As. Mabbott, AN EXPLORATION OF READING-COMPREHENSION, ORAL READING ERRORS, AND WRITTEN ERRORS BY SUBJECTS LABELED LEARNING-DISABLED, Foreign language annals, 27(3), 1994, pp. 293-324
Citations number
61
Categorie Soggetti
Language & Linguistics","Education & Educational Research
There is a significant number of people labeled learning disabled (LD)
who have extreme difficulty learning a second language. Although a la
rge amount of research deals with learning disabilities, very little o
f it addresses the second language learning situation. The purpose of
this research is to explore whether, and how, decoding and encoding pr
oblems with a first language acquisition carry over into the second la
nguage acquisition of the LD-labeled students and what the consequence
s are for comprehension. This research consists of case studies of LD-
labeled subjects who have gained a degree of proficiency in a second l
anguage. The subjects' performance on written dictations, oral reading
s, and comprehension after oral and silent reading are compared qualit
atively between their first and second languages. In general, it was f
ound that the subjects had the same kinds of problems and made the sam
e kinds of errors in the first and second languages. By administering
these tests and interviewing the subjects about their language learnin
g experiences, the researcher also gained useful information about cla
ssroom practices and learning strategies that may help students labele
d LD learn a second language. All of these subjects (all adults) repor
ted having extreme difficulty in the foreign language classroom as wel
l as with English reading and writing skills. In spite of these proble
ms with language, four out of five gained a high degree of fluency in
their second language outside the classroom in immersion settings (as
foreign exchange students, by marrying a native speaker, by working wi
th migrant laborers). The fifth subject has been able to survive tradi
tional university foreign language classes by working extremely hard a
nd being very aggressive about seeking help. The paper discusses why t
hese learners succeeded in learning a second language while many of th
eir counterparts labeled LD fail.