Author(s): Derrick Armstrong and Vickie Heathcote

Institutional affiliation/Agency/Program: University of Sheffield

Publication date or date of most recent update: October 2003

Number of pages: 27

Website URL: http://www.nrdc.org.uk/publications_details.asp?ID=13

Type of product (lesson plans, curriculum, training product): Literature review

Key words: Learning disabilities, English as a second language (ESL), Research, Needs assessment, Disabilities

Targets: Instructors, Administrators, Researchers

Abstract: This literature review aims to provide a background for the development of research on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. It also focuses on identification of gaps in the current knowledge of the field.

The authors conducted a literature review (primarily using UK references) of research and sources of information on the topic. The resources found were analyzed for evidence of good practice and gaps in the existing literature. A practitioner consultation seminar at an adult literacy and numeracy conference and a further discussion at a consultative meeting were used as additional sources of information.

The research studies analyzed were intended to span three areas: adult literacy and numeracy, ESOL, and learners with learning difficulties/disabilities. Very few studies met these three criteria. Therefore, the authors used a best fit approach and included evidence collected from K-12 studies as well as health literature reporting on migrant adults. Some anecdotal information is included because it came from experienced professionals in the field.

Findings (summary):

• Additional data is required to assess the number of people needing services and the quality of the educational experiences they receive.
• Much of the research is focused on school age children with reading difficulties and not adults.
• There is a shortage of language interpreters and qualified ESOL staff to conduct needs assessment in the learner's native language.
• Research and development of coordinated services across agencies should be provided for learners.
• There is a lack of providers with experience in providing services for learners who are both ESOL and have learning difficulties/disabilities.
• More research is need into the barriers that learners face in accessing services and resources.

What the experts say: NOTE: This article has been reviewed by the Learning Disabilities and the English Language Acquisition Collection. Reviewer comments from both collections are included below.

The primary value of this resource is that it focuses on some of the major issues and challenges that must be considered in looking at adult non-native English speakers who may or may not have disabilities or learning challenges. These major issues and challenges include:

1. the stigma of impairment in other cultures
2. the impact of war and torture on cognition and learning
3. the impact of disrupted education on learning
4. the impact of cultural and language differences
5. differentiating between second language acquisition difficulties and learning disabilities and/or dyslexia
6. the appropriateness of "western or Eurocentric" assessment processes

The resource is of value to the field with the following caveats:

1. It mixes all disabilities and difficulties-physical, mental and learning-into one literature review;
2. It is mostly limited to literature originating in the UK;
3. It does not consider issues that could cause adult non-native English speakers to struggle in learning and to look as though they have learning disabilities or challenges when in fact, the root of the problem may not be inherent but external. For example, no mention is made of the influence of first language phonology or orthography on the reading and spelling skills of English Language Learners (ELLs), factors documented in adults to cause significant lags in skill development often seen as reading or learning problems.
4. In one prominent quote, it notes that ELLs are under-identified with dyslexia compared to English speakers, a statement which implies that dyslexia occurs in the same way and with the same frequency across languages as it does in English, when in fact, that may be a reality not a problem. (That is, fewer ELLs may have dyslexia because of previous reading competence than do native speakers of English, which is harder for readers to excel in, and at least one study on high school students indicates that the opposite phenomenon occurred: learners who were classified as dyslexic in Norwegian were not dyslexic when they began to read English (Lundberg, 2002 Annals of Dyslexia)).
5. It should be borne in mind that British research limits the focus on LD to dyslexia only.