Training Goals

 After completing the activities presented in this module, participants will be able to:

1. Identify some major characteristics of learning disabilities exhibited by adults learning English as a Second Language.

2. Identify two ways an instructor can gather evidence (without screening or formal diagnosis) in order to determine that a student may have a learning disability rather than any number of other challenges that interfere with second language learning.

3. Identify and begin to apply six principles of instruction that an instructor can employ in every lesson to ensure better progress for adults with learning disabilities and other learning problems.

 Target Students 

The information presented today will be most valuable in working with adult students of English as a Second Language enrolled in adult education classes with instruction at SPL 1 through SPL 6.

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ESL and Adults with Leaning Disabilities

Background Information

The Problem

Literacy instructors working with adult students of English as a Second Language sometimes find themselves surprised and a bit frustrated that some learners make little progress in learning English while other members of the class demonstrate steady acquisition. Most adult ESL learners come to school with a great deal of motivation, a resourceful nature, and demonstrated tolerance for struggle. So why, no matter how hard they try, do some learners lag so far behind their peers in class? Could a learning disability be the problem? If so, how can instruction be tailored to better assist the learner in acquiring language skills?

While recent research on adults with learning disabilities is yielding some recent findings, it is still very difficult to find research results focussed on the adult with learning disabilities engaged in language learning. What research has been done emphasizes the need for instructors to be aware that many ESL students have characteristics of learning disabilities simply because those same characteristics can be the result of cultural differences and other temporary challenges with second language acquisition. And some learners just happen to be less apt at learning a new language than others are. While research on native English speaking adults with learning disabilities tells us that 40-80% of those learners are likely to have learning disabilities, no such statistics exist for adult learners of English as a Second Language.

Most definitions of a learning disability include the following:

• There are many variations of learning disabilities.
• Learning disabilities involve difficulties in any of these: listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, and mathematics.
• Social skills may be affected by the learning disability.
• Learning disabilities are due to a central nervous system disorder.
• Although a learning disability may be present with other disorders, these conditions are not the cause of the learning disability.

Learning disabilities can interfere with employment, social adjustment, self-esteem, and the ability to carry out daily tasks. Learning disabilities can be more evident in second language learning because the student may have used compensatory strategies in the native language that are not available in learning English. Inconsistent performance and/or unexpected underachievement are significant indicators of a learning disability. For example, a student may be able to organize and execute some tasks well, but gets lost or confused when the instructor gives multi-step directions. Another student performs a task well during a class period, but has problems remembering the task in successive meetings.

Identifying Learning Problems

An interview can be the first step in identifying learning disabilities. The questions should be asked in the learner's native language, if possible. Depending on the answers to these questions, instructors can eliminate learning disabilities as the cause of failure to progress. Additionally, the interview can address the student's learning style. Most people show strength in one modality but can integrate different learning styles depending on the task to be learned. However, an adult with a learning disability will find it next to impossible to learn in a weak modality. Thus, knowing the student's learning style is very important in planning instruction for someone with a suspected learning disability. Possible interview questions are:

1. Have you been screened for vision and hearing disorders? How much schooling have you had?
2. Do you have any health problems, and how are you treating them? Can you read and write in your native language?
3. Is this ESL class one of your first formal schooling experiences? Did you have any special help in school?
4. Did you have problems learning to read/write in your language? Why did you leave school if before graduation?
5. What was your most challenging subject(s)? What was your best subject(s)?
6. How do you remember things best: hearing, seeing, doing? Do you have problems keeping track of time?
7. Any problems concentrating with background noise? What work did you do in your native country?
8. Any problems remembering multi-step instructions? Are you working now? What is your job?
9. Does the print blur, fade, or move when you try to read? Any problems causing sporadic class attendance?
10. Do you get day-to-day English practice outside of class? How long have you been in the United States?
11. What are your goals and expectations?

There are several characteristics that can indicate a learning disability. An adult with a learning disability may exhibit some, but not necessarily all, of the traits on the following list. Instructors should be aware that most adults exhibit some of these characteristics, and a "yes" answer to one (or even a few) does not mean that the student has a learning disability. However, if a learner exhibits several of these characteristics over a period of time, to the degree that they interfere with learning, then the learner may have a learning disability. Beginning-level ESL students will have problems in many of these areas until they acquire some language proficiency but, in the absence of learning disabilities, these difficulties will be temporary. The following checklist is not a screening assessment, but can provide an indication of a learning disability:

Does the student have...

• reading difficulties: problems with word decoding, reading comprehension, rate, fluency, vocabulary, error recognition?
• difficulties in written language: problems organizing thoughts, writing stories, spelling, handwriting?
• difficulties with oral language: problems with listening, speaking, vocabulary, word finding?
• irregularities in social behavior: problems with family or social relationships, social perception, humor, emotional behavior?
• disorders in attention or concentration: overactive, impulsive, or distractible behaviors; has difficulty staying on-task?
• problems in organization: difficulty in task breakdown; planning, managing time, day-to-day organization?
• auditory processing problems: unable to distinguish similar-sounding words and letters, difficulty in remembering what was said, difficulty in following more than one instruction at a time, mispronounces common words or sayings?
• visual processing problems: reverses letters, unable to follow a line on the page, poor visual memory?

Principles of Instruction

After the instructor has gathered information from the interview, the checklist, and other observations, the student can be directed to a screening or to formal assessment by a licensed professional. In the absence of these, the instructor can plan lessons that incorporate general principles of instruction that have been found to be useful by educators of adults with learning disabilities. While this list is not all-inclusive, it has the added benefit of improving instruction for learners with other types of learning problems as well:

• Be highly structured and predictable.

Always: explain the purpose of the lesson; break down tasks into small, sequential parts; present directions one step at a time, using both oral and written directions;

• Include opportunities to use several senses and learning strategies.

Always: provide auditory, visual, and concrete cues; use physical demonstration of abstract concepts, such as left/right; use color for visual impact; encourage the student to repeat verbal information; act out action verbs.

• Provide constant structure and multi-sensory review.

Always: preview and review major points, both orally and visually; ask the student to state in his/her own words what has been presented; make frequent eye contact to maintain attention and encourage participation.

• Recognize and build on learners' strengths and prior knowledge.

Always: relate new materials to daily life; combine life skills such as reading medicine labels and filling out forms with phonics, word recognition, and reading comprehension; provide success-oriented activities.

• Simplify language but not content; emphasize content words and make concepts accessible through the use of pictures, charts, maps, time lines, and diagrams.

Always: use visual aids such as overhead projectors, films, videos, slides, chalkboards, flip charts, computer graphics, or illustrations; use games, songs, rhymes to help students listen to sounds.

• Reinforce main ideas and concepts through rephrasing rather than through verbatim repetition.

Always: provide intensive instruction until the materials is mastered; allow ample time for learning a task (a student with a learning disability will take longer to master new material; provide instruction to help transfer of learning from one task and setting to another; set up small discussion groups to allow time for each student to talk and use the language they have already developed.

As more research is done, more strategies will be developed for instructing adult ESL students with learning disabilities. In the interim, these principles can help provide more success for all students --those with undiagnosed learning disabilities and other learning problems, as well.

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