EFL/ESL Teachers’ Perception of Students with Learning Disabilities in Bangladesh

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2130526/v1

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EFL/ESL Teachers’ Perception of Students with Learning Disabilities in Bangladesh

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2130526/v1

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The number of students with special education needs is not clearly categorized in Bangladesh. Students with visible and perceptible physical and psychological disabilities may ask for supports and facilities that are required for their educational progress. But students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD do not get such services in Bangladesh. This paper focuses on the English language teachers in Bangladesh teaching at the pre-primary, primary, and secondary level to understand their perceptions of learning disabilities and intervention strategies. It also asks how the teachers would accommodate any students with learning disabilities in their classrooms. A blend of quantitative and qualitive data has been extracted in the process through in-person and virtual interviews with the teachers. Twelve teachers participated voluntarily in this study and shared their insight based on their personal experiences. Most of them claimed to have heard about learning disabilities but were not able to explain the term and relate with their experience. They expressed a positive inclination to accommodate children with any type of disabilities in their classrooms regardless of their pedagogical or infrastructural capacity. Further studies are required in this field since current literature largely exclude students with learning disabilities in Bangladesh.

Special Education

learning disabilities

ESL/EFL teachers

pedagogy

Children with learning disabilities are constantly misunderstood. They are bullied by their peers, mishandled by their parents and remain unattended by their teachers (Mishna, 2003; Silver, 2006; Varghese, 2020). Children’s academic achievement depends on their psychological and physical conditions. Inclusive education theorizes that education should be accessible to all kinds of learners but in reality, many children with special needs are not getting enough attention. Children with certain learning disabilities often do not find their appropriate educational destination since their needs are often ignored in the mainstream education centers. Since children with learning disabilities are not often diagnosed and their disabilities are often termed as inattentiveness or negligence, these children become victim of the system.

After my recruitment as a school teacher, I was asked to be present during pre-primary student interview. There was an experienced female instructor in the room interviewing the incoming kids. She gave me a piece of paper containing a checklist, one of which said, “Does the child respond when their name is being called?” I asked her about this question. She informed me that this question serves two purposes: 1. Does the child has any hearing issue? and 2. Can the child identify themselves? We met a child who could listen to us but was not responding when we were calling their name. My colleague invited another female teacher. She had special knowledge about early childhood development. We vacated the room so that she could talk to the child personally. Later on, she advised us not to admit the child since our school did not have the necessary support system to accommodate their needs. Their parents concluded that this child had not reached the age where they would be able to identify themselves and wished to get admission after a year.

From kindergarten to tenth grade, our school admit around 8% children who have some form of special education needs (SEN). Teachers in my school do not get in-service training to support these students. There is only one early childhood education specialist in the school who is unable to serve kids with SEN at the grades. Since the student-teacher ratio is 7:1, it is far easier for the teachers to communicate with the students inside and outside of the classroom. In a 40-minute class, a teacher has to teach 25 students in a single classroom on an average. Approximately 2 students in the classroom require special attention from the teacher. Depending on the skills of the teacher, these students with SEN get help accordingly. But as the teacher is untrained about SEN, it cannot be ensured that students with SEN are receiving the special treatment they deserve.

According to Bangladesh Disability Act 2013 (BDA 2013), education institution head or authority cannot deny admission application only because the applicant has any disability (Lamichhane & Kawakatsu, 2015). As illustrated above, getting admission may not be the only issue. Getting educational services after being admitted should be the main concern. National Education Roadmap for Bangladesh has also emphasized on the inclusivity, accessibility and equity of educational institution (2021). But it does not clarify how are educational institutions going to provide such facilities. The Department of Social Services (DSS) reports that 1.19 percent of the total population have some form of disability (Chandan, 2021). Bangladesh Education Fact Sheets 2020 shows,

Dropout rates are generally low but are higher among children with functional difficulties than among those without—especially at the primary level, where children with functional difficulties drop out 7 times more than those without. (38)

This factsheet also finds that,

Children with functional difficulties are also disproportionately present among those who are out of school, especially at the secondary level. This would seem to confirm earlier findings that these children often drop out earlier than their peers. (39)

Problem Statement

Despite the overwhelming number of people with special needs in Bangladesh, appropriate intervention strategies are absent in both literature and practice. Even though there is a law to ensure disabled people’s rights and broad education program to include their access, there seems to be no consideration for training needs assessment of the teachers responsible. It is not known how many teachers have knowledge of learning disabilities. Since education of the children with learning disabilities depends on the teachers, it is very important to understand what their perceptions are about learning disabilities. Learning disabilities can be very difficult to detect as these can be ignored by the teachers who lack conceptual understanding.

Research Question

1. What are the perceptions of ESL/EFL teachers about students with learning disabilities in Bangladesh?

2. How can ESL/EFL teachers accommodate students with learning disabilities in their classrooms?

The Non-Existent Population

When we are interested to investigate whether a particular population category has access to education services, we need to compartmentalize the whole group under a single umbrella so that they can be easily recognized. But when used in lexical terms, not much difference is noticed between learning disabilities and disabilities in general. Physical disabilities can be easily recognized. It is easy to recognize a person with no limbs, someone who cannot talk, hear or see, someone who makes incomprehensible phrases or non-verbal gestures. But it is very difficult to understand whether someone has dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, anxiety, attention or mood disorders just by looking at them. The complicated history of the definition of learning disabilities have been investigated by Donald D. Hammill (Hammill, 1962).

BDA 2013 has listed the following types as disabilities: Autism or autism spectrum disorder, physical disability, mental illness leading to disability, visual disability, speech disability, hearing disability, deaf-blindness, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, multiple disability, other disability (WDDF, 2013). BDA 2013 recognizes schizophrenia or similar psychological disorder, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress, anxiety or phobia which leads to dysfunction doing everyday tasks as mental disability (WDDF, 2013). BDA 2013 also recognizes those who have an unlisted abnormal physical and mental characteristic that prevent them from doing normal tasks in daily lives as having a disability (WDDF, 2013). Learning disabilities are not listed separately as a category in the BDA 2013 as disabilities. Those who are not recognized by the BDA 2013 as disable may not receive one or more social protection quotas. The Social Service Department of Bangladesh (SSDB) provides Golden Citizen identity to those who register themselves as a person with disability (Disability Information System, 2021). Since BDA 2013 and SSDB has no category for persons with learning disabilities, we cannot know for sure the number of students who have learning disabilities. It is worth mentioning that SSDB has a category titled “other” without any footnotes (Disability Information System, 2021).

