Learning difficulties

It is widely known that a wide variety of learners can be found within one class. A lot of factors have the influence on these differences. They are mainly related to the outside influences such as social environment, the level of their first language, their parents’ education, their financial situation or the sufficient mental support of relatives.
The teacher needs to differ those with learning difficulties and those who put too little effort and commitment in developing their knowledge. The outside influences do not determine the learner’s success or failure but it is much easier to a student who is bolstered by his family. (Komorowska, 1999)
Pupils with learning difficulties can be divided into two general groups. Those who cause problem behaviour and those who do have problems with acquiring the language. This subchapter deals with the second type of learners.
The shyness of pupils is one of main problems here. They usually underestimate themselves, they are afraid of speaking so they put a lot of effort not to take the floor in a class forum. Komorowska (1999) suggests they shall be left passive so that they do not feel embarassed, but they should be given roles to participate during the lesson, for instance, searching for specific elements, like pictures. However, with the passage of time, they need to be accustomed to giving unassisted answers by active participation in these situations.
Students with learning difficulties often have problems with concentration of the mind. The teacher should create shorter tasks for them and all activities need to be more dynamic. What is more, they shall be monitored more often so that both teachers and such learners are sure the latter is still concentrated on the task.
Vision problems are the next challenge for the lector as they usually are the cause of problems related to speaking. The teacher is suggested to use more visual aids towards such students. They shall receive more pictures, drawings, video exercises as well as tables or diagrams.
Learners with hearing problems usually have difficulties with written texts. This is why they are required to work with video recordings, songs, poems, dialogues, in groups or pairs.
Nowadays, more and more people face writing difficulties that are caused by micodamages which appeared during the pregnancy or soon after, they are inherited from parents or their nervous system is not formed properly. Due to these disorders, specific reading and writing problems developed. The most frequent are: dyslexia, dysgraphia and dysortographia. These types may appear separately or they may be combined. (Dumania, nd)
Dyslexia means problems with reading and writing. Learners who suffer from this disability often omit some letters and syllables accidentally or they change their order in words or change the endings. They read slowly and that is why they are very reluctant to read out loud. What is more, they are not able to summarize what they have just read because they do not understand the text.
Students with dysgraphia have difficulties with handwriting. It is usually terrible, uneven or even indecipherable but it is not the manifestation of laziness but they are the result of perceptual and motricity disorders. The letters are disproportionate and clumsy, the style of writing is different within a sentence. (Krokocka, 2007)
Dysortographia deals with a number of mistakes that learners make. They have difficulties with mastering the correct spelling of words.

Their errors are often referred to as ‘bizare’ in that there is little or no connection between the letters they write and the phonemes occuring within the word.

(Westwood [b], 2008: 67)
All these writing disabilities may lead to perceptual and motricity disorders and their mutual cooperation, as well as to problems with concentration, memory and the impairment of spatial imagination. What is more, they have complications with learning foreign languages, inter alia English, as reading and spelling differ greatly.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Dumania, E., Dysleksja, dysgrafia - cóż to takiego? Retrieved from http://www.sp12tczew.hg.pl/rodzicom/02.html
Krokocka, E., 2007, Dysgrafia jako przyczyna niepowodzeń szkolnych. Retrieved from http://literka.pl/3/33108/dysgrafia_jako_przyczyna_niepowodzen_szkolnych
Westwood, P., 2008, What teachers need to know about teaching methods. ACER Press. [b]