1. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DIFFERENCES: IMPLICATIONS FOR UNIVERSITIES Sharon Noseley De Montfort University IATEFL April 13 th 2016

2. INCLUSIVE LEARNING AND TEACHING Why international students matter How Specific Learning Differences may affect our learners Research/Case Studies: MA English Language Teaching English Language Proficiency or a SpLD? Inclusive Learning : Recommended guidelines How many international students studied in the UK in 2014? How many international students studied in the UK in 2014?

3. 436,585 international students worth £14 billion ! By 2025… worth £26 billion ! (UKISA, 2015). They matter to me because they are my students!

4. “WHY DO SOME STUDENTS STRUGGLE WHILST OTHERS COPE?” “ Their English is not good enough to be at university” “Why are they here? It’s just money for the university” “They can’t organise their time, critically think, add an opinion or write an academic essay…” “Don’t want to participate in class discussions Only interact with others from similar backgrounds “ (HEA, 2013).

5. HOW SPECIFIC LEARNING DIFFERENCES AFFECT OUR LEARNERS (UWE BRISTOL, 2015)

6. FACT… The bottoob line it thit it doet exit, no bitter whit nibe teotle give it (i.e. ttecific learning ditibility, etc). Inficit, iccording to Thiywittz (2003), itt trevilence it ictuility one in five children, which it twenty tercent.’ ‘The bottom line is that it does exist, no matter what name people give it (.i.e. specific learning disability, etc.) In fact, according to Shaywitz (2003), its prevalence is one in five children, which is twenty per cent.’ That means one in five of our learners may have a SpLD…that is four students in a class of twenty….

7. THEORY… “English is a dyslexic language…[which]…actually causes greater number of dyslexics than any other languages” ( Schwartz, 1999 as cited by Smith, 2006: 93). Biological differences in the dyslexic mind affects literacy skills based on the linguistic demands of the orthography of the language in question (Paulesu et al. 2001 as cited by Goulandris and Snowling, 2003). Irregularities of the English phoneme- grapheme correspondence can cause challenges that may not have been present in the learner’s L1 (Phonological processing) (Kormos and Smith, 2012).

8. MY CASE STUDIES STUDENT A Cyprus – 23 years old Diagnosed dyslexic/ADHD at 22 Slow reading speed/word retrieval Time/sequencing/logic Fine motors skills/attention MA Graphic Design – app for dyslexic children to tell the time One to one support Passed with Merit

9. STUDENT B Kuwait – 40 years old Diagnosed at 39 years old in Kuwait after English tutor’s comments “Medical Condition” Not “culturally correct” Introduced a month before her final assessments. Discussed reading/writing/speaking difficulties Highly motivated but failed the pre-sessional courses. Returned to Kuwait.

10. STUDENT C China – 22 years old Diagnosed at DMU – dyslexia/dyspraxia/ADD Working Memory Phonological Processing Spelling Organisation Logical structure Currently studying for MA Fashion Management – supported and happy!

11. ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY OR SPECIFIC LEARNING DIFFERENCE? The reasons international students struggle is as complex as those of home students. It is not always related to language ability.

12. WHY THEY MATTER? Disabled Student’s Allowance regulations state: “students cannot claim if they do not have home residency status” (HE Student Finance DSA, 2013:5). Due to Government changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances, universities will have to pay out of their own ‘pockets’ to support home students with SpLDs. Universities are being advised to change classroom learning experiences in order to include all leaners! (Weale, 2015).

13. GUIDELINES : HOW TO CREATE AN INCLUSIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENTS WITH SPLDS Multi-Sensory Chunking Review Explicit (Kormos and Smith, 2012).

14. UNIVERSITY CHANGES TO ENSURE ALL LEARNERS ARE ACCOMMODATED Lecturers are asked to consider: Why students learn/What they learn/How they learn (Weale, 2015).

15. TO SUM UP: The external examiner’s report for my dissertation recommended that my research ‘was not just convincing but crucial and urgent if learners are to be given the support they deserve’ ( 2015) We need to adapt and change our teaching methods to create inclusive learning opportunities for all our students. Email: shaznosel@gmail.com Thank you and over to Sophie Farag !

16. REFERENCES: GOULANDRIS, N. and SNOWLING, M. (2003) Dyslexia in Different Languages. Cross- Linguistic Comparisons. London: Whurr Publishers. KORMOS, J and SMITH, A. M.(2012) Teaching languages to students with specific learning differences. Bristol: Multilingual Matters SMITH, A.M. (2006) Inclusion in English Language Teacher Training and Education. Unpublished thesis (PhD.), Lancaster University. THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACADEMY (2013) Engaging Home and International Students: A Guide for New Lecturers. [Online] Available from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/node/3302/Accessed 05/03/2016]. UK COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT AFFAIRS (2014) Impact of international students. [online] Available from: http://institutions.ukcisa.org.uk//Info-for-universities-colleges--schools/Policy-research--statistics/Policy-and- lobbying/Impact-of-international-students/ [Accessed on 29/3/2016] http://institutions.ukcisa.org.uk//Info-for-universities-colleges--schools/Policy-research--statistics/Policy-and- lobbying/Impact-of-international-students/ WEALE, S (2015) Government to cut funding for disabled students [Online] The Guardian. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/dec/02/government-to-cut-funding-disabled-university-students-jo- johnson [Accessed 29/3/2016] http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/dec/02/government-to-cut-funding-disabled-university-students-jo- johnson Images : Available from: [Accessed 30/3/2016] http://www.google.com/imghp http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/studysupport/disabilityservices/dyslexiaandspldservice/whataresplds.aspx http://www.nsta.org/disabilities/design.aspx http://www.ellisonboultersacademy.co.uk/phonics/