Dyslexia is the most common learning difficulty observed in schools in Slovenia. Students with dyslexia have problems reading and writing. These students not only have problems mastering the Slovene language, but they also face problems learning foreign languages. English is taught as a foreign language in the majority of schools in Slovenia (92 % of primary schools). In the 2016/2017 school year English had become obligatory for second-grade students, and it will soon be the same for first-grade students. This indicates that learning English as a foreign language will become obligatory for all students early on. Early foreign language learning can also be beneficial for students with dyslexia, provided their teachers are aware that these students have problems with phonological awareness, problems of memory and developing the ability to automatically decode letters and words, their recollection and also deal with frequent limited vocabulary recollection. Students with dyslexia have to develop strategies to overcome their problems, and foreign language teachers have to be qualified to be able to use the appropriate approaches for teaching English as a foreign language, so that all students are able to learn at the same time. The purpose of the master’s thesis is to examine the guided reading approach in the English learning process in students with dyslexia in the form of a training session and to determine how a different approach, or, in other words a more explicit approach affects the English reading abilities in students with dyslexia. We formed two groups–an experimental and a control group– which both included 3 students with dyslexia, who are in the 4th and 5th grade. To measure the success of our training, we conducted an English reading comprehension test in both groups at the beginning and at the end of the training, and compared the initial and final results. We used the Questionnaire on Student’s Motivation and English Language Learning (in Slovene: Vprašalnik o motivaciji in splošnem znanju angleščine učencev) and the Questionnaire on Environmental Factors that may Influence English Language Learning (in Slovene: Vprašalnik o okolijskih dejavnikih, ki lahko vplivajo na usvajanje angleščine) to gain a more detailed insight into the students’ knowledge of the English language from their point of view and from the point of view of their teachers. The first questionnaire was answered by two of the students’ English teachers, and the second was answered by the students. The analysis of our guided reading training shows that the guided reading approach is effective in achieving better English letter and sound recognition and reading fluency of English texts, in building up English vocabulary and in acquiring a more profound reading comprehension in students with dyslexia. The results of the experiential and the control group demonstrate important differences in their reading abilities. Since our patterns were small, we are not able to apply our findings to all the students with dyslexia.
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