RESEARCH ARTICLE English as a foreign language teacher training needs and perceived preparedness to include dyslexic learners: The case of Greece, Cyprus, and Poland Joanna Nijakowska 1 | Dina Tsagari 2 | George Spanoudis 3 1 Department of Pragmatics, University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland 2 Department of Primary and Secondary Teacher Education, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway 3 Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus Correspondence Joanna Nijakowska, Department of Pragmatics, University of Lodz, Pomorska 171/173, 90‐236 Łódź, Poland. Email: j.nijakowska@uni.lodz.pl This study examines the effect of demographic variables on the beliefs of teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) about their preparedness to include dyslexic learners in mainstream classrooms in Greece, Cyprus, and Poland and identifies their professional development needs. Statistically significant multivariate analysis effects were obtained for country, training, teaching experience with dyslexic learners, and school type. Unlike overall teaching experi- ence and completed level of education (degree), the type of teaching experience with dyslexic EFL learners (direct contact and personal involvement in teaching) seems to shape the perception of teacher preparedness to success- fully include these learners. Other interesting tendencies were identified such as between‐country differences concerning sources of prior professional knowledge on EFL and dyslexia as well as preferences for particular modes of training. The paper highlights the demand for profes- sional training on EFL and dyslexia as this was confirmed across the three countries. KEYWORDS dyslexia, foreign language, inclusive teaching practices, teacher preparedness, teacher training 1 | INTRODUCTION Dyslexia is a subtype of specific learning difficulties, referred to as SpLDs (e.g., Kormos, 2017a). Students who exhibit SpLDs experience problems with acquiring literacy‐related skills (dyslexia), numeracy (dyscalculia), motor Received: 17 January 2018 Revised: 26 July 2018 Accepted: 12 September 2018 DOI: 10.1002/dys.1598 Dyslexia. 2018;1–23. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/dys 1