Since SSDB and BDA 2013 have no definitions and category for persons with learning disabilities and their types, it can be assumed that at the macro level their existence is not recognized.

Teachers’ Perceptions in Other Countries

Thomas M.V mentions seven specific areas of learning disabilities, such as receptive language (listening), expressive language (speaking), basic reading skills, reading comprehension, written expression, mathematical calculation and mathematical reasoning (Thapa, Vander Aalsvroot & Pandey, 2008). He considers three types as the most prominent which are dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia (M.V, 2020). He further notes that in India the prevalence of learning disability (LD) is 15.17% (Mogasale, Patil, Patil & Mogasle, 2012). Thomas M.V concluded,

The present study concluded that, primary school teachers’ perception about learning disabilities is not proper enough to identify children with learning disabilities from primary classes. They did not have enough knowledge in various aspects of learning disability such as discrepancy criteria of LD, symptoms, prevalence and psychosocial issues connected with learning disabilities. They have certain false beliefs about the state of LD like complete cure and medicinal cure. They also perceived that absenteeism, laziness and behavioral problems can cause learning disability. Practicing yoga, repeated reading, repeating in the same class, denying special training and more homework under parental supervision and punishments are some of the practices they believe to be beneficial. At the same time, they have better understanding about the causations and diagnostic tests of LD. The male teachers are having better perception about LD than female teachers. Teachers with post graduations shows better attitudes about the various aspects of learning disabilities than TTC and graduate teachers. (2020)

In Indonesia, Sari and others had conducted a study to investigate teachers’ knowledge and experience dealing with learning disabilities in inclusive elementary school. Their research differs from Thomas M. V’s as they focused on elementary school which has inclusive facilities. They categorized their questionnaire in three major groups:

...the teacher’s knowledge of students with learning disabilities in inclusion elementary school; attitudes of teachers towards students with learning disabilities; and actions taken by the teacher based on the knowledge that has been held as the basic perception of the phenomenon of students with specific learning difficulties or learning disabilities in inclusive primary schools. (2017)

They concluded that teachers were not able to differentiate between children with learning disabilities and children with specific learning disabilities (Sari, et al, 2017). They have also emphasized guidance and training module for teachers so that they can understand the learning needs better.

Principals and teachers in the Nara Prefecture, Japan were interviewed to understand their perceptions of learning disabilities. The study indicated that both principals and teachers perceived teachers’ situations were a cause of learning disabilities. Their busy lives and pressures associated with teaching made learning difficult for the students. Ineffective classroom teaching was termed as a significant contributor in causing learning disabilities. Teachers reported that students with learning disabilities were not receiving appropriate support from the school (Kataoka et al., 2004). Their study noted the following implications,

The results of this study suggest that both principals and teachers need further information about learning disabilities. Principals were slightly more concerned about professional development than teachers. Seminars about learning disabilities are being offered by Prefectural Boards of Education and organizations such as the YMCA. However, they are often held on weekends, and teachers are not required to attend. Thus, principals might need not only to encourage teachers to undertake further learning but also support them by arranging for seminars during school time or immediately after school. The introduction of “pupil-free days” as in Australia, where 1-2 days are set aside each term for professional development within a school, may be a useful way of improving professional knowledge and skills. The creation of materials for teachers that include information about the nature of learning disabilities and effective teaching methods might also be beneficial. (2004)

Tara Lynn Broussard-Harshaw has also studied teacher perception toward students with certain disabilities in the general education setting. Tara’s study reinforces the need for general education teachers to have better understanding of how to accommodate student with learning disabilities in the least restrictive environment. Tara believes that, “This understanding will give teachers the confidence needed to maintain a positive expectation of students with disabilities in their classrooms.” Tara’s focus of the study included more than just students with learning disabilities. The study included other physical and mental health impairments. The investigation looked at the Arkansas’s educational approach to teaching students with disabilities in-depth. Tara Notes,

Arkansas recognizes 12 areas in which a student age five to twenty-one may qualify for services (Arkansas Department of Education, 2018). These categories are Autism, Deaf-Blindness, Hearing Impairment, Intellectual Disability, Emotional Disturbance, Multiple Disabilities, Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impairment, Specific Learning Disability, Speech or Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury and Visual Impairment (Arkansas Department of Education, 2018). For purposes of brevity and due to the increasing numbers of these handicapping conditions, this study will look at students with specific learning disabilities, Other Health Impaired, Autism and Emotional Disturbance and the perceptions general education teachers have about these particular disabilities (Arkansas Department of Education, 2018). (2019)

There is no legal definition for SEN in Sweden as their education system follows the principle ‘a school for all’. Medical, social, psychological and pedagogical tests are carried out to assess students’ needs. Students’ have the liberty to choose a special school or a mainstream school (Special needs education in Sweden, 2019). However, Kerstin and others argue that, “…while research and debate about inclusive education are important, both are insufficient without analyses of existing types of segregated schooling” (Goransson et al, 2020). The National Curriculum of Sweden is designed so that,

All compulsory education will be organised in such a way that individual solutions are possible for all pupils. This is a way of strengthening the pupils’ influence and personal responsibility, but also a way of taking into account all pupils’ needs and individuality. (Murphy, 2014)

Identification Authority

As mentioned earlier, in Bangladesh learning disabilities are not recognized by the Bangladesh Disability Act 2013 or the Social Service Department of Bangladesh as a distinct category. But someone with evidence and supporting documents from appropriate specialist and community leader can register themselves as a person with disability. The identification in Bangladesh depends on the awareness of the individual, their parents or other relevant stakeholders. But neither Bangladesh Disability Act 2013 nor the Social Service Department of Bangladesh provides definition or descriptions of the major learning disabilities. Therefore, the whole identification process in Bangladesh is unclear and complicated. Bangladesh supports and is a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (CRDP, 2006). Even though CRPD talks about the protection of rights of individuals with disabilities but it does not focus on the issue of learning disabilities. Article 24 (1) and 24 (2) of CRPD recognizes that state parties will ensure an inclusive education at all levels in order to:

