Learning Difficulties in Children

Part One -Difficulties and Problems in Learning English

English language poses a lot of problems for many Indian students. When it comes to children with learning difficulties in English, the matter become more complex and challenging as these children have to be taught in a “different way”.  Early intervention can help the children in long run because the school curriculum and assessment standards keep on getting difficult and getting good grades becomes hard.

The basic problems in learning English are with respect to pronunciation, grammar, orthography (set of conventions for writing a language) and vocabulary usage. There is a connection between the native language of a student (learner) and the particular difficulties in learning and using English. The problem is due to the interference of native language in learning and using English.

The Indian Education system demands the students to of Nursery and LKG to be able to read, memorize and write the alphabets along with three-four letter words recite poems and comprehend. The age group of these children is between 3-7 years and their native languages vary according to the region, society and culture. All these factors along with the educational background of the parents and parents’ understanding of English language also affect the child’s learning curve.

Learning by observation is one of the best methods of understanding and applying a particular concept of idea. In India, English speaking is limited to schools, colleges, offices or occasionally at home. But majority of the time the child is surrounded by those who converse in native language and hence Learning English language by observation becomes quite tricky.

Communicating in English language requires not only speaking but it requires listening and comprehending too. Hence listening along with comprehension is very important part if learning English language. If you were to write a text, you have ample amount of time to think, write and rewrite; but in case of oral communication or listening there are no second chances, you cannot take long pauses while answering a question posed to you. Having said that we can surely understand the problems faced by children whose comprehension is poor, who do not understand what is being read or asked to them in the class.

This series of articles will focus on all major problem areas of learning English language one by one. The focus will be school children who have faced some problem or the other in writing, listening, speaking and comprehending.