NEWSLETTER No 17 - March 2000

How To Help Children With Learning Difficulties in a Primary Language Classroom
by Ewa Dzierżawska

Every language class in a primary or secondary school is a mixed-ability class. Children vary in the level of their abilities, grammatical knowledge and size of vocabulary. In every class there are differences in learning styles, speed and positive or negative attitudes towards the language. Even in schools where classes are split into groups there are students good at languages, like they are good at all subjects, and those who generally experience more difficulties in learning. In every class there are students who are noisy and tend to dominate the class. They learn fast and remember things well. They usually finish an exercise before the rest of the class has only just begun. They are called fast learners and they are fairly easy to satisfy. We give them extra tasks to do; crosswords, texts to read, open-ended activities that, hopefully, they will find interesting.
While the stronger students dominate, some of the weaker students don't even try. They either keep quiet or sit at the back and disrupt the lesson. If some of them do try hard they aren't very successful and you have to give them a bad mark again. We call them children with learning difficulties.
If you are observant you may be able to recognise some of the difficulties they encounter. Some of them may not be able to ...

There is also a special category of students which does not quite fit the above description; the dyslexic students. Dyslexia, also called word blindness - a term which very well explains this type of learning difficulty, is becoming more and more common in many countries.
Teachers often ask how they can help children with learning difficulties. There are a lot of things you can do to make their life easier at school. Here are some suggestions you may find helpful when teaching your class. They are the 'techniques' that I have tried with my students.

To start with you have to believe you can help your students and you have to believe there is a way for their efficient learning - but be aware of the fact there are no dramatic results.

1. Develop good relationship with the students so that they trust you. Praise whenever possible and encourage but do not exaggerate! Reward them as often as possible but only when they deserve it. Do not make them feel special just because they are dyslexic or have other learning difficulties.

2. Do not compare them with other students.

3. Seat the dyslexic pupil near you so you can help when he needs it. You may, however, prefer to put another special needs student at the back of the class because he makes too much of a show when sitting in front of everyone and disrupts your lesson.

4. When you give your class a task to do make sure the special needs students have understood and are doing it properly. If there is something wrong, come up and check. Don't shout your explanations over the heads of all students in the class. Give them more time to organise their thoughts and finish their work. Remember that (especially) dyslexic students work slowly and tire easily. It's much harder for them to concentrate.

5. Do not correct all mistakes in the written work of a dyslexic student. It's too discouraging. You know there will be lots of them. Grade work on content and not on spelling mistakes.

6. Be brief and to the point when talking to your students, no matter if you use English or Polish. They won't listen if you talk too much. If you want to tell them something important do it quietly during the lesson. Don't take up too much of their break time. They will hate you for that! Remember that they are very tired after a class and need a rest.

7. If the special needs students are unable to do as much as the rest of the class, set long term goals for each of them (at the end of the month/term you should be able to ...) and short term goals for each lesson (how much vocabulary, how much grammar, how much homework etc). If they are unhappy about it, ask them for their suggestions. Do not get upset if the standard they propose is very low. Remember that they are afraid of failure. You have to help them build up their self-esteem. Once they are sure they are good at what they are doing they will probably ask for more difficult tasks.

8. Having set up agreed goals make sure they fulfil their side of the agreement. Encourage and motivate but be demanding. Check homework, do tests, whatever has been established.

9. Differentiate the level of difficulty when giving your group a test. Here is an example of a reading test prepared for different levels within one group of students.

Exercise 1
Przeczytaj informacje o cudzoziemcach przebywających w Polsce i zaznacz czy stwierdzenia podane pod tekstem są prawdziwe T (true) czy fałszywe F (false).

A. I'm Heidi Walker. I come from England. I teach English in Polish schools and I'm very busy because there are a lot of students in my classes. I enjoy Poland very much but sometimes I'd like to be in Chichester, my home town.

B. My name's John Dowsett. I'm American. I'm twelve years old and I go to the American School in Warsaw. It's a great school. I'm here in Poland with my parents but my two sisters are in San Francisco, which is a beautiful city in California. They go to university there.

a) Heidi comes from Great Britain.
b) She likes Poland.
c) She's got a lot of work because there aren't many English teachers.
d) John comes from the USA.
e) He goes to the British School in Warsaw.
f) He lives in Poland with his parents and his two sisters.

Exercise 2
Przeczytaj informację o cudzoziemcu mieszkającym w Polsce, a następnie napisz, czy stwierdzenia podane pod tekstem są prawdziwe T (true) czy fałszywe F (false).

My name's Kevin Whiley. I'm from Melbourne in Australia. It's in the south of the country. Here in Europe people call me an Aussie. It means 'someone from Australia'. It's great to be in Poland. I love your old cities: Kraków, Poznań, Gdańsk. I enjoy living in Jarosław where I teach English. The town is old and beautiful (although a bit run-down) and the people are friendly. I like the Polish countryside, too. I often go to the mountains because they're so close. My ambition is to cross Poland from Jarosław to Szczecin on foot. I'd like to stay in Poland five more years.

a) Melbourne is in the southern part of the continent.
b) Kevin is an Aussie.
c) He teaches a foreign language in Jarosław.
d) Kevin says that the people in Jarosław are nice.
e) Jarosław is near the mountains.
f) His ambition is to cycle from Jarosław to Szczecin.

10. Observe and try to discover how each of your students learns best and adapt your methods to suit their learning styles. Don't be afraid to ask them for help if you are not sure you are doing the right thing. They'll be happy to know you are interested in how they learn.

11. Use multi-sensory teaching in the lesson; use their eyes, ears and their bodies to remember the new vocabulary. Ask them to listen to the new material, read it and repeat it, draw words or phrases in the air or on their desks. Change the technique the next lesson, e.g. ask them to touch a particular word or a phrase, 'take it out' of the text and feel it. What's it like?

12. When evaluating them at the end of the term write a comment on their achievements as well as give them a regular mark. Talk about their weak points but stress strong points, too.

13. Finally, remember they have their ups and downs but don't give up. If you manage to help at least one student, congratulations!

close window