(b) The development by persons with disabilities of their personality, talents and creativity, as well as their mental and physical abilities, to their fullest potential;

In realizing the right, state parties shall ensure,

(a) Persons with disabilities are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of disability, and that children with disabilities are not excluded from free and compulsory primary education, or from secondary education, on the basis of disability;

(b) Persons with disabilities can access an inclusive, quality and free primary education and secondary education on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live;

(d) Persons with disabilities receive the support required, within the general education system, to facilitate their effective education;

(e) Effective individualized support measures are provided in environments that maximize academic and social development, consistent with the goal of full inclusion. (2006)

Article 24 (3) talks about the promise from the signatory states that they will “…enable persons with disabilities to learn life and social development skills to facilitate their full and equal participation in education and as members of the community” (CRPD, 2006). Article 24 (3) (a) asks the state parties to facilitate “the learning of Braille, alternative script, augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication and orientation and mobility skills, and facilitating peer support and mentoring” (CRPD, 2006). Article 24 (3) (b) asks for facilitating “sign language and the promotion of the linguistic identity of the deaf community” (CRPD, 2006). Article 24 (3) (c) expects that state parties will be,

Ensuring that the education of persons, and in particular children, who are blind, deaf or deafblind, is delivered in the most appropriate languages and modes and means of communication for the individual, and in environments which maximize academic and social development. (CRPD, 2006)

The above-mentioned codes prove that the CRPD signatories did not consider how persons with learning disabilities would be identified or receive educational services.

Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in India provides unique identification for persons with disabilities to enable persons with disabilities “…to avail schemes and benefits provided by the Government through its various Ministries and their Departments” (Unique Disability ID, 2021). As per the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights & Full Participation) Act, 1995 - A person with disability can be defined as one with one or more of disabilities falling under any of the following categories: blindness, cerebral palsy, low vision, leprosy-cured, mental retardation, mental illness, and hearing impairment (Unique Disability ID, 2021). The category does not include persons with learning disabilities.

Jugnu Agrawal and others have conducted a study across 10 countries (Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and United Kingdom) “…to explore legislative efforts, services, and interventions provided to students with learning disabilities” (Agrawal et al, 2019). The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported that found that students with disabilities are less likely to complete primary or secondary school in many countries of the world (UNESCO, 2018). Article 24 of the United Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also advocates for students with disabilities so that they receive free, inclusive, and appropriate education at primary and secondary schools (2006). Agrawal and others point to the fact that very little has been studied in terms of “…legislative and policy efforts and the implementation of services and supports for students with learning disabilities (LD) in reading or dyslexia around the world” (Agrawal et al, 2019). Their study focused on the students with learning disabilities in reading or dyslexia. They have asked how do countries around the world define learning disabilities in legislation and policy and identify students with learning disabilities and what services, supports, and interventions are provided to students with learning disabilities in reading or dyslexia based on each country’s legislation and policies (Agrawal et al, 2019).

They have found that Canada does not have a state legislation providing access to special education for individuals with disabilities but their anti-discrimination bill, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom (1982) protects the civil rights of individuals with disabilities (Wong & Hutchinson, 2001). They have noted that “each Canadian province has policies in place that ensure the right to free public education for individuals with disabilities” (Agrawal et al, 2019). Agrawal and others mentioned that learning disabilities is recognized disability in Canada and its services are provided through local municipality and provinces. They recommended that the educators across the world collaborate to support students with learning disabilities addressing the learning needs of the students (Agrawal et al, 2019).

The most relevant research that is of interest here has been done by Sowell and Sugisaki. They have explored EFL teachers’ experience with learning disability training. They have noticed that around 10% learners have some sort of learning disabilities. English language instructors encounter students with learning disabilities in their classrooms but they saw that not much is known about the relevant training that these teachers were supposed to receive. Therefore, they decided to identify whether their participants (who were EFL instructors) had received any training to identify and accommodate students with learning disabilities; those who did receive the training what types of training did they receive; and whether their training had helped to develop competencies in assisting students with learning disabilities. Their study shows that the majority of the English teachers had little to no training and the majority were not confident in assisting students with learning disabilities (Sowell & Sugisaki, 2020).

Identification Tools and Instruments

So far, the discussion focused on the institutional and national identification process. Now, the attention will be given on the tools or instruments available to measure the level of students’ learning disabilities and their types. For the convenient of this study and to save space, the following review only focuses on dyslexia in various countries of the world.

Swedish Dyslexia Association

According to Swedish Dyslexia Association (SDA), schools are responsible for investigating whether a learner has dyslexia. The SDA has prepared an investigation model which is followed in various municipalities in Sweden. They have advised to seek help from speech therapy clinic or private investigators. According to Swedish Education Act, the school principal is liable for students’ need for support. The new Education Act of Sweden states that support must be given after careful pedagogical considerations which include six steps: noticing, investigating, documenting, providing remedy, following up, evaluating (Swedish Dyslexia Association, 2021). SDA prescribes,

These principles apply from preschool class to high school education. “An action program must be prepared for a student who is to be given special support. The program must state what the needs are, how they are to be met and how the measures are to be followed up and evaluated. The pupil and the pupil's guardian shall be given the opportunity to participate when an action program is prepared.” (2021)

The International Dyslexia Organization in 2002 has defined dyslexia as, “…difficulties in decoding individual words and/or fluent word recognition, due to phonological deficiencies as an important criterion.

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that has neurological causes. Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties with correct and / or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding ability. These difficulties are usually caused by a disturbance in the phonological component of the language, which is often unexpected with regard to other cognitions. abilities and despite opportunities for effective teaching. Secondary consequences may include difficulties with reading comprehension and limited reading experience, which may impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge”. (SDA, 2021)

Mikael Holmqvist has made a case on “consecrating medicalization” while studying medical diagnosis of dyslexia in a Swedish elite school. Mikael’s study has found that unemployed, homeless and poor people can be classified as disabled, excluding them from the society. According to him, medicalization acts to manifest and re-produce incapacitated social groups and may contribute to create and maintain “underclasses” (Holmqvist, 2020). Holmqvist concludes,

The practice of dyslexia diagnosis is an interesting one when examining how privilege is maintained and re-produced. Firstly, dyslexia is heavily contested from a sociological point of view, suggesting that the label must be understood in its social and historical context, thus stressing the familiar observation among students of medicalization that medical labels are largely the result of social and political processes (Elliott & Grigorenko, 2014; Elliott & Gibbs, 2008). Secondly, it is sometimes associated with highly successful and socially important people, making this “disability” seem less stigmatizing than other common categories; or even an attractive one (Carrier, 1986; Hale, 2015). (2020)

The British Dyslexia Association

The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) provides two kinds of services: individual assessment (self-funded) and corporate assessment (employer, school, etc.). Their diagnostic assessment usually takes up to three hours to complete. The assessment takes place in a private room which is quiet and free from disturbances with a writing surface/table available. The assessor carries out a series of tests to explore aspects of underlying ability such as: reading, writing and spelling; handwriting and fine motor skills, underlying learning skills (phonological awareness, speed of processing and memory, speech and language and auditory processing). An informal conversation also happens to gather background information of the client (BDA, 2021).

