. 3).

For further reference, the following two sections summarize the current two main views regarding the breakthroughs of neuroscience in its assistance to teaching in the area of reading disabilities. These are the Phonological Deficit Hypothesis and the Temporal-Process Deficit Model. Thus, the information described below has been extracted from an extensive literature review authored by ^{López-Escribano (2007}), including the main researchers associated to each view.

3.4 Typical Problems of Students with Dyslexia when Learning English as a Foreign Language

For this research, learning problems in a foreign language will be limited to grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation in the particular case of Katty, this point will be stated in the focus of this project and the intervention plan.

^{Rondot-Hay (2006}) indicates that "dyslexia does not mean that a student cannot learn English; but it takes longer. If the method is emphatically oral, with explanations given in the native tongue and written down, the student will become proficient" (p. 2). This draws on the student's native language as a vital instrument for comprehension, reinforcement, and mnemonic techniques to facilitate memorization and learning of vocabulary and grammar structures. She adds, "encouragement plays a vital role" (Rondot-Hay, 2006, p. 2). As shown by ^{Díaz-Ducca (2014}), affective variables, in particular motivation and oral encouragement, become key elements for helping less proficient students and students who are shy, or "slow" learners. Teachers need to pay constant attention to students with learning conditions such as dyslexia, and to take advantage of all emotional variables within and outside the classroom to keep them motivated and interested in learning.

3.5 Suggested Strategies for English Teachers as a Foreign Language

Although recent literature, mainly articles published by institutes and teachers who have worked with students with dyslexia are pretty numerous, there are two materials that offer extensive insight and suggested awareness-raising and classroom activities: the booklet

"Teacher Strategies for Dyslexics" by the International Dyslexia Association (^{IDA, 2002}), and Nijakowska's "DysTEFL - Dyslexia for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language: Self-study Course" by Nijakowska et al. (2013). In this manner, recommended strategies can be narrowed down to a selection, taking into consideration that for this implementation plan the skills to be addressed are grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Thus, the list of strategies to be used by teachers can be seen in Chart 3.

4.1 Intervention Plan

The intervention plan developed and implemented was based on the principles of inclusive education, as stated by ^{Arnáiz (2009}):

Inclusive schools emphasize ...a sense of community, so that in both classrooms and school, everybody can have a sensation of belonging, of being accepted, and supported by their peers and other members of the school community, while meeting their educational needs at the same time (p. 58)

Since Katty was not the researcher's student, close coordination with her teacher became necessary, by providing suggestions to his class planning and evaluation. He had already been her instructor in a previous course, so he knew her strengths and weaknesses and also had a clear idea of what strategies and activities could be more effective in class. In this sense, the researcher's direct intervention was minor inside the classroom during classtime although the strategies and activities were collaborative efforts with her teacher since the intervention plan intended to apply a selection of the strategies suggested in the literature review based on her teacher's and the researcher's suggestions. Some of these activities took place in the classroom (Classroom Strategies or CS, such as pairwork interaction, using simple sentences, sitting close to the teacher) and others outside (individual work during tutorials - Tutorial Strategies or TS). Others were implemented during class and tutorials (Shared Strategies or SS). As a matter of fact, tutorials were conducted by the researcher, so this provided direct interaction with Katty during the implementation stage of the intervention plan. For further information, see Chart 4.

These strategies were applied in a progressive way: during the first 4 weeks of class (weeks 2-5 in the course calendar) shared strategies were to be alternated, for a total of three shared strategies each week (plus two classroom strategies and two tutorial strategies in each corresponding session). However, starting on week 6, one shared strategy was to be added, reaching the total of six shared strategies on week 8 (just before Katty's partial exams), and thus throughout the rest of the course. See Table 1 for a complete breakdown.

4.2 Focus of the problem

Given the context of Katty and her special needs, the main goal of this intervention plan was helping Katty get a passing grade in her English course (7 out of 10), while focusing on working on three skills: grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Thus, these research questions were formulated:

Which strategies suggested for collaborating with dyslexic students can be applied in the classroom to facilitate the introduction and use of target grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation items?

Which strategies can be used in tutorials, to review and further practice grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation?

Which strategies can be applied in both classes and tutorials, so Katty's learning of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation items becomes more successful and meaningful?

Will there be any affective benefits to be observed by the end of the course?

4.3 Objectives

As mentioned above, the main general objective was to help Katty perform successfully in her 14-week English course, with an emphasis on grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Specific objectives were assisting her to understand new grammar structures through oral exercises in class, and using target structures in oral activities such as conversations in class, reviewing grammar structures, building vocabulary lists, and practicing phonemes such as /s/, /∫/, and /t∫/ during tutorials.

4.4 Strategies Selected

Out of the strategies suggested for working with dyslexia mentioned in the Literature Review, ten were selected. They were divided as follows, two strategies were chosen based on what the researcher and teacher considered practical to be implemented in the classroom (by the teacher), and two others in the tutorials (by the researcher). The intention was maintaining a communicative focus for grammar and vocabulary, and pronunciation to a lesser degree in class, while keeping an academic focus on grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation during tutorials. However, since in many instances these approaches might overlap, six extra strategies were selected that could be applied across both classes and tutorials.

