An exploration on Hong Kong pre-service teachers’ knowledge, attitude and training towards students with dyslexia

The purpose of the research study was to investigate Hong Kong pre-service teachers’ knowledge, attitude and training towards students with dyslexia, to examine the relationship between the three items and to make recommendations to improve the current practices. A questionnaire concerning pre-service teachers’ knowledge and attitude was adapted from Elias (2014) and Gwernan-Jones & Burden (2010), and an interview concerning pre-service teachers’ training was designed. 92 English pre-service teachers from the Education University of Hong Kong were administered the questionnaire and 6 English pre-service teachers among the 92 were chosen for the interview. Results indicated that participants were able to demonstrate some accurate knowledge about dyslexia but showed more misunderstandings about dyslexia, and they were overall positive towards five key aspects of dyslexia suggested by Gwernan-Jones & Burden (2010). Results also showed that participants did not receive enough training and opportunities to acquire and apply certain skills and teaching strategies in real-life settings. Limitations and ethical concerns of the study are covered. Implications concerning teacher training programs in Hong Kong as well as future research directions are also discussed.