Date of Graduation
Spring 5-19-2023
Document Access
Project/Capstone - Global access
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
College/School
School of Education
Department/Program
Teaching English as a Second Language
First Advisor
Luz Navarrette García
Abstract
Specific learning difficulties (SLDs), including dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders, are significant factors that influence the way and rate at which students learn English as an additional language. However, few Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) training programs address the cognitive and behavioral strengths and challenges these conditions carry for adult learners, in part due to concerns about bias in the over- and under- identification of learning disabilities among K-12 English language learners. Informed by Critical Disability Theory, and framed within a realistic discussion of the obstacles that remain in identifying and researching the parallel adult population and their learning needs, this thesis argues that all students in an English as a Second/Additional Language and English as a Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) classrooms benefit when SLDs are more readily recognized and teachers have a repertoire of research-backed, inclusive teaching strategies to draw on. The field project responds to this need for training with a teacher guidebook that explains U.S. legal requirements concerning students with disabilities, the effects of SLDs on second language acquisition, and the uses and limitations of current screening tools for SLDs in adult ESL/EFL populations. The guidebook also provides an annotated bibliography of effective adaptive and inclusive teaching strategies. Informed teachers will be better able to understand student needs, set realistic program and individual goals, participate in holistic identification processes, adopt effective teaching strategies, and serve as advocates for this understudied group of learners.
Recommended Citation
Kearns, Kristen, "Understanding and Identifying Specific Learning Difficulties: Dyslexia, Autism Spectrum, and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity in the Adult ESL/EFL Classroom" (2023). Master's Projects and Capstones. 1489.
https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/1489