The BDA has some guidance and advise for those seeking a diagnostic assessment with a specialist teacher or other professional. According to them, the individual carrying out the assessment hold the following:

1. An Assessment Practicing Certificate (APC) if they are a specialist teacher assessor. This needs to be current as this certificate requires renewal every 3 years. 2. Specialist Teacher Assessors should also hold a level 7 specialist qualification and ideally be a member of a professional body such as the BDA in which case they will hold what is known as AMBDA. Professional membership of such organizations as the BDA, PATOSS or The Dyslexia Guild mean that the assessor is obliged to undertake regular Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and keep up to date. 3. All assessors should also have DBS clearance and be able to provide evidence of this. The individual being assessed may be alone with the assessor during the assessment process so it makes sense to check this. 4. All assessors should also hold Professional Indemnity Insurance. (2021)

International Dyslexia Association

The International Dyslexia Association is located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland. According to the International Dyslexia Association (IDA),

The key symptoms of dyslexia are problems with decoding or single word reading and/or poor reading fluency and poor spelling. Phonological weaknesses or disorders, specific language-based difficulties, are usually the underlying cause of the literacy problems associated with dyslexia. Comprehension may be impaired and writing skills will suffer if spelling is not mastered. Language and vocabulary problems can cause comprehension difficulties that can become more severe over time as academic demands increase. Poor readers may have weak vocabulary and background knowledge caused by reading less than average readers. (2021)

They suggest that students who “…continue to struggle with literacy skills despite the provision of additional high quality, expert instruction using Response to Intervention (RTI)/Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), a formal clinical evaluation is needed to determine if they have dyslexia” (2021).

Assessment of dyslexia involves individual testing, most often provided by a team of qualified professionals who have had extensive clinical training in assessment as part of a graduate degree program. Professional clinicians who assess Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) and dyslexia may have M.A., M.S., M.ED., Ed.D., or Ph.D. degrees in Education, Reading, Speech Language Pathology, School Psychology, Psychology, or Neuropsychology. Evaluation by a medical doctor is not required for assessment or identification of SLD or dyslexia. (IDA, 2021)

IDA advises to assess the following areas in an educational evaluation of dyslexia:

• Phonological Awareness – an individual’s awareness of and access to the sound structure of his/her oral language

• Phonological or Language-Based Memory – ability to recall sounds, syllables, words

• Rapid Automatic Naming – speed of naming objects, colors, digits, or letters

• Receptive Vocabulary – understanding of words heard

• Phonics Skills – understanding of the symbol (letter) to the sound(s) relationship, either individually or in combination with other letters

• Decoding –ability to use symbol-sound associations to identify (read – pronounce) words

- Real Words

- Nonsense Words

• Oral Reading Fluency – ability to read accurately, at a story-telling pace – to facilitate / support comprehension

- Single Words

- Sentences and Paragraphs

• Spelling

• Writing

- Sentence Level

- Paragraph Level

Amanda Ward and others noted, “early identification is becoming increasingly important, as longitudinal research has shown that later remediation is less effective than early intervention” (Ward et al, 2019). They have provided an elaborate assessment process and tools to diagnose children with dyslexia. The table is given below:

Table 1: Commonly used tools in the assessment and diagnosis of dyslexia

Measure		Age/grade range		Key subtests	Domains assessed with key subtests
Boston Naming Test, 2nd Edition (BNT-2)		5:0–12:5 years, 18–79 years		n/a	Single-word expressive vocabulary
Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, 2nd Edition (CTOPP-2)		4:0–24:11 years		Blending nonwords, blending words, elision, memory for digits, nonword repetition, phoneme isolation (7–24), rapid color naming (4–6), rapid digit naming, rapid letter naming, rapid object naming (4–6), segmenting nonwords (7–24), sound matching (4–6)	Phonological awareness, phonological memory, rapid symbolic naming, rapid non-symbolic naming (4–6)
Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS)		8–89 years		Verbal fluency test	Rapid word generation/ retrieval
Differential Abilities Scales, 2nd Edition (DAS-II)		2:6–17:11 years for full measure; 5:0–12:11 years for phonological processing subtest		Phonological processing, rapid naming	Phonological processing (including rhyming, sound blending, phoneme elision, and phoneme segmentation), rapid automatic naming
Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, 4th Edition (EOWPVT-4)		2–80+ years		n/a	Single-word expressive vocabulary
Expressive Vocabulary Test, 2nd Edition (EVT-2)		2:6–90+ years		n/a	Single-word expressive vocabulary
Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, 4th Edition (GMRT-4)		K.7 – post high school		Comprehension (most levels), vocabulary (most levels); different subtests for pre-reading, beginning reading, and levels 1 and 2	Reading comprehension, word knowledge, early reading concepts (e.g., letter knowledge, letter-sound correspondence, word decoding) in lower levels
Gray Oral Reading Test, 5th Edition (GORT-5)		6–23 years		n/a	Oral reading rate, oral reading accuracy, reading comprehension
Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test, 3rd Edition (LAC-3)		5:0–18:11 years		n/a	Phonemic processing, syllabic processing
Nelson-Denny reading test (NDRT)		9–12th grade, 2-year college, 4-year college		Comprehension, vocabulary	Silent reading comprehension, silent reading speed, word knowledge
A Developmental NEuroPSYchological Assessment, 2nd Edition (NEPSY-II)		3–16 years		Phonological processing, speeded naming, word generation	Phonological processing, rapid automatic naming, rapid word generation/retrieval
Oral and Written Language Scales, 2nd Edition (OWLS-II)		3:0–21:11 years		Listening comprehension, oral expression, reading comprehension, written expression	Auditory comprehension, oral expression/fluency, reading comprehension, written expression
Test of Word Reading Efficiency, 2nd Edition (TOWRE-2)		6:0–24:11 years		Phonemic decoding efficiency, sight word efficiency	Word reading/recognition speed, phonemic decoding speed
Test of Written Language, 4th Edition (TOWL-4)	9:0–17:11 years		Vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, logical sentences, sentence combining, contextual conventions, story composition		Sentence generation, auditory dictation at the sentence level, editing, sentence combining, written expression at the short story level
Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, 3rd Edition (WIAT-III)	4:0–50:11 years		Oral reading fluency, pseudoword decoding, reading comprehension, spelling, word reading		Oral reading rate and accuracy, phonemic decoding, reading comprehension, spelling, word reading/ recognition
Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement, 4th Edition (WJ IV ACH)	2–90+ years		Letter-word identification, oral reading, passage comprehension, reading recall, sentence reading fluency, spelling, spelling of sounds, word attack, word reading fluency		Word reading/identification, oral reading rate and accuracy, reading comprehension, silent reading speed and accuracy (for individual words and sentences), spelling, grapheme-phoneme correspondence, phonemic decoding

