Comparison of the Performance of College Students Classified as ADHD, LD, and LD/ADHD in Foreign Language Courses

Abstract

In this study, college students classified as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who had fulfilled the foreign language (FL) requirement were compared with students classified as learning disabled (LD) or both LD and ADHD who had either substituted courses for the college FL requirement (petition) or had passed FL courses (nonpetition) on cognitive and academic achievement measures and in FL course grades. Findings revealed few between-group differences on the testing measures and also showed that all 5 groups scored in the average to above-average range on all measures of cognitive ability and academic achievement and achieved primarily average to above-

Gender differences in university EFL students’ language proficiency corresponding to self-rated attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity

“…Based on the initial findings, this study agrees with formerly published articles in that there were no overall significant differences to be found regarding ADHD symptoms and language performance (Javorsky, 1996Sparks et al, 2004Sparks et al, & 2005. However, this investigation revealed that once the data were analyzed from the perspective of gender there were statistically significant differences between certain groups of students.…”

“…This result was consistent with those reported in earlier studies (e.g. Javorsky, 1996Sparks et al, 2004Sparks et al, & 2005 and would appear to support the contention that ADHD alone does not significantly account for poorer results when learning foreign languages.…”

“…Extending this line of deliberation, Sparks et al (2004Sparks et al ( & 2005 pointed out that students specifically diagnosed with ADHD both with and without learning disability may display learning impediments and academic difficulties. Motivated by a lack of empirical research in this area, they conducted detailed investigations of such college students in the United States and revealed that they were not necessarily disadvantaged regarding academic achievement in general and foreign language achievement in particular (Sparks et al, 2004(Sparks et al, & 2005.…”

“…Motivated by a lack of empirical research in this area, they conducted detailed investigations of such college students in the United States and revealed that they were not necessarily disadvantaged regarding academic achievement in general and foreign language achievement in particular (Sparks et al, 2004(Sparks et al, & 2005. They concluded that despite their disability classification, students classified as ADHD ought to be encouraged to enroll in foreign language courses as they do not experience difficulties fulfilling such requirements (Sparks et al, 2004).…”

“…They concluded that despite their disability classification, students classified as ADHD ought to be encouraged to enroll in foreign language courses as they do not experience difficulties fulfilling such requirements (Sparks et al, 2004). Furthermore, in an outcome they concede may appear somewhat counter intuitive, they discovered that students diagnosed specifically with ADHD might in fact perform better on the foreign language requirement (Sparks et al, 2005).…”