Utilizing WAIS Scores to Determine Foreign Language Pathways and Learning Assistance for Students With Learning Disabilities

Abstract

Foreign language (FL) requirements at postsecondary institutions remain a major hurdle for many students with learning disabilities (LD) as well as a significant portion of students without diagnosed LD. Many institutions have developed foreign language substitution (FLS) policies that allow students with LD to take alternate paths to meet the requirement, although the evidence to support substitutions is mixed. In a 10-year longitudinal study (presently continuing in a new phase with WAIS-IV scores), students with learning disabilities (N = 112) at a small liberal arts school who had WAIS-III scores available and self-reported foreign language difficulties were tracked for foreign language success, and then later graduation success. The purpose of this study was twofold: to develop a more generalizable substitution profile when test scores are available and to examine whether students who did not substitute an alternative to a foreign language varied significantly from those who did in terms of their success probabilities. The results demonstrate that both groups of students had similar WAIS profiles, calling into question the feasibility of a uniform substitution profile. The results also suggest accommodations and learning center interventions that can address the cognitive profiles of both groups of students, and perhaps also general student populations struggling with second language learning (L2). There are also implications for how substitution policies should be structured.