Supporting multilingual pupilsFree Workshop in ManchesterSaturday 16th March 2013 The British Dyslexia Association and The University of Newport are running a free workshop on Saturday March 16th at Longsight Library in Manchester, funded by the EU project Dyslang (www.dyslang.eu). Although primarily aimed at participants on the Dyslang pilot course, there are also places available for other professionals with an interest in dyslexia, multilingualism and language learning. If you would like to take part, please email Jill Fernando at [log in to unmask]. Timetable 10:00 - 10:15 Welcome and drinks 10:15 - 11:45 Dyslexia, multilingualism and language learning – Jill Fernando 11:45 - 12:00 Tea break 12:00 - 13:00 Multilingualism – Dee McCarney 13:00 - 14:00 Lunch break 14:00 - 15:00 Assessing dyslexic, multilingual learners – Dr Ian Smythe 15:00 - 15:15 Tea break 15:15 - 16:00 Assistive technology for dyslexic, multilingual learners – Dr Ian Smythe
Venue: Longsight Library and Learning Centre, 519 Stockport Rd, Manchester M12 4NE Speakers Jill Fernando (BDA) Jill joined the British Dyslexia Association in June 2010 as project co-ordinator of the Big Lottery-funded British Dyslexia Association/Bath Spa University research project, Dyslexia and Multilingualism aimed at supporting schools to identify, assess and support the literacy skills of bilingual learners displaying possible indicators of dyslexia. She has a background in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and teacher training. She taught trainee English teachers at a teacher training college in North West Vietnam and supported them on Teaching Practice in primary schools throughout the region. She then moved to Sri Lanka where she developed the English Language Teaching Unit at Wayamba University in North West Province. She designed an intensive English course for new undergraduates and trained local teachers to deliver the course. Prior to joining the British Dyslexia Association, Jill established a dyslexia outreach project as part of New East Manchester, an urban regeneration company. She liaised with external stakeholders to identify potentially dyslexic adults and provided them with diagnostic assessments and 1:1 support tailored to their individual needs. In addition, she arranged a range of vocational taster courses and confidence building for local dyslexic residents. Dee McCarney (UWN) Debra has qualifications in the areas of linguistics and in education. She has also pursued a life-long interest in language learning, experiencing a variety of different methods of language teaching while studying French, German, Spanish, Esperanto, Japanese and Welsh.
While teaching in a primary school in Australia, she became interested in supporting children with dyslexia. After moving to Wales and receiving her MA became involved in a project run by the University of Wales, Newport and funded by the Welsh government in 2010 looking at the range of provision for dyslexic children across Wales. Dr Ian Smythe (UWN) Dr Ian Smythe is an international dyslexia consultant and Visiting Professor at the University of Wales, Newport, working on specific learning difficulties in different languages, developed out of his PhD research into cognitive differences in dyslexics in different languages including Portuguese, Hungarian, Welsh and Chinese. He has worked with government departments and NGO, universities and other organisations conducting workshops, lectures and seminars around the world for teachers, parents, researchers and other professionals working with dyslexic individuals.
In the past few years his activities have broadened to include literacy development in the wider context. These activities are centred around evidence-based resource and training development, the principles of which are adapted for the local language and cultural environment. Much of the work is with respect to multilingual contexts. This included development of basic literacy evaluation tools in a number of languages (English, Hungarian, Portuguese, Cantonese, Welsh, Bulgarian and Polish). More recently, much of these activities have been computerised, with data sets from thousands of individuals in UK, Ireland and South Africa, being analysed in collaboration with colleagues around the world.
Dr Smythe has written widely on dyslexia, is the co-editor of both copies of The International Book of Dyslexia (1997 and 2004), developed the British Dyslexia Association Dyslexia Handbook in 1993 and was its editor 1999-2001, and was editor of the British Dyslexia Association's first Employment and Dyslexia Handbook (2009). He is also author of “Dyslexia in the Digital Age” (2010), which identifies the issues around using technology to support the dyslexic student, as well as offer solutions. He has written chapters and modules in various dyslexia-related EU project, and also authored books in Brazilian Portuguese, Bosnian and Bulgarian. | 
