neurodiversity
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- PaperELT Journal12 Jun 2026
Neurodiverse perspectives on learning English in a secondary school context
Lena Blaskovich, Judit Kormos
Teenage students with ADHD and autism reported distinct strengths and challenges in English learning, such as ADHD students enjoying creative tasks but struggling with focus, and autistic students excelling in structured tasks despite sensory sensitivities. Teachers noted frequent disruptions and inconsistent performance, feeling underprepared due to limited inclusive education training.
Original abstract
This paper reports findings from a qualitative interview study conducted with nine neurodiverse students and eight of their teachers in a European secondary school context. Contrary to the results of previous studies, our teenage participants with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) did not report reading difficulties in English and autistic students enjoyed peer interactions. However, both groups gave accounts of challenges with listening comprehension. Language learners with ADHD enjoyed creative, hands-on tasks but struggled with focus and emotional regulation. Autistic students excelled in structured tasks and showed attention to detail, despite often being affected by sensory sensitivities and changes in routine. Language teachers cited frequent disruptions, inconsistent academic performance, and emotional regulation difficulties among their neurodiverse students as key challenges. Several felt underprepared due to limited training in inclusive education and institutional barriers. Nevertheless, teachers highlighted the value of professional development, collaboration with parents, and fostering strong student relationships.
- PaperELT Journal11 Apr 2026
Trauma and language learning: ELT classroom practices in Sri Lanka
Suresh Canagarajah, Canista Arthie Hensman
Contrasts Global North and South perspectives on trauma in English language teaching, highlighting Sri Lankan educators' community-oriented approaches that treat trauma as collective neurodiversity rather than individual pathology. English teachers in Northern Sri Lanka have adopted pedagogical strategies that co-construct meaning with survivors using diversified semiotic resources, building on relational and cultural practices developed after decades of civil war.
Original abstract
Scholarship in the Global North has traditionally treated trauma as an individual pathological condition that needs medical intervention. However, Global South communities such as Sri Lanka approach trauma differently. Since the whole community has lived through centuries of colonization and decades of civil war, trauma is collective. For this reason, the community has developed everyday practices for a supportive environment. Such community-sponsored cultural and relational practices do not pathologize trauma. Survivors are treated as exhibiting forms of neurodiversity that come with their own strengths such as resilience, patience, and dependency. Their communication is not treated as fragmented and incoherent, but as meaningful when others co-construct meanings with them, adopting diversified semiotic resources, and going beyond normative assumptions. English language teachers have adopted pedagogical strategies influenced by such relational orientations. This article will discuss the intuitive strategies Northern Sri Lankan educators and students have adopted since the civil war.