Thus, the following strategies were considered for implementation and were divided into strategies to be used in the classroom (CS), in the tutorial (TS), or "shared strategies", that is for both the classes and tutorials (SS):

4.5. Data collection

The implementation plan included three main qualitative instruments for data collection.

This allowed triangulation of data, and different perspectives: personal (Katty's), family's (her mother in particular), the teacher's, and the researcher's. The instruments used were two indepth interviews to both Katty and her mother each; an interview and survey to her teacher, an observation diary to be filled after classes and tutorials by the researcher, and artifacts such as Katty's written exams and oral exam forms. As stated, the focus of these instruments was qualitative with the exception of assessment activities, where scores were used as a reference to evaluate Katty's progress and mastering of target curricular items. Data was collected during 12 out of the 14 weeks of the course.

5.1 Accommodations and Modifications

At all times, Katty's teacher and the researcher (acting as an observer during class time) tried to involve her naturally with her classmates, dedicating more time and effort to her, but not allowing her to feel privileged or "special." Therefore, the main goal was to make her feel included, fostering a "neutral" environment in the classroom that allowed learning and peer interaction as naturally and spontaneously as possible (see ^{Arnáiz, 2009}, p. 58).

The main modifications applied were lower demands on her performance on new grammar structures (both written and oral), as well as on new vocabulary. Specifically, two out of every three grammar structures were assessed. Besides, written exams had to be shorter and the questions simplified and Katty had a longer time to finish them. For example, if other students were asked to answer 10 grammar questions (completion exercises), Katty was only expected to answer 6. In addition, if other students had an hour to answer a written exam, Katty was given 80 to 90 minutes instead. Finally, instructions were also explained orally for written tests twice, and confirmation questions like "Do you understand?" "What do you have to do here?" were used as well to make sure the task was clear to Katty (^{Bailey, 2015}; IDA, 2002).

5.2 Classroom Activities

As indicated, classes had a communicative emphasis so tasks were designed to be dynamic with plenty of peer interaction such as information gap activities, using pictures for spotting differences, cloze model dialogue exercises, role-plays where target grammar or vocabulary were necessary, and board games (IDA, 2002; ^{Rondot-Hay, 2006}; ^{Smith, 2012}). Assessment activities included dialogues or role-plays where students had to put target contents into practice as peer interaction with grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation (IDA, 2002), and written quizzes that included short answer and production items for grammar structures and vocabulary with enough time for completing the task was allotted (IDA, 2002; ^{Junta de Andalucía, 2010}).

During class time, Katty would sit close to the teacher (first row), in a well-illuminated spot as suggested by ^{Rondot-Hay (2006}), Junta de Andalucía (2010), and Baile (2015). This enhanced both Katty's and the teacher's attention towards each other and allowed the teacher to have a clearer notion of her progress during the lesson. The teacher also monitored Katty's task performance and comprehension problems constantly (Junta de Andalucía, 2010). At the end of the class, a brief summary of the topics and activities done was implemented to help Katty remember what she had practiced that day. This was reviewed at the beginning of the following class or tutorial (IDA, 2002). Finally, the teacher would talk to her individually and assign her review exercises to do as homework for extra practice (IDA, 2002). At this point, once the class was over, the researcher also addressed Katty and announced to her orally the topics and activities to be reviewed and further drilled during her tutorials with the researcher himself (IDA, 2002; Junta de Andalucía, 2010).

Regarding grammar structures, new items were taught basically using oral instruction and explicit explanations in Spanish, which in many cases was used as well when introducing new vocabulary (^{Rondot-Hay, 2006}). For pronunciation (phonetics), most of the exercises and conversations were carried out in pairs or in trios in the classroom, following the strategy of peer-mediated learning (IDA, 2002). In order to limit the number of new items taught in one class (^{Smith, 2012}), to present a manageable amount of work at a time (IDA, 2002), and to reduce distractions (^{Wearden, 2013}), board use was reduced to a minimum due to Katty's difficulties to copy down from it, and large-font handouts were issued frequently with highlighted examples of target grammar structures (IDA, 2002) and vocabulary lists (again, six out of every ten new items, as suggested by Junta de Andalucía, 2010).

5.3 Tutorial Activities

Tutorials as suggested by ^{Fidalgo (2012}), were conducted by the researcher and held twice a week, alternating with class days. These were intended basically as a re-inforcement activity to foster her comprehension of target topics and offer extra practice (IDA, 2002; ^{Rondot-Hay, 2006}; ^{Smith, 2012}). In this sense, academic and explicit teaching of grammar and vocabulary was used, in combination with her native tongue (Rondot-Hay, 2006). Typical activities were vocabulary reviews with printed word lists and their translation into Spanish using different colors and large font types, so meaning was checked and pronunciation was practiced as well using highlighting of essential information (IDA, 2002). In addition, as suggested by IDA (2002); Rondot-Hay (2006); and Smith (2012), plenty of repetitions and practice, short handouts (one page, half a page, or slips) (see IDA, 2002) with completion exercises (short answers or production) were given to her in order to monitor progress and to rehearse for written quizzes and the final written exam for her course.

