MOBILE LEARNING DEVICES TO ASSIST DYSLEXIC STUDENTS TO IMPROVE THEIR ENGLISH READING PROFICIENCY

The recent development of Mobile Devices, Information Technology, Mobile Communication, Personal Digital Assistants and Laptop Computers in the teaching/learning processes in miscellaneous fields in general, has not only had a tremendous positive effect on physically fit students’ learning performance, but has also had an impact on dyslexic students in English learning process. Useless to say that these special needs students who have difficulties in the four macro-skills (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening) were deprived of learning opportunities through assistive technology to achieve communicative competence in the target language, for the simple reason that these Mobile Learning devices or applications were inexistent a few decades ago. Indeed, through a quick review of the special needs English course literature, it is conspicuous that they are somehow negligible if not practically insignificant. This paper is first set out to depict the dyslexic students’ characteristics and needs in the four macro-language skills. Then, it will explore the strategies and mobile applications put forth to facilitate the special needs students’ English language learning. Finally, it will evaluate the impact of mobile learning devices on the improvement of special needs students’ proficiency in English language.