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A Foreign Language Learner with Auditory Processing Disorder

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Introduction
n Ross, a new arrival in your MFL class, has an Auditory Processing Disorder. The Contact a family website, always a good source of information and advice about disabilities, says: "Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) was first noted in the USA in the mid-1960s. In 2004 it was defined by the British Society of Audiology steering group on APD as a hearing disorder resulting from problems with processing of sounds by the brain, rather than the ear and characterised by poor recognition, discrimination, separation, grouping, localisation or ordering of non-speech sounds." APD is also known as Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD).

Problem 1
n What are the experiences of MFL learners with APD?
n Many APD-related sites allude to foreign language learning difficulties. According to Living with (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder, which foreign language is especially "hard to understand" and why? Read My thoughts on my CAPD to find out how one APD sufferer fared when learning three different languages. Which coping strategy has the learner with APD developed here when trying to learn MFL?

Problem 2
n What constitutes good practice in teaching MFL learners with APD?
n In January 2004 a thread entitled "Disapplication of MFL" started on the SENCo Forum online discussion group. Study this message and its follow-up, which relate to the inclusion of learners with APD in the MFL classroom. Then read the expert advice in response to a question about an American third-grade child with CAPD attending a Hebrew day school. Cross-curricular online guides to APD do exist, for example here, suggesting classroom strategies to deploy when including students with the condition: which tactics lend themselves to MFL teaching and learning?

Further reading
n Schultz, J. J. (n.d.) CAPD and languages, http://school.familyeducation.com/learning-disabilities/speech/42778.html
n Young, M. (1985) 'Brain Function, Bilingualism and Central Auditory Processing: Theoretical Considerations regarding Second Language Learning Difficulty', University of Pennsylvania colloquium, Learning Disabilities and Foreign Language Learning. Philadelphia, March 1985.

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© 2009 · David R. Wilson