English language teaching and specific learning disorders: A case study

Abstract

The study of a foreign language for students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs) can often be a tremendous challenge, making this process extremely complex (most of the difficulties arise from spelling and lexis with major consequences for reading, writing and pronunciation). This also entails a challenge for educators and educational institutions having the task of responding to students’ needs by becoming more flexible and equipped to understand, value and adapt to the differences of their students in order to provide them with quality and inclusive education and equal learning opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to present a study conducted among university students with SLDs with the aim to identify approaches and teaching strategies to foster effective and meaningful English language learning. The underlying intention is to provide useful insight into future trends and definitions of guidelines and viable strategies in the field of education and SLDs. Therefore, 82 university students with SLDs were randomly assigned either to an experimental group (EG, n = 41) who received English lessons designed according to their individual needs and based on compensatory measures, or to a control group (CG, n = 41) who participated in conventional English lessons. Results suggest that the students who benefited from a variety of individualised supports were able to improve their foreign language skills.