Identifying the Linguistic Profile of Persistent Foreign Language Learning Difficulties: a Chinese Case Study

Abstract

The present case study investigated the possible source of persistent English learning difficulties of a Mandarin-speaking adult learner of English as a foreign language. The case, Jo, a sophomore student receiving over 10 years of formal English education in Taiwan, demonstrated severe learning difficulties in a compulsory English class. The present study compared his linguistic coding abilities with those of two control participants, his university peers and elementary third graders. The first comparison showed that his English phonological/orthographic awareness, vocabulary, and syntax were at the same level as or lower than the 25th percentile of his university peers. To make sure that his deficiencies in English coding were not simply the result of a developmental delay in English learning, the second comparison examined his Chinese coding ability, along with English, in relation to that of third-grade elementary school children. The second comparison revealed that Jo also scored at the lower end of the distribution formed by the third-grade children in phonological memory, phonological awareness, and vocabulary, not only in English but also in Chinese, indicating that Jo’s linguistic coding difficulties were not specific to English. These results suggest that Jo’s English learning difficulties might be a result of a more general deficit in linguistic coding, which affects both English and Chinese learning.