Note: The reader is referred to Dyslexia Help at the University of Michigan for a comprehensive list of assessment tools for dyslexia (http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/dyslexics/learn-about-dyslexia/dyslexia-testing/tests) (Ward et al, 2019)

Japan Dyslexia Society

The Japanese dyslexia society was established as a non-profit organization to promote the knowledge of dyslexia, provide support and tools such as assessment and solution to the difficulties dyslexic people face. According to Ms. Eiko Todo, there is no legislation for dyslexia or learning disabilities in Japan yet but there are existing frameworks to start SEN (Todo, 2021). Most local schools depend on psychological tests such as Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) to measure the difference of verbal and performance IQ. Todo further notes that,

In case of a pediatric neurologist specialized in dyslexia, WISC-III, diagram tracing of Gesell, Anomia, vocabulary test and phonetic recognition by speech therapist, clinical diagnosis such as hand writing, language comprehension are undertaken. Somewhat it is similar to Bangor test in UK. In short there is no standardized assessment for dyslexia in Japan yet. (2021)

Bali Dyslexia Foundation

The Bali Dyslexia Foundation (BDF) mentions that 295,000 children struggle with dyslexia in Bali. They are also a non-profit organization providing education learning programs for the most disadvantaged children in Indonesia with learning difficulties such as dyslexia. According to BDF handbook for screening,

A comprehensive evaluation typically includes intellectual and academic achievement

testing, as well as an assessment of the critical underlying language skills that are closely linked to dyslexia. These include receptive (listening) and expressive language skills, phonological skills including phonemic awareness, and also a student’s ability to rapidly name letters and names. A student’s ability to read lists of words in isolation, as well as words in context, should also be assessed. If a profile emerges that is characteristic of readers with dyslexia, an individualized intervention plan should be developed, which should include appropriate accommodations, such as extended time. The testing can be conducted by trained school or outside specialists. (2019)

The Bali Dyslexia Foundation provides tailored resources for students so that they can perform better in school. They also provide training to the teachers, teaching assistants and education staff with knowledge and skills to support their dyslexic students. They encourage that screening for dyslexia should be done when children are beginning their educational journey to locate who are “at risk” of reading difficulty. They recommend Colorado Learning Disabilities Questionnaire – Reading Subscale (CLDQ-R) School Age Screener (BDF Handbook, 2019). For basic screen testing they use the scoring instructions provided by the International Dyslexia Association.

The Dyslexia Association of India

The Dyslexia Association of India (DAI) is a non-profit organization that assesses and children and adults with dyslexia and other special needs related to education throughout Delhi and Pan India. They have designed screening tools for investigating the cognitive functions of children. They use “Neuropsychological assessment which involves the use of a series of tests that are reliable which means that - in the same circumstances they produce the same result-and these are valid - they measure what they are designed to measure” (DAI, 2021). Their comprehensive neuropsychological examination includes the assessment of:

(a) premorbid ability; (b) I.Q. general intellectual level; (c) memory; (d) dyslexia & language; (e)dyscalculia; ( f) problem solving; (g) alertness and attention; (h) visual and space perception (i) autism spectrum disorders (j) phonological ability including processing, decoding, phonic skills, sentence reading, spelling and word construction, syllable segmentation ability with speed and coherence (k) aspergers (l) behaviour (m) aphasia assessment (n) dyspraxia assessment (o) sensorimotor screening (p) oculomotor (q) executive functioning (r) auditory processing disorder screening (s) visual and visual verbal memory (t) working memory (u) dysgraphia - to name a few. (2021)

They used screening tools such as NEPSY-II, WRAT, WJ, WISC, WMS, etc. to construct performance tests of their clients. Even though they emphasized that they are a non-profit organization but their method of characterization of dyslexia follows a for-profit business model.

National Brain Research Center (NBRC) of India has developed an assessment tool in South Asian languages called Dyslexia Assessment for Languages in India (DALI). They have noted that most tools for screening dyslexic children are available in English which can be problematic and culturally inappropriate. NBRC has developed this tool for school teachers and psychologists in India. They have standardized and validated their tools across a large population nearly 4840 children. According to UNESCO MGIEP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development),

The tools are available in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and English and development in other languages is in process. DALI contains two screening tools for dyslexia (for school teachers), namely the JST (Junior Screening Tool) for classes (1-2) and the MST (Middle Screening Tool) for classes (3-5) in four languages, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and English. It also contains eight standardized and validated assessment Batteries to be used by psychologists. It is further being made available in 4 more South Asian languages. (2021)

Archana Jyoti concluded that,

Dyslexia assessment is often restricted to English, with an absence of tests in different languages and writing systems, leading to inappropriate and incorrect assessment. The DALI standardized test to detect dyslexia is available in four regional Indian languages – Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and English. “DALI has been standardized and validated among nearly 4,000 children from classes one to five,” Singh says. Work is underway to extend it to Tamil, Telugu and Bengali. Importantly, it is not curriculum based, thus facilitating its use across the country among bilingual children. (2019)

Suriyafaz Dyslexia

Suriyafaz dyslexia is a non-profit organization based in Bangladesh that is known for identifying dyslexia, giving support and training free of cost to both parents and teachers. They claim to have served 1000 students and teachers by making them aware about dyslexia. Their screening and intervention techniques could not be found (Suriyafaz Dyslexia, 2021).

