Developing Dyslexia Screener for Higher Education Contexts
Internationally, new policies have been introduced to prevent discrimination and to provide equality of access to higher education [HE]. Likewise, the Ministry of Education Malaysia introduces ‘Zero reject policy’ in 2019. These policy changes imposed an obligation on HE to provide equality; implement academic adjustments; supports and services while retaining the nature of the instruction and the academic requirements. The purpose of the study is to develop a dyslexia screener for the HE in Malaysia; to establish dyslexic learners’ profile; so that the necessary supports could be provided at the HE level. Hence, with the development of the screener, people who have not been identified earlier should have the opportunity to discover and learn how to accommodate their own dyslexia and outdo in their studies at HE. The available screeners for adult from UK government National Health Service [NHS] and the British Dyslexia Association [BDA] will be analysed. The cultural and linguistic discourse of the documents will inform the relevance of the screeners for Malaysian higher education context based on the latest underpinning theory for specific learning difficulties, Neurodiversity. Newly adapted screeners will be translated into Malay, Mandarin and Arabic languages; and validated before they are ready to be utilised.
Collaborative Research Grant (CRG) 48.1 – Congruence Study of Students’ Results of Three CEFR-aligned Test Components
UTM has developed an entrance test, which is a CEFR-aligned (Common European Framework of Reference) for Transnational Education programme students. The test has two components which are Oxford Online Placement Test (OOPT) and oral. It was found that the results of both tests are not always tallied. Thus, there is a need to standardise the different CEFR-aligned test components so that all components will give the same results. Having said that, this project hence aims to develop a simulation framework, which can help reduce mismatch in the results of different test components which are online, speaking and writing tests.