Modifying Orton-Gillingham Multisensory Strategies and Materials for a LESLLA learner Context

1 online resource (PDF, 107 pages). Submitted as a Plan B paper in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master's degree in English as a Second Language from the University of Minnesota.Worldwide, increasing numbers of adults are attempting to develop functional literacy skills in a language other than their first. For those with limited or no formal education in their country of origin, the likelihood of acquiring basic reading and writing skills is low. Also, the older the learner, the less likely s/he will be able to develop functional literacy. While learner age and prior education are fixed factors, what happens in the second language (L2) literacy classroom is not. How might instructional practices be modified to better meet the needs of adult L2 emergent readers? This study examines the use of Orton-Gillingham multisensory strategies and materials, originally designed for children with dyslexia, in an adult English as a second language context. For six weeks, multisensory strategies and materials were used to teach letter names, grapheme-phoneme correspondence, encoding, decoding, and sight words. Participant response was examined to inform modifications to strategies and materials. Based on participant response and post-assessment gains in literacy skills, a multisensory approach to teaching literacy in L2 may be effective with adults who have limited prior formal education in their country of origin