Ali and Sarwar have studied the prevalence of dyslexia in primary school in Dhaka and how it impacts the academic and social life of the children in 2015. They studied 133 students from the fourth grade using Bangor Dyslexia Test, Raven’s Progressive Metrics and the academic record of the students to screen out their dyslexia. They have found 9.02% children who had dyslexia (Ali & Sarwar, 2015).

Irfana Samia has investigated the problem of dyslexia among young children of Bangladesh as part of her thesis paper (2009). She has used Dyslexia Early Screening Test (second edition) by Nicolson, R. I. and Fawcett A. J. (2004) as a measure for screening students at risk of dyslexia. She concluded,

Findings from the pilot study indicates that most of the subtests of Dyslexia Early Screening Test, Second Edition, (DEST-2) would be appropriate for the children aged 4.5 to 6.5 years both from English and Bangla medium schools in Bangladesh. According to all of the judges whose opinion were taken about the subtests of DEST-2, nine of the subtests viz. Rapid Naming, Bead threading, Postural Stability, Forward Digit Span, Digit Naming, Letter Naming, Sound Order, Shape Copying and Corsi Frog were fully suitable to use with children of our country. For rest of the three subtests-Phonological Discrimination, Rhyme Detection/First Letter and Vocabulary – they suggested some changes. But most of them suggested all of the items of Phonological Discrimination, Rhyme Detection/First Letter was appropriate for children of our country except few items which were needed to change. It was seen that almost all of the judges said that the subtest vocabularies were not appropriate for the children aged 4.5 to 6.5 years in Bangladesh and they suggested changes about some of the items. For example, all of the judges strongly recommended to change the item ‘Habit’ which indicates kind of religious cloth usually monk use to wear. But this vocabulary and the picture is very unfamiliar to the Bangladeshi children aged 4.5 to 6.5 and even above than this age range. So, they suggested some alternative vocabulary like some of the Bangladeshi dress ‘Paijama, Panjabi and Tupi’, ‘Shari/Saloar Kamij’, ‘Pant-Shirt’ instead of ‘Habit’. (2009)

The above-mentioned studies and organizational contribution indicate that the studies relating to learning disabilities have largely been absent in Bangladeshi context. It is not clear whether the instruments used by the researchers were appropriate for the studies being taken.

In this chapter, I will discuss the theoretical components of this study.

Individualistic and Collectivistic Learners

Individualist cultures focus more on self-direction, autonomy, and self-expression, with self-fulfillment, personal achievement, and personal rights and liberties whereas in collectivist cultures the focus is on harmony, relatedness, and connection, with in-group goals, social responsibilities, relationships, and conformity (Morling & Lamoreaux 2008; Triandis 1995). Individualistic learning means, "working by oneself to ensure that one’s own learning meets a present criterion independently from the efforts of the other students" (Johnson & Johnson, 1999). According to Kawamura,

Most Asian cultures are predominantly collectivistic in nature. In collectivistic cultures, individuals are seen as embedded within their group identity, and the notion of a separate, autonomous self is deemphasized. Even an individual’s physical appearance is often seen as not only a reflection of the individual’s own internal self but also a representation of the family, extended family, and perhaps even the Asian community as a whole. Because of fluid personal boundaries, it is not uncommon for individuals to hear comments or even demands regarding their physical appearances, especially from family members. Individuals who ascribe to collectivistic values also tend to engage in social comparisons to ensure they are conforming to group norms. Standing out in a way that reflects poorly on the group, or causes the group to ‘lose face’, frequently leads to intense feelings of shame. For these reasons, those with body types, physical appearances, or physical disabilities that deviate too far from the norm may experience not only their own disappointment but also the disapproval of their family or community. Therefore, motivation to change one’s physical appearance for those in collectivistic cultures may be to avoid shame, fit in, and be accepted by the group – group acceptance. This is in comparison to individualistic cultures where the motivation may be to stand out and be admired – group adulation. (2012)

Since Bangladesh is located inside Asia, we can safely assume that the learners of Bangladesh are more collectivistic than individualistic. Bangladeshi state examination results are regarded as one such scales which allow learners to feel either proud or ashamed before their family, relatives and neighbors. We need to keep in mind that the dominating social expectations may undermine learners’ disabilities by emphasizing family’s prestige and honor against the self-esteem and capacity of the learners.

Constructivist Perspective

The constructivist perspective of child development extrapolates that the theoretical realization of children directly contributes to their own learning through interactive experiences with the society around them (Dewey, 1923; Piaget, 1952; Vygotsky, Rieber & Carton, 1993; Gardner, 1991). We can stretch the perspective to include that students’ learning environment is constructed by their respective teachers. In the classroom, they construct the reality through education. Conception of learning disabilities may in fact can differ depending on the experience of the learner and the teacher.

In this chapter, I will discuss how the study was carried out. I will describe how the participants were considered, measures were taken, and research was designed.

Participants

For the convenience of the research, I have selected EFL/ESL instructors as the participants of this research. I was able to include 12 instructors from the pre-primary, primary and secondary level schools in Bangladesh. The sample was chosen to represent different types of schools. Both male and female instructors were selected from different experience group. Teachers were chosen from village, municipality, district and city. Participants were detailed about the research objective, procedures, and a copy of their responses were sent to them. They voluntarily participated in the interview.

Table 2: Gender of the Participants

Male	Female
9	3

Table 3: Type of School

Public	3
Private	6
Non-Government	3

Table 4: Qualification of the Participants

Master of Arts	9
Bachelor of Arts	3

Table 5: Teaching Experience

1-5 years	7
6-10 years	2
11-15 years	1
16-20 years	0
21-30 years	2

Table 6: Pre-Service Training

No Training	8
Bachelor of Education	1
CELTA	1
Other	2

Table 7: In-Service Training

No Training	2
Bachelor of Education	4
Masters of Education	1
Teaching Quality Improvement 1 & 2	1
Diploma in Primary Education	2
Pron Dive School	1
SESIP	1

Table 8: Location

Village	5
Municipality	1
District	1
City	5

Table 9: Curriculum

NCTB	11
GCSE	1

Measures

A semi-structured interview was conducted to understand the perception of the participants. The interviews were arranged in-person, over the phone and using messenger service.

