With the right kind of input and support all learners can succeed in acquiring a new language.
The challenges that learners with SpLDs face in learning languages are real but not insurmountable.
The most important things to keep in mind are that the input and practice activities should:
- be multi-sensory,
- offer many opportunities for recapping and reviewing,
- be presented in small manageable chunks, and
- include explicit explanations about grammar, study skills and phonological systems.
Activities that embody these characteristics are not only helpful for neurodivergent learners – all the learners in a class will benefit. The techniques suggested here represent good general teaching practice.
Wondering what this might look like in your classroom?
The activities in this collection focus on the development of memory, organisation and processing skills, and encourage appropriate social interaction, as well as supporting language development.
Each activity comes with a full explanation of how the activity might work in a group, how to adjust the level of challenge to make them harder or easier and how to differentiate in a mixed ability group.
All the activities can be adapted to be used in 1:1 contexts. The materials are available as word documents from the ELT well members’ site, so that they can be tailored to suit the exact needs of the target learner/s.