Tóth József (szerk.): Nyelv, kultúra, megértés: új kutatási módszerek a humán tudományok területén
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4. Oktatás és tanulás: módszerek és kihívások
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How aware are teachers of special educational needs manifestations in foreign language learners and where does this information come from? • Claudia Molnár
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2. Literature review
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2.3. Manifestations of ADHD, ASD and dyslexia

2.3. Manifestations of ADHD, ASD and dyslexia

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For the sake of this paper, the focus is on those manifestations that closely overlap between the three SEN areas and those which could be related to foreign language learning.
 
ADHD

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Commonly known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or attention deficit disorder (ADD). Symptoms include inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity; however, the classification depends on the relative contribution of each feature (ADHD-institute, 2017), which Molnár (2020) refers to as a personalised synchronicity of the working body (PSWB). ADHD usually manifests before the age of 12 ( Kormos, 2017) and the ratio of boys to girls sits btw 2:1 and 6:1 (APA, 2013), however, this is an evolving figure as, today, many adults are now exploring explanations for symptoms and ADHD diagnoses are increasing within the adult community, with 4-5% of the adult population being affected (Berkley, 2013). According to Wirth, “more than 366 million adults worldwide have ADHD as of 2020” (cited in Forbes, 2023).

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Inattention often manifests as frustration, learners being easily distracted, difficulties in following instructions and often losing things. Learners also have organisational difficulties and regularly incorporate avoidance strategies (ADHD-institute, 2017).

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Hyperactivity is commonly presented through excessive talking, increased, or reduced energy levels (it is an exhausting condition), the constant need to be physical- getting up and walking around, tapping fingers, feet etc. (ADHD-institute, 2017).

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Impulsivity is often displayed with short term thinking, interrupting, and intruding, difficulties with turn taking and can be accident prone (ADHD-institute, 2017). These can all be attributed to the management of learning environments, and it is apparent how these may interfere with common language classroom activities. Additionally, FLLs with ADHD may have difficulties with code switching as the attention deficit has been known to reduce the effectiveness or reduce the time of accessing language in bilinguals, due to the effects on executive function (Bialystock, 2018).
 
Dyslexia

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The word dyslexia derives from Greek, meaning poor language (Carreker, N.D.). Hird (2019) posits that dyslexia is a result of problematic executive function. Contrary to common belief that dyslexia is limited to problems around reading and writing, it goes beyond these boundaries with challenges including difficulties with reading, writing, spelling and maths. Delayed speech and increased or reduced energy levels (similarly to ADHD), confusion about directions and difficulties following oral and written instructions are also common.
 
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of challenges. “According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects an estimated 1 in 44 children in the United States today” (autismspeaks.org., 2023). Some of the manifestations include- difficulties managing conversations, great ability versus great difficulty, intense and prolonged emotional reactions, difficulties in changes to routine and unusually strong reactions to one or more of the senses.

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In summary, some of the overarching challenges of ADHD, ASD and dyslexia may include the following: staying on task, being easily distracted, poor short-term memory and forgetfulness, repetitive behaviour, intense emotions, withdrawal, attention difficulties and organisational problems. Additionally, delayed speech, confusion and high levels of frustration, difficulty in retaining information, higher than average test-taking anxiety and increased or reduced energy levels.

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SENs are often considered deficits or barriers to learning, however, within these considered difficulties, also lie strengths, which, although are not generic, should be explored and used as a basis for inclusion and development, e.g.:
 

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ADHD learners
  • Playful and physical
  • Enjoy game related learning and interactive situations (role play)
  • Communicative tasks
ASD learners
  • Does well with small details:
  • rules (good for grammar and error correction)
Dyslexic learners
  • Superior artistic abilities
  • See the bigger picture

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Modified from (Armstrong, 2012).
 

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Methodology

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This section will present the research question and data collection methods. The primary research question is:

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How prepared are English language teachers for the integration of SEN learners?

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The hypotheses are:

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  • EFL teachers do not usually receive adequate preparation for teaching children with special educational needs.
  • and consequently, lack knowledge and skills regarding their impairments and disorders.
  • EFL teachers need training regarding teaching strategies that are applicable to helping children with their academic and non-academic development.
 

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Data Collection

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A questionnaire, comprising 11 questions, was constructed and shared, via Google Forms, to around 100 pre and in-service teachers via international teacher associations. An international selection of 78 responses, in total, were received from 14 countries. Questions were designed around awareness of SEN support requirements, teacher training and knowledge of accessing professional support within the appropriate educational institute.
 

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Results

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This section presents the individual questions and their results.
 

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Q 1.

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Are you a qualified teacher? 78 responses were received and 82.1 % are qualified, in-service teachers and 17.9% are pre service teachers.
 

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Q 2.

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What country do you teach in? 78 responses from 14 countries, were received and 60.5% were teachers from Hungary, 14.5% from Slovakia. The other significant response numbers were from The Netherlands, Italy, Croatia, UAE, India and England. A breakdown of the percentages can be seen in figure 1.
 

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Figure 1: What country do you teach in?
 

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Q 3.

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How long have you been teaching? 78 responses were received and, from the highest to the lowest percentages, 28.2% had been teaching for over 20 years, 23.1% for 1-5 years, 20.5% had been teaching for between 10 and 20 years and the remaining responses were 14.1% for those teaching between 5 and 10 years and those for less than one year, respectively.
 

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Q 4.

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What sector do you teach in? 78 responses were received and 30.8% of the teachers were from mainstream secondary schools, 26.9% were from mainstream primary, 15.4% were from mainstream vocational schools and colleges and the remaining were split between tertiary education, private language schools, the ‘various’ category and the lowest percentage were from the special needs sector.
 

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Q 5.

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Do you have SEN learners in your classes? 71.8% do have, 9% think they have, but are not sure, 9% do not think so and 10.3% have none.
 

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Q 6.

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Are you aware of the details of their support requirements? 78 responses were received and 56.4% know their areas of difficulty but have no specific details, 29.5% have been fully informed’, 11.5% are not aware and the rest were split between ‘Yes, but if I want to know about the details I have to look for the information by myself’ and ‘I don’t think I have any SENs in my classes’.
 

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Q 7.

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Are you aware of what features to look out for, if you have any concerns over a learner’s development? 50% are not aware, 40.8% stated that it was part of their training, and 2.6%, split respectively between ‘somewhat’ and ‘partly’.
 

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Q 8.

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Have you received adequate training to manage and support these learners? 43.6% have had some basic training, 38.5% have not received any training, 12.8% have taken some training courses independently and 1.3% are trained SEN teachers.
 

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Q 9.

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How much training have you had? 43.6% have had some basic training, 40% are aware of the individual features of their SENLs, 38.5% have had no training, and 33.8% are not aware of the procedures for reporting concerns.
 

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Q 10.

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Where did you receive your training? 44.9% responded that they received their training as part of their university teacher education, 34.6% have had no training, 16.7% have received training from the school they were teaching in, 16.7% have taken independent courses and the remaining percentages were split between reading literature on SEN and from conference workshops and webinar sessions.
 

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Q 11.

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Do you know the procedure, within your institute, for reporting concerns about a leaner’s development? 61% know the process and 33.8% have no idea and 1.3% state that there is no exact procedure.
 
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