Research Design

The primary target of this study was to understand the perception of teachers teaching at the pre-primary, primary, and secondary level. The semi-structure interview was prepared to qualitatively understand teachers’ perceptions of learning disabilities in Bangladesh. Each participant was approached with a view to understanding their basic and deeper beliefs about learning disabilities.

In this part, I will present my research outcome and their discussion.

Teachers’ Perception Of Learning Disabilities

10 participants out of 12 informed me that they have heard about learning disabilities. When asked about their source of information, they were unsure. They assumed that they have heard about this in any of the training sessions or during their own education. When they were asked what they understood by the phrase “learning disabilities”, their responses were varied and interesting.

Participant 1

A pre-primary government school teacher from a village thought that those children who remain silent in the classroom and do not participate as much can be considered as children with learning disabilities. He had a business degree (Bachelor of Business Administration) before joining the school and did not receive any training on teaching or on learning disabilities before joining school. He, however, did receive 15 days long training on pre-primary education and completed Diploma in Primary Education within 1.5 years while teaching. He has 5 years of teaching experience. In a single classroom, he teaches around 30 children. He has never heard the phrase learning disabilities formally. But he understands the various learning disabilities only lexically. He has been in a classroom where he saw children with special needs but they did not have any learning disabilities. They had functional disability (deafness and autism). Even though he never took any training on learning disabilities, he thought he could personally identify children with learning disabilities.

Participant 2

A government primary school teacher teaching in a remote Bangladeshi village said, “Sometimes children have difficulty commuting to and from school. Their parents do not want to send their children to school because they work beside them in their houses. They do not guidance, misses breakfast, inherit parents’ weak cognitive skills, and their environment make them poor learners.” He considered these as disabilities. He took pre-service training from UNICEF under their “Hard to Reach Program for Slum Children.” He has more than 10 years of teaching experience and has a Master’s degree in Political Science. He also completed his Diploma in Primary Education during his work period. His average class size is 27. Participant 1 and 2 both follows NCTB curriculum.

Participant 3

She works at a pre k – 12 school, located in a city following GCSE curriculum. Her class size is 35. She has 12 years of teaching experience and has a Master’s degree in English Language Teaching and Literature. She has done her Bachelor of Education (B. Ed) during her work period. She has heard about the term “Learning Disabilities” during a training session on autism and also during her B. Ed. Study. She has combined the term learning disabilities with other disabilities while defining it. She says, “Every child has some sort of disabilities. Some kids have reading, writing, visual problems. Some kids have weak limbs.” She claims to have deeper understanding of dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, among many other learning disabilities. She has experienced classroom where she had to teach children with special learning needs. So far, she has met 8 children with some form of learning problems. They had difficulties writing, ADHD and other verbal issues.

Participant 4

She has five years of teaching experience at a private school which follows curriculum similar to Montessori. But the school follows national curriculum of Bangladesh as well. She did not receive any pre-service training related to her teaching. She has Bachelors and Masters degree in English language and literature. She is a fifth grade English teacher. Her two sections of classes include 39 students. Her school is located in the city and spends 40 minutes for each of her classes. She has heard about learning disabilities and thinks whatever learning disabilities children face are learning disabilities. She has somewhat idea of Disorders of Written Expression or Dysgraphia, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Disruptive Behavior Disorders, Developmental Delay, and Slow Learner. She is not sure whether she has ever taught children with certain disabilities. She has never taken any training related to children with special needs. But she thinks that she can personally identify whether someone has learning disabilities.

Participant 5

Assistant Teacher

She has a Masters degree in English and has completed her CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) before joining a private school as a teacher. She has shared her experience of teaching English to the third grade students. Her school follows the national curriculum of Bangladesh and before joining school she had a pre-service training on education. She has learned about learning disabilities from webinars. She thinks that learning disabilities is something that a special child faces. She has heard about Reading Disorders or Dyslexia, Mathematics Disorders or Dyscalculia, Nonverbal Learning Disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, and Disruptive Behavior Disorders. She has dealt with only one child with learning disability in her classroom. This child was a slow learner. She has learned about disability from a training course called “Shudokho”. She identified that at least 2–3 students in her class may have some form of learning disabilities. According to her, they probably have dyslexia or dyscalculia or both.

Participant 6

He teaches English at a private school located of a district in the southern hill tract of Bangladesh. He has an English Language and Teaching Masters degree. He has been teaching secondary level English for the past 3 years. He did not receive any pre-service training for his job but took part in several in-service training sessions. In each of his class he teaches 40 students for 45 minutes. He has heard about learning disabilities at a training session conducted by BRAC. He thinks that when students are unable to concentrate and perform in a class then it becomes learning disability for them. He is familiar with reading disorder or dyslexia. He has met 1 child as a teacher who had certain kind of learning disability. He says about this, “He (primary leave student) actually cannot concentrate in classes, he just disturbs the class and run here and there while class are conducted.” His school follows NCTB curriculum.

Participant 7

This male participant teaches at a non-government secondary level high school. He has a Bachelor of Art in English and has been teaching for the last 6 years. He received pre-service training from World Vision and SESIP (Secondary Education Sector Investment Program). While in service, he again received training from SESIP and ICT from Teacher’s Training College. He mainly teaches English to the eighth graders. Each of his sections contains 40 students and he spends 45 minutes per class to teach. His school also follows NCTB curriculum. When children with special needs face difficulties while learning, it can be defined as by school activities. Those who are slow learner and have intellectual disabilities can be considered as having learning disabilities. He has never heard the term learning disabilities nor did he ever find any student with learning conditions. But while studying for his Bachelor of Education degree, he became familiar with special needs children. He thinks he cannot identify children with special needs. Out of his 80 students, 18 probably has some form of disabilities.

