Meeting the Needs of Learners with Specific Learning Difficulties in Online and Face-to-Face Language Classrooms - Teacher Beliefs and Practices

Oct 15, 2026

This paper examines language teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, and practices for providing high-quality education to learners with specific learning difficulties across online and face-to-face settings worldwide. Drawing on communities of practice and social cognitive learning theories, it uses qualitative data from six teachers, including videorecorded interviews and teaching resources, and applies thematic analysis. Results show persistent challenges in all educational contexts, limited specialized training, and that technology-assisted online delivery can benefit some learner difficulties.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Theoretical framing: social cognitive learning and communities of practice

Teacher efficacy and outcome expectations

DOI: [https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1453](https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1453) Meeting the Needs of Learners with Specific Learning Difficulties in Online and Face-to-Face Language Classrooms: Teacher Beliefs and Practices Oksana Afitska*1 and Nur Ehsan Mohd Said2 • Drawing on communities of practice and social cognitive learning theories, this paper explores language teachers’ beliefs, knowledge and practices concerning the provision of high-quality education to learners with specific learning difficulties in various educational settings around the world. The data sample for this paper comprises qualitative data (videorecorded interviews and teaching resources) collected from six teachers working across various educational settings (primary, secondary, college and university) across several geographical areas (Europe, Middle East, and Southeast Asia) . Thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the data. The findings suggest that teachers continue to experience challenges in educating learners with specific learning difficulties regardless ofthe educational setting. Limited opportunities for receiving specialised training in this area have been identified by several teachers as one of the key factors affecting the quality of their practice. The change in the mode of instruction from face-to-face to online was not always reported as negatively affecting the quality of educational provision to learners with specific learning difficulties. Technology-assisted online lesson delivery was seen as being advantageous to learners with some types of learning difficulties. Findings from this paper can be useful to teacher-practitioners and teacher-educators who are interested in improving the quality of language education for learners with specific learning difficulties. Keywords: second language learning, online teaching and learning, assessment, instructional accommodations, specific learning difficulties, teacher beliefs and practice 1 *Corresponding Author. Lancaster University, UK; [o.afitska@lancaster.ac.uk](o.afitska@lancaster.ac.uk). 2 Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia. 76 meeting the needs of learners with specific learning difficulties in online and ... Zadovoljevanje potreb učencev s posebnimi učnimitežavami pri poučevanju jezika na daljavo in v živo: prepričanja in prakse učiteljev Oksana Afitska in Nur Ehsan Mohd Said • Na podlagi teorij izkustvenih skupnosti in socialnega kognitivnega učenja ta članek raziskuje prepričanja, znanje in prakse učiteljev jezikov v povezavi z zagotavljanjem visokokakovostnega izobraževanja učencems specifičnimi učnimi težavami v različnih izobraževalnih okoljih povsem svetu. Vzorec podatkov za ta članek obsega kvalitativne podatke (videoposnetke intervjujev in didaktična gradiva), zbrane pri šestih učiteljev, ki delajo v različnih izobraževalnih okoljih (osnovna, srednja, višja in visoka šola) na več zemljepisnih območjih (Evropa, Bližnji vzhodin jugovzhodna Azija). Pri tem je bila uporabljena tematska analiza podatkov. Ugotovitve kažejo, da se učitelji ne glede na izobraževalno okolje še naprej spoprijemajo z izzivi pri izobraževanju učencev, dijakov in študentov s posebnimi učnimi težavami. Omejene možnosti za pridobitev specializiranega usposabljanja na tem področju je več učiteljev opredelilo kot enega ključnih dejavnikov, ki vplivajo na kakovost njihove prakse. Sprememba načina poučevanja iz dela v živo v spletno izvedbo ni vednonegativno vplivala na kakovost izobraževanja za učence, dijake in študente s specifičnimi učnimi težavami. S tehnologijo podprto spletno izvajanje lekcij je bilo ocenjeno kot koristno za učence, dijake in študentez nekaterimi vrstami učnih težav. Ugotovitve tega članka lahko koristijoučiteljem praktikom in izobraževalcem učiteljev, ki jih zanima izboljšanje kakovosti jezikovnega izobraževanja za učence, dijake in študente sspecifičnimi učnimi težavami. Ključne besede: učenje drugega jezika, poučevanje in učenje nada

FAQs

What topic does the paper focus on?

The paper focuses on how language teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, and practices support learners with specific learning difficulties in both online and face-to-face language classrooms.

How was the study data collected and analyzed?

Qualitative data were collected from six teachers through videorecorded interviews and teaching resources, and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.

What key challenges did teachers report?

Teachers reported ongoing challenges in educating learners with specific learning difficulties across different educational settings, with limited opportunities for specialized training identified as a key factor.

Oct 15, 2026

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