Language Differences and Language Disabilities, Essay Example

Why is it important to determine the extent to which a student’s academic problems are due to language differences or language disabilities or some combination of both?

Language is a very integral part of human thought, rather than a series of verbalizations. A learner must have competence in creatively using language in a social learning in order to succeed in learning. Language also enables one to belong to a social group. Sometimes a student’s academic problems are as a result of language differences while at other times, they are as a result of language disabilities or even a combination of both. It is important to identify the case of the academic problems so that the student’s special needs can be met through provision of special attention.

Language difficulties may be as a result of inability by a learner to process language, and this constitutes a language disability. When a student is noticed to have language disability, intervention measures are needed which may require the teacher to use measures that are not necessarily of linguistic nature. A proper understanding of a student’s problems enables teachers to know the type of measures to take. This may be a challenging since common for learners to have a problem in one or more components of language, which include form, content or use (Bloom & Lahey, 1978).

Language disabilities arise when the form, content and use components of language are not integrated well in the student’s language behavior. This problem may be difficult for language teachers to identify. For this reason, the learner’s language disability may be exacerbated by ridicule, negative comments and isolation from friends.  Since language is the most commonly available point of reference for ones cognitive ability, it is very easy for teachers to confuse problems that arise as a result of language differences with those that arise as a result of language disabilities. The problem becomes compounded if the learner‘s problems are caused by both language disabilities and language differences.

When the extent of a learner’s academic problems is accurately determined, it becomes clear whether language and difficulties are as a result of a limited linguistic repertoire of a cognitive one. In both cases, the student might have difficulties using strategies such as the co-operative principle, in which case he will not be able to achieve the intended goals in any social communicative context. In the co-operative principle, the listener expects that the speaker will make reference to the information that is shared between the two participants in the communication. This creates assumptions that become part of the interaction process.

There are many issues that should be considered if learners with academic difficulties are to be assisted on how to use language. Such help can best be conceptualized and then offered to the student only when their cause is properly identified. If it is as a result of language differences, conventional linguistic components such as syntax, grammar, morphology, semantics, phonology and semantics can be concentrated on. If it is as a result of language difficulties, a social-psychological dimension has to be used whereby, the students is offered assistance on how to relate linguistic forms with his social setting.

In conclusion, an understanding of whether a learner’s academic problems are as a result of language differences or language disability of both is important because it determines whether the teacher employs a linguistic perspective, a social-psychological perspective, or both.

Discuss the relationship between problems in behavior and problems in learning.

Problems in behavior are much related to problems in learning in different ways. To begin with, teachers measure the progress in a child’s learning through reference to the behaviors that are predicted and therefore expected at different ages. Problems in behavior manifest themselves through socially unacceptable practices. These practices affect learning since negative attitudes towards academics may develop if the learner does not perceived the expected outcomes to be personally satisfying.

Learners who do not seem to be developing age-appropriate behaviors find themselves in learning difficulties. The difficulties are very much associated with inability to adapt in new learning situations. Instead, maladaptive behaviors are displayed in the form of both personal and in environmental responses. In terms of developmental perspectives, maladaptive behaviors result in negative effects on acquisition of skills. In terms of ecological perspectives, maladaptive behaviors affect the way in which learning takes as a result of an individual learner’s characteristics as well as interactions between a learner and his environment.

According to proponents of developmental perspectives, behaviors and emotions tend to develop in a predictable manner throughout an individual’s lifespan. As individuals, they tend to incorporate the things that they learn during typical life’s events into their unique individual personalities. The theorists use this approach in recommending the different instructional interventions that are relevant for children, adolescents as well as adults.

Different stages in an individual’s life present unique challenges that require an individual to get some form of learning that is relevant for the current problems. Learning is said to have taken when these problems are solved through the learning process. The current education systems used all over the world are designed using developmental perspectives. Progression from one grade to the next, from elementary level to college level and to university level, is often set to coincide with the emergence of new challenges in life and instructional materials are designed to solve these problems.

From an ecological perspective, Apter (1985) the behavioral and emotional disturbances that are observed in a child are derived from his interaction with his immediate environment. Positive behavior arises from positive reinforcement while negative behavior arises from negative reinforcement. According to ecologists, the quality of learning is determined by reciprocal interactions involving personal variables, quality of antecedent behaviors and environmental factors.

In conclusion, both developmental and ecological perspectives are important in understanding the relationship between problems in behavior and problems in learning.

References

Apter, S. (1985). Intervention from a Systems-Ecological Perspective. Research and Practice. 16(2) p. 262-270.

Bloom, L. & Lahey, M. (1978). Language Development and Language Disorders. New York: Wiley.