Reading and spelling difficulties in the ELT classroom

Learners with reading and/or spelling difficulties (RSD) generally also show severe problems in learning EFL. Taking into consideration several observational and interventional studies, this article illustrates some practical and pragmatic means of identifying RSD, and provides possible solutions when addressing these difficulties in ELT classrooms. Among these approaches are the explicit teaching of grapheme-phoneme rules; taking into account possible mother tongue interference; building a frequency-based basic vocabulary; and multisensory language teaching/learning.