Insight into difficulties in learning a foreign language for people with SEN

People with SEN may have difficulties in learning a foreign or second language, and in general in the processes of any learning, due to factors at an emotional level, such as:

• low self-esteem
• sense of insecurity
• feeling that they are not capable or not up to the task
• feeling strange or different from others
• feeling little responsibility for their own learning
• feeling that they are not being listened to or helped.

In addition to emotional factors, there may be obstacles in language learning due to cognitive and linguistic aspects, as well as to the context in which learning takes place. For example, a learner with dyslexia finds it difficult to fully understand what he or she is reading as he or she cannot decipher words and make sense of them at the same time; while reading, he or she commits all their cognitive energies to coding the texts and consequently feels fatigued even after a short period of study; any new words or specific vocabulary can create difficulties and he or she easily forgets what they have just read or learnt; when interacting with others, he or she may appear distracted or not very engaged in their studies .

Below are some explanations of what usually happens to a person with SLD when studying a language, taken from the Vademecum on Teaching Languages to Students with Specific Learning Disorders of the Inclusion and School Counselling Service - Italian Education and Training Directorate of the Province of Bolzano (2021)*:

What are the emotional barriers that a student with SLD may face?

Pupils with SLD are often demotivated because they experience frustration in certain school activities that interfere with their disorder (e.g. reading out loud, copying from the blackboard, writing under dictation, taking notes). These activities generate a kind of linguistic anxiety due to a short-circuit between their disorder and the excessive school demands.

What cognitive barriers does a learner with SLD face?

Research suggests that pupils with SLD have lower scores on tests of language learning aptitude, which measure phonetic coding ability, grammatical sensitivity, memorisation and inductive skills. Context, however, plays a fundamental role: in fact, difficulties in the mother tongue are amplified in the learning of a foreign language due to the fact that the context is completely different and other variables come into play (method, relationship with peers, types of activities proposed, etc.).

What language barriers may be encountered by students with SLD?

On the linguistic level, difficulties may occur depending on the skills involved. The learner may have difficulties in listening, speaking, reading comprehension, writing and acquiring vocabulary and grammar.

Difficulties in listening:

These depend on a reduced working memory and ability to process phonological information. Moreover, the difficulty is linked to the type of language:

• opaque (e.g. English and French) and iso-accentual (i.e. with an accent-based rhythm) languages are more complex;
• transparent (e.g. Italian and Spanish) and isosyllabic (i.e. with a rhythm based on syllables) languages are simpler.

Speech difficulties:

Oral interaction is a complex skill, requiring linguistic knowledge and pragmatic skills. In the case of pupils with SLD, there are also specific limitations in executive functions such as attention, memorisation, planning and implementation.

Difficulties in reading comprehension:

• limited language skills (limited vocabulary and morphological awareness);
• reduced working memory that does not allow them to retain key information;
• poor metacognitive strategies: pupils do not formulate hypotheses about the text, do not consider extra-textual clues, freeze when they do not understand a term, etc.

Difficulties in written production:

• difficulty in phonological processing, leading to spelling mistakes;
• reduced working memory;
• limited linguistic knowledge as a result of the difficulties inherent in the disorder (problems with memorising, acquiring vocabulary, appropriate use of metacognitive strategies, etc.);
• possible difficulties in motor and fine motor skill coordination, sometimes related to SLD.

Difficulties in acquiring vocabulary and grammar:

• reduced working memory;
• difficulties in abstract thinking and acquiring specific terminology;
• reduced metalinguistic skills.

*Source: Carpanese N., Fianco F., Jiménez M. C. et al (2021) DSA and language learning, in 'Vademecum Teaching Languages to Students with Specific Learning Disorders' (in Italian language), Bolzano: School Inclusion and Counselling Service - Italian Education and Training Directorate, pp. 15- 17.