Students with Reading Difficulties
Diagnostic Testing
It is not unusual for teachers to encounter children with reading difficulties. In an effort to ascertain the reasons for this situation, schools need to diagnose the reasons for this phenomenon and to decide on strategies for helping learners overcome problems. The early identification of children with special educational needs and reading disorders is paramount. In Hong Kong, assessments to diagnose children with dyslexia and other reading difficulties are available at Hong Kong government hospitals, the Education Bureau, and private educational, medical, and psychological practices and establishments. Government assessment services for school-age children are provided by the Education Bureau, the Department of Health, and the Hospital Authority. The Education Bureau provides assessment services for students in public sector primary and secondary schools who have learning and adjustment difficulties and speech and sensory impairments. Child assessments services of the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority provide assessment procedures for children under age 12 who have developmental problems.39 Assessment instruments additionally have been developed by educational psychologists and other experts for use with students in primary and secondary schools to help diagnose the nature of specific learning difficulties in reading and writing.40 Students found to have such difficulties usually receive remedial intervention.
Instruction for Children with Reading Difficulties
Students with reading difficulties invariably require extra time to learn, and deliberate and focused planning by schools is needed if these children are to make satisfactory progress. Support from parents and teachers is required if the children are to learn and keep pace with fellow students in the class. Teachers are encouraged to cater to these children in their lesson planning and to use differentiated planning, multisensory teaching, and one on one, hands on experience to boost students’ learning. Daily Assessment and Teaching for Primary Aged Children also has been suggested, whereby parents, teachers, or senior students spend about 15 minutes daily teaching five to 10 words to individual students until they have been mastered. The words selected are identified with reference to known weaknesses and language demands in forthcoming lessons. Paired reading is encouraged on a regular basis to help students access meaning, complete learning tasks, and read for enjoyment.41
Learning via games has been found to be an enjoyable approach for students to help them learn the Chinese characters. Students learn simple written and frequently used words before moving on to more complicated character combinations. The understanding of character structures and the meaning of radicals helps students recognize characters and to use them in stress‑free game situations. The teaching of basic stroke writing and character component patterns is essential for writing Chinese correctly.42