Abstract

This study explores the learning experiences of three francophone students with diagnosed disabilities who participated in a 5-month intensive English course in Quebec. Each student exhibited a unique exceptionality: Dysphasia and Dyslexia, Attention defecit hyperactivity disorder and developmental delay and finally Tourette syndrome and high anxiety. The aim of the study was to provide a better understanding of how students with exceptionalities experience learning a second language (L2) in an intensive setting. The three main research questions were: a) How does the three students’ L2 English develop over the course of the IEC, with respect to: listening, speaking, writing, and vocabulary?; b) What are the students’ perceptions of their ability to learn English and their attitudes towards the language at the outset of the intensive course and do these perceptions change over time?; and c) What factors associated with the intensive experience enhance or challenge learning for these students?
Students completed a number of English language measures and participated in one-on-one interviews and classroom observations. This is the first longitudinal study in intensive to document students’ perceptions on their own learning over time. A teacher interview was also conducted. All three students made learning gains and demonstrated confidence in their ability to learn a second language. For students with exceptionalities, key factors enhancing learning in the intensive experience included: intensity, student-teacher relationship, oral interaction, explicit learning, classroom involvement, the communicative classroom and English considered as an “academic” subject.