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Learning Disabilities And The ESOL Learner

Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002. Overview. Number of ESOL students in education increased 800% in last decadeESOL students in federally-funded adult education programs= 40% (average)ESOL students in ALL adult education =50% Conservative estimate of LD in

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Learning Disabilities And The ESOL Learner

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    1. Originally Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Learning Disabilities And The ESOL Learner Robin Schwarz Lesley University Curry College

    2. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Overview Number of ESOL students in education increased 800% in last decade ESOL students in federally-funded adult education programs= 40% (average) ESOL students in ALL adult education =50%+ Conservative estimate of LD in general population=1/10……YOU do the math!

    3. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 ESOL Students in Adult ED No reliable statistics about persistence—anecdotal evidence says it’s a problem Survey in Boston area indicated 50%+ in GED classes are ESOL 20%-30% of those SIGN UP for GED 20% of those took it and succeeded 100/50/10/=2

    4. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Under-identification of LD in ESOL Population Many reasons for under-identification Must consider that a number of these unsuccessful students perhaps have LD Here are some things we know cause students to have problems learning and can deflect attention from possible LD

    5. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Some Obvious Truths That Cause Big Headaches Normal language learning process results in problems that look like LD: Control of grammar Problems with spelling Problems following conversations, oral directions Reading comprehension problems

    6. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Obvious Truths…(1) Behaviors caused by culture differences can look like LD: Interactions with teacher or classmates seem inappropriate Speaking out or not speaking out Tendency to rote learning Thinking and writing patterns vary from US model—I.e. Main idea isn’t always king

    7. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Obvious Truths…(2) Interference of first language can look like LD: Hard to hear phonemes of English that aren’t in first language Pronunciation patterns of first language may persist: vowels on ends of words, stress on different syllable Grammar/syntax of first language shows up Concepts of time/tense differ ETC……

    8. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 And More Obvious Truths… Learning can also be adversely affected by Culture shock Stress of poverty, separation from family, dislike of job, children changing cultural values Poor health

    9. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Still Another Truth: ESOL learners are rarely aware of LD It is not generally recognized in other cultures They are not sufficiently acculturated to know about it here Therefore, they will almost never self-identify

    10. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Commonly Held Beliefs About ESOL and LD: It isn’t LD— They need to practice English more It’s low “language aptitude” It’s low intelligence It’s low literacy People from ____language background don’t learn to speak English very well

    11. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 And Then There Are the Beliefs Common to All LD: She isn’t really trying He doesn’t make an effort to do homework If she’d just get organized His life is a mess—he can’t concentrate on learning

    12. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 This Means… ESOL students with LD are Under-identified Misidentified Inappropriately helped or supported Not helped at all

    13. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 This Means Also… The ESOL student will blame other things for his/her lack of progress The student may be reluctant to consider testing The student may see help/ support as a less worthy way of dealing with difficulties

    14. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Overview of LD/L2 Connection LD is neurologically-based Not restricted to one language Mostly inherited Life-long Not caused by learning another language Not caused by the features of first language

    15. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 LD and L2 Language learning problems thought to be mostly caused by phonological processing deficits—same as reading problems Not all –some result of speed of processing –very slow=little meaning Some caused by other types of LD: Time concepts Memory problems Difficulty with sequencing

    16. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 ID of ESOL with LD Informal: Screens in English (Spanish?) Questions/typical behaviors subject to cultural/linguistic influence Formal: Same problems: Normed on English-speaking population Language/cultural interference significantly affects ( lowers) scores)

    17. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 What Can We Do for Now? THE PROGRAM Establish policies and procedures to assure sensitive, appropriate handling of students who MIGHT have LD Establish an intake procedure that provides as much information as possible about students BEFORE they begin to fail

    18. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 What Can We Do?,Cont. ESOL TEACHERS Are fully aware of LD and of techniques helpful to learners with LD Are aware of rights and responsibilities under the law Are supported in their efforts but not expected to run a remedial class for one or two students

    19. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Do Informal Screening of Students Ask any student who understands even a little English about previous schooling and reasons for not continuing Evaluate those who appear to be having problems or not making much progress Use qualitative information—( tomorrow!) When information is gathered…

    20. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Accommodate or Remediate? REMEDIATE When it is clear what is needed When well-trained personnel are available to do it IF the student agrees that it should be tried—with full understanding that It may not work It may take a while to work

    21. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Accommodate or Remediate? ACCOMMODATE When there is documentation requiring it To give the learner needed access to learning (E.G. Having books on tape, or a reader, for content learning in GED or Pre-GED classes) When no appropriate personnel is available to deliver remediation If the student requests it after careful counseling

    22. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Help the Student Understand ESOL learners don’t know about learning differences Self-advocacy/self-knowledge are very powerful Supportive, empowering atmosphere means a lot CAUTION!! DON’T USE TERM “LD”

    23. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Moving Things Forward DOCUMENT AND REPORT NUMBERS Students who don’t persist Students who don’t make progress Students strongly suspected of having LD NEED DATA TO PRESS FOR RESEARCH, FUNDING, SUPPORT

    24. Prepared for: Florida's 2002 Disabilities Symposium, April 17-18, 2002 Moving Things Forward DOCUMENT!! WHAT WAS TRIED WITH STUDENTS WHAT WORKED GOOD TEACHER/STUDENT MATCHES MATERIALS THAT WORKED ADD YOUR INFORMATION TO THE POOL TO HELP US ALL

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