Participant 8

Having a Masters degree in general history, this participant started to teach English at a non-government school in a village of Bangladesh. He has served as a high school teacher for almost 25 years. He did not take any pre-service training. But he did get a Bachelor of Education while teaching. He is currently teaching tenth grade. In a single section he teaches 150 students for 40 minutes. He follows NCTB curriculum. He said he heard about the term learning disabilities in some training sessions. But he was unable to provide a plausible definition of learning disability. He said he had been in a class where he met students with some form of disabilities.

Participant 9

He teaches English at a non-government high school in the village area. His class consists of 30 students. He did not take any pre-service training before joining this school. But during his teaching career, he attended many trainings. He completed his Bachelor of Education, TQI-I (Teaching Quality Improvement – I) and TQI-II. He generally takes classes of the ninth grade where he teaches 125 students for 45 minutes per period. He follows NCTB curriculum. He never heard about the term learning disabilities and informed that he does not understand what this term means. After explaining each category, he checked almost all the types of learning disabilities as familiar ones. He said he had been in a class where he met students with some form of disabilities.

Participant 10

This participant had only 1 year of teaching experience at a private school located in a Bangladeshi city. His school follows NCTB curriculum. In each of his class, there are 40 students and each class lasts for 40 minutes. He has heard about the term learning disability from a discussion. He notes that “Hindrance to learn normally as a normal person learns” can be considered as learning disability. He has only heard about dyslexia. He has never been in a classroom where student had any form of disability.

Participant 11

A male teacher having 2 years of experience in teaching English at a private school located in the city area, spend 40 minutes to teach a class consisting of 40 students. He follows NCTB curriculum. He read about learning disability from a textbook. He writes, “Some may have some inborn problems in learning”. He is only familiar with mathematical disorder or dyscalculia. He has never been in a classroom where student had any form of disability.

Participant 12

He teaches at a government girls high school located in a municipality. He has an MA degree and 3 years of teaching experience. He never took any pre-service training but received in-service training. His class consists of 60 students where he gets 45 minutes to teach. He follows NCTB curriculum to teach English. He learned about learning disability from his teachers. For him, “Inability to learn something” is learning disability. He has marked all the types of learning disabilities as familiar. He has never been in a classroom where student had any form of disability.

Accommodating Children With Learning Disabilities

Participant 1

This participant never taken any pre-service or in-service training to cater to the needs of children with special needs. But he thinks he has the ability to identify them in his class. As a teacher in the rural part of Bangladesh, he thinks his pre-school students do not have the economic means to go to receive special education. His school does not have facilities for disable children. Teachers there do no intentionally look after special education needs kids. The school authority or the government stakeholders never instruct them to take initiative to support children with disability. His school does not even categorize children with special needs. Currently, there are no children with special needs actively studying in his school. He believes that children with special education need can understand 60% of his instructions. Since there are no feasible alternatives, therefore, he believes that children with special needs will have to attend his school. Whether children have any special education need or not should be assessed by the parents.

Overall Result of the Survey

9 participants out of 12 think that their school does not provide support or facilities to children with special education needs.
7 participants said that their schools do not categorize children with special needs. In other schools, interview, personal interaction, personal evaluation and sections are created to categorize them.
3 participants mentioned that they can’t categorize children with special learning needs. Others noted that by observing students intensively while working with them, observing their interaction in the classroom, giving them extra time during breaks, evaluating their responses and performances, they can identify who has special learning needs.
3 participants think that their school is equipped to support students with special learning needs. Others said, their schools are not.
5 participants think children with learning disabilities can attend their classes. 5 of them are not sure whether they can accommodate them or not. 2 of them said they cannot.
5 participants believe that children with learning disabilities can attend their schools. But 4 of them previously said that their schools do not provide the support or facilities which are required by the children with special learning needs. 4 participants are not sure whether they should attend their schools. 3 participants said they cannot.
When it comes to assessing students’ learning disabilities, the respondents mostly pointed out teachers. Some of them said parents but they also mentioned that parents either may not have the time or interest in learning about their children’s learning needs. Others informed that the school authority should have a process in place to evaluate children with special education needs.

Limitation of the Study

This study was done during pandemic. Due to the nature of the study, participants were mostly reached in-person so that they understand the questions. But participants locate in distant cities could not be reached due to travel costs. They were contacted via phone calls and messenger services. There was scarcity of local literature. It was very difficult to translate the terms in Bangla language. Many of the lexicons related to learning disabilities are used in Bangla without any translation. Only those who had sufficient knowledge of English could understand the meaning. Participants in the rural areas often confused the terms with something they knew. For example, one participant confused the term disability with accessibility.

Scope for Further Research

This field of research is extensively ignored. Institution of Education of Research of Dhaka University, Pediatric Department of Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Department of Communication Disorder of Dhaka University are few of the places where they touch on this subject. But their focus is also generic and not focused on the sociocultural aspect of Bangladesh. They do not study the condition of Bangladeshi children. There are no instruments designed to evaluate Bangladeshi children with learning disabilities. Those who are practitioners, they use psychometric tools developed by other researchers and professionals based in other countries. Relevant studies are required to develop these instruments.

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Statement of the Consent of the Participants

I, Rabiul Islam, as the only author declare that the participants of my research titled “EFL/ESL Teachers’ Perception of Students with Learning Disabilities in Bangladesh” participated voluntarily and without any compulsion or compensation. They were given a consent form prior to the interview with the interview questions. The participants who were on-sight signed the form before beginning the interview. Participants on-call were given the consent form and questions via email. They returned the consent form with their signature via email as well. They were allowed to stop or cancel the interview at any moment without giving any reason for it.

Conflict of Interest Declaration

I, Rabiul Islam, as the only author declare that my research titled “EFL/ESL Teachers’ Perception of Students with Learning Disabilities in Bangladesh” has no conflict of interest with the institution I work for, sample population interviewed or any other third parties. If any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest arise in the future, I will inform the research editorial board immediately.

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EFL/ESL Teachers’ Perception of Students with Learning Disabilities in Bangladesh

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Abstract

Introduction

Literature Review

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

RESEARCH METHOD

Results And Discussion

Teachers’ Perception Of Learning Disabilities

Participant 1

Participant 2

Participant 3

Participant 4

Participant 5

Participant 6

Participant 7

Participant 8

Participant 9

Participant 10

Participant 11

Participant 12

Accommodating Children With Learning Disabilities

Participant 1

Overall Result of the Survey

Conclusion

Limitation of the Study

Scope for Further Research

References

Declarations

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