engleski

Dyslexia in Croatian – some specific features with respect to spoken and written language.

The understanding of the phenomenon of dyslexia in Croatian scientific and clinical research is consistent with the most recent definitions of the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) i European Dyslexia Association (2007). Dyslexia is defined as one of the specific learning disabilities, along with dysgraphia and dyscalculia, and efforts have been undertaken to present it as a different mode of functioning and thus facilitate its acceptance in general public. Nevertheless, notions of dyslexia still remain inaccurate and sometimes downright false: it is described as an illness and related exclusively with school age. In this paper we aim to give an overview of research in specific features of dyslexia in Croatian, as a contribution to making a more detailed clinical picture of this phenomenon within a „small“ language. Our overview is based on the premise that dyslexia is a difficulty rooted in language and that, along with some common features across languages, it expresses some specific traits in dependence of the characteristics of a given language, its writing system and their interdependence. Some specific errors in reading in writing of children with dyslexia will be shown, with special regard to letters/sounds specific for the Croatian Latin script – č, ć, dž, đ, lj, nj, š, ž and, given tha fact that Croatian belongs in the category of transparent languages, with the usual 1:1 letter/sound correspondence. We will try to show how children with dyslexia cope with linguistic, especially morphosyntactic tasks. It has been observed that children with dyslexia have difficulties in particular with the production of irregular noun plurals or some verb plural forms. Combining words in sentences proves to be very difficult for children with dyslexia, which can be related with the possibility of a free word order in Croatian. By describing categories and types of errors we open the possibility of a better definition of the clinical picture of the phenomenon itself within the language. Descriptions such as this can serve as a starting point for further crosslinguistic research, in order to find common correlates of dyslexia. In this paper we will show different ways of implementing the newly obtained insights in the process of dyslexia assessment, and how they can be implemented in procedures and treatments within the speech and language pathologists practice (in the field where dyslexia is treated). We will also discuss some difficulties that arise in the system of education of children with dyslexia, that are linked to the inadequate legislative, as well as the features of the educational system and lack of trained staff that would enable us to provide effective support.

reading; dyslexia

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