مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد یادگیری و استفاده از زبان های چندگانه – الزویر ۲۰۲۴

Abstract

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts many areas of a person’s life. So far little is known on how ADHD affects the learning and usage of additional languages. The present study investigates what potential challenges and benefits adults with ADHD experience in second language (L2) learning, and what strategies they have developed to offset ADHD-related differences in cognition and behaviour. As part of a larger questionnaire, 59 participants with ADHD provided written responses, answering questions on how ADHD has influenced their learning and use of multiple languages. After a multiple-step classification process, three overarching topics were identified: (1) the effects of cognition on language learning and use; (2) how different language components and language modalities are affected by ADHD; and (3) what language learning strategies adults with ADHD apply. In our analysis, we present authentic quotes from individuals with ADHD and place them into the larger context of research on neurodivergence and L2 acquisition. Our results highlight the great heterogeneity in learning experiences and pathways in adults with ADHD. Interestingly, many respondents embrace their neurodiversity and develop individual strategies to enhance L2 proficiency. Our research aims to contribute to a better understanding of multilingualism within neurodiverse populations.

Introduction

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder known to significantly impact various aspects of an individual’s life. ADHD affects approximately 5.3–۷٫۲ percent of children and youth, and 2.5 to 6.8 percent of adults worldwide (cf. Polanczyk et al., 2014; Song et al., 2021), often co-occurring with speech and communication disorders such as language disorder, social pragmatic communication disorder, and dyslexia (Tannock, 2018; Willcutt and Pennington, 2000). While the impact of dyslexia on second language acquisition is well studied (e.g., Nijakowska, 2020; Schneider and Crombie, 2003), so far limited attention has been given to exploring the effects that ADHD has on acquiring and using additional languages. The present study aims to address this research gap by featuring the individual experiences and reflections of people diagnosed with ADHD on how their disorder affects the way they learn or use multiple languages. The findings from this study can lay the foundation for more individualized language learning strategies as well as more inclusive instructional programs that are better suited to the specific needs of adult second language learners with ADHD.

۱٫۱٫ Diversity of ADHD
Despite ADHD being an acknowledged psychiatric diagnostic category (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), it is important to highlight the behavioural and cognitive heterogeneity of people diagnosed with ADHD. First, three different presentations of ADHD can be distinguished: (1) the inattentive presentation, characterized by for instance difficulties to maintain focus, easily getting distracted and making careless mistakes; (2) the hyperactive-impulsive presentation, marked by individuals showing high levels of physical restlessness and difficulties with impulse control; and (3) the combined presentation, where individuals exhibit a combination of inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

Conclusions

The current study investigated how ADHD impacts foreign language learning and usage. The main aim was to present the experiences and reflections of adults with ADHD and situate them within the broader context of existing research on cognitive deficits and second language acquisition. Before we summarize the main findings and present conclusions, we would like to point out several limitations of the current study. First, the group of adults with ADHD consisted of more female than male respondents, mostly situated in Norway, and diagnosed in adulthood. Second, we cannot exclude that there is a sampling bias in the sense that more people with a specific interest in languages completed our survey. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that the data reflect participants’ subjective experiences regarding how they believe ADHD impacts their L2 learning and use. It remains unclear whether these experiences are actually attributable to ADHD, aspects of their personality, or common challenges associated with L2 acquisition. Considering these biases in our sample as well as the qualitative nature of our analysis, it remains to be seen whether our findings are representative of the population of adults with ADHD at large.

While most previous research has focused on the language and communication abilities of children with ADHD (Carruthers et al., 2022; Korrel et al., 2017), our findings provide valuable insights into the inner workings of adults with ADHD. From our data, a diverse picture emerged with lots of individual variation. Depending on their individual cognitive and behavioural symptom profiles as well as personality traits, adults with ADHD experienced different effects of their condition on foreign language learning and use. Difficulties with inattention made it challenging for some respondents to focus during traditional classroom instruction and led them to making careless mistakes in written texts. On the flip side, many respondents with ADHD also experienced periods of hyperfocus, in which they were highly productive. Cognitive deficits related to working memory made it difficult for some adults with ADHD to memorize vocabulary and grammatical forms, and to retrieve already acquired lexical items on demand during real-time interactions. Following and participating in conversations in a second language can also be challenging as it requires paying attention and processing multiple verbal and non-verbal cues simultaneously and deriving correct interpretations on the fly. The linguistic domain that appeared to be most affected by ADHD was pragmatics. Some respondents mentioned impulsive or hyperactive behaviours in communication such as talking excessively, interrupting others, and speaking without thinking first. The latter might result in grammatical errors that are more difficult to recover from in a second language. People with ADHD also exhibited different preferences for written or spoken modality. A learning style mentioned by several respondents was characterized by association, leading to an intuition or gut feeling about correct language use. In sum, our findings provide evidence that for many adults with ADHD, their disorder fundamentally affects the way they learn or use a foreign language, supporting the far-reaching effect of ADHD on different domains of a person’s life.