Language Learning Strategies, Technology and Specific Reading Disabilities: A Study on Lower-Secondary School Students

Abstract

When learning a foreign language, many learners might not have well-defined strategies to support themselves. If teachers know which approaches can better help their students, language might be acquired in a more effective way. The aim of this dissertation was to research which language learning strategies (LLSs) are commonly used among lower-secondary school students, also considering learners with Specific Reading Disabilities (SRDs). The study wanted to identify whether there is any difference in the type of strategies and their frequency of use between pupils with and without SRDs. Given that technology is now widely employed in schools and that it is nowadays considered as a key component for learning a language, the research will also investigated the use of technological tools by SRDs students and non-SRDs students. The data were collected by means of an adapted and simplified version of a LLSs questionnaire, which was administered to a total of seven classes in the 2nd and 3rd year of Italian lower-secondary school. The strategies were analysed using Oxford’s taxonomy (1990). Findings showed that, among all the students, cognitive and affective strategies are the most used ones. In addition, differences are seen between the two groups of students: affective strategies are the ones favoured by non-SRDs students; whereas memory and social strategies are the least used. As for SRDs students, cognitive strategies resulted the most used; memory strategies are the least used too. Finally, technology is considered helpful and most of learners use it frequently, especially for translating and watching videos. However, there are cases in which SRDs-students prefer to learn with frontal lessons without technology.