In addition, repetition drills for target vocabulary and isolated phonetic exercises took place every other tutorial. Due to Katty's frustration (Junta de Andalucía, 2010, p. 34) tutorials, although initially had been planned for two hours, eventually got reduced to 90, and then 60 minutes. Here, plenty of emotional support in the form of praise was implemented (^{Cox, 2012}; ^{Wearden, 2013}; ^{Díaz-Ducca, 2014}). Some pronunciation tasks were centered on phonemes such as /s/, /∫/, and /t∫/ because these were the most problematic both for Katty to grasp when spoken, and also for her to produce (^{Rondot-Hay, 2006}, p. 2). See Chart 2 for further details.

5.4 Successful strategies

In general terms, the intervention plan was successful because Katty finally passed her last basic English course on to the advanced levels, obtaining scores between 60 and 80 (minimum passing grade was 70) in oral tests (where grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation were assessed.) In short, she evidenced an acceptable use of 70% of target vocabulary during oral activities (for her accommodated standards), insufficient scores in use of grammar (60-65%) during oral production in oral quizzes (conversations in pairs), but also an observable self-reliance and a relaxed attitude in the classroom.

Regarding written exams, her grades ranged between 60-78%, with higher scores for vocabulary completion exercises, and lower scores for grammar production items.

As a plus, both linguistically and socially she showed increased competence in terms of interaction and extroversion at the end of the course in comparison to what was recorded in the researcher's diary at the beginning. In fact, she eventually evidenced a self-confident attitude even during oral assessed activities. This may have been the product of both the use of Spanish when explaining grammar and vocabulary to her, along with frequent praise by her teacher during classes, and the researcher during tutorials. As observed, using simple sentences and repeating instructions (IDA, 2002; ^{Bailey, 2015}) was very effective since tasks were clear to her and in most classes she asked for clarification only once or twice during classes or tutorial sessions.

At class, pair work turned out to be an excellent resource to compensate for the relatively large size of her group (15 students). According to her teacher, having Katty sit

"pretty close at all times", allowed him to constantly monitor her comprehension, performance, and problems (confusion or frustration). She also seemed relaxed and willing to ask questions to him whenever necessary. Furthermore, working with her in one-to-one tutorials had more stimulating results for Katty in terms of a sense of progress and accomplishment. She actually referred to tutorials as "coaching for quizzes." Thus, tutorials turned out to be effective academic support for Katty for comprehension, drilling, and answering her questions. Tutorials also allowed for increased oral encouragement and motivation, as suggested by ^{Cox (2012}), ^{Wearden (2013}), and ^{Díaz-Ducca (2014}). In addition, these tutorial sessions also gave the chance of building rapport as suggested by ^{Williams and Andrade (2008}) and in this way, it was possible to encourage and motivate the student (especially as preparation exercises for coming exams).

5.5 Failed strategies

In spite of the strategies applied (using native language to teach grammar explicitly, and frequent repetitions and practice in class and tutorials), developing an acceptable use of written grammar had poor results. Actually, the highest score achieved in grammar exercises in written tests was 60%. This occurred, as indicated, in spite of her modifications regarding the percentage of target structures to be assessed (66% of course contents) and the extra time alloted for solving exams.

One-page or half-page handouts were practical and easy to understand for Katty, nevertheless, textbooks were not very useful in the classroom since -as pointed out earlier-, she found them "too confusing" and "too boring" in her own words. As a result, written exercises were a drilling activity that helped Katty understand some structures and increase her observable self-confidence during written tests, but that didn't guarantee the results expected (passing grades in grammar items). This appears to be a direct consequence of her difficulty to process written information, as indicated by ^{Nijakowska et al. (2013}), for students with her condition.

Spelling was poor and presented frequent omissions, incomplete words, and mixed-up letters (s instead of c; v instead of b) (see IDA, 2002; ^{Rondot-Hay, 2006}; ^{Smith, 2012}). Once again, repetition, omission, and lack of coherence were very frequent in production exercises with target grammar. Plenty of repetition and drilling (IDA, 2002; Rondot-Hay, 2006; Smith, 2012), allowing extra time for tasks (IDA, 2002), and tutorials as extra practice (^{Fidalgo, 2012}) did not seem to positively influence her problems with spelling of key vocabulary, although they were effective so she was able to pronounce new lexis achieving passing grades in most cases. Finally, vocabulary lists had to be shortened because her working memory would not process enough words to master the concepts in each unit.

In addition, drilling and repetition exercises in phonetics for target phonemes (/s/, /∫/, and /t∫/) were only useful as artificial or academic tasks during tutorials: Katty would pronounce words to a fair degree (70% of success) very slowly or sound by sound. However, when using the word in a conversation at her normal speed of delivery, she would commit the same errors detected (unclear pronunciation, confusion of sounds, omission of phonemes.) These phonetic activities became eventually boring to her and needed to be shortened and even skipped in some individual sessions in order to decrease frustration, anxiety, and brief periods of negative mood and attitude.