Journal of Research and Opinion

Received 29 Oct 2021 | Revised 8 Nov 2021 | Accepted 10 Nov 2021 | Published Online 12 Nov 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15520/jro.v8i11.132
JRO 8 (11), 3058−3065 (2021) ISSN (O) 2589-9058 | (P) 2589-904X IF:2.1

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Problems Faced by English Language Teachers in Teaching Students with

Learning Disabilities
Mohammad Abedrabbu Alkhawaldeh1
1
Assistant Professor, Special
Education Department, King
Khalid University, Saudi Arabia,
Saudi Arabia
∗
Mohamad Ahmad Saleem Khasawneh1
Abstract
This study identified the problems faced by English language teachers
in teaching students with learning disabilities. The study developed a
questionnaire to collect data, which was administered to a sample of
(122) male and female teachers in public schools working with students
with LDs. The results of the study showed teachers suffer from several
problems while teaching students with LDS to a moderate degree. The
findings revealed the presence of significant differences between the
responses of the study sample about the problems faced by the teacher
in teaching students with LDs due to the gender variable. The findings
also showed significant differences between the responses of the study
sample about the problems faced by the teacher in teaching students
with LDs due to the variable years of experience.
Keywords: problems, English language teachers, students with learning
disabilities.

Copyright : © 2021 The Authors. Published by Publisher. This is an

open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1 INTRODUCTION process (4, 5).

The teacher is the main pillar in the educational and

E
ducation is a basic component of any culture
and society. It is important for developing the
basic aspects of the individual to keep pace
with the requirements of society and focuses on men-
tal skills because they are the basic building block
for achievement, which are necessary to complete
the journey in education and join professions. (1)
The education profession is a great responsibility and
one of the pillars of the educational process, as it
deals with students of different abilities and char-
rehabilitation process for children with disabilities.
His interaction with this group increases the burden
Supplementary information The online version of
this article (10.15520/jro.v8i11.132) contains sup-
plementary material, which is available to authorized
users.
Corresponding Author: Mohammad Abedrabbu
Alkhawaldeh
Mohammad Abedrabbu Alkhawaldeh

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MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL
on him in the educational process, and he undertakes
big tasks that require great effort and time to reach
tangible results (6). The teacher of students with
LDs deals with students with different characteristics
from each other, and he must know those character-
istics and work on preparing educational plans and
programs that each student needs according to their
level of performance. This work increases the burden
in terms of effort and time on the teacher to reach an
effective result with students. Therefore, the teacher
must fulfill educational roles to help him reach the
desired goals (7).
If the teacher is one of the most important pillars
of the educational process, then any problems in the
teacher’s way prevent his educational performance
and lead to his direct sense of inability to perform his
duties and responsibilities towards the students. As a
result, a conflict occurs between what is expected and
hoped and what is imposed on him in reality, which
causes a decrease in the morale of teachers (8).
1.1 Statement of the problem
English language teachers face many problems that
hinder the teaching process they provide for students
with learning disabilities, in addition to the fact that
work in this field overlaps with many other areas
that affect and are affected by it. These aspects are
academic, psychological, administrative, economic,
social, therapeutic, and many others.
The problem of the current study is to identify
the problems that English language teachers face
in teaching students with learning disabilities. The
current study was an attempt to answer the following
main question: What are the problems that English
language teachers face in teaching students with
learning disabilities?
1.2 Ques ons of the study
1. What are the most common problems that English
language teachers face in teaching people with learn-
ing disabilities?
2. Are there any statistically significant differences
between the responses of the study sample about the
problems they face in teaching students with LDs due
MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL
ALKHAWALDEH AND KHASAWNEH
to gender?
3. Are there any statistically significant differences
between the responses of the study sample about the
problems they face in teaching students with LDs due
to their educational qualifications?
4. Are there any statistically significant differences
between the responses of the study sample about the
problems they face in teaching students with LDs due
to their years of experience?
1.3 Significance of the study
The significance of the current study is that it re-
views the most important problems faced by English
language teachers in teaching students with LDs,
which hinders the educational process for students
and prevents the achievement of what is required.
The results of this study can be used by decision-
makers and officials in this field to identify the
problems that teachers face in teaching students with
LDS and to try to overcome these obstacles and solve
problems.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Prayogo et al (2018) (9) defined learning disabili-
ties as cases that appear during the learning process
and are characterized by the formation of a set of
obstacles that prevent the student from achieving
learning objectives. Darmahkasih et al (2020) (10)
also defined learning disabilities as the deficits that
appear in learning a subject, including reading, writ-
ing, thinking abilities, learning, remembering, and
mathematics.
The responsibilities and roles related to the teacher of
students with learning disabilities include teaching
and guidance to ensure that the academic content
is compatible with their skills and the ability to
solve educational problems. Among the teachers’
responsibilities are the accurate and direct assess-
ment of students’ performance, and working on their
education, with a focus on the most important ar-
eas required by each student. The teacher should
define the goals accurately, and form them in an
executive manner so that the teacher can determine
JRO 8 (11), 3058−3065 (2021) 3059
PROBLEMS FACED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN TEACHING STUDENTS WITH
LEARNING DISABILITIES
the final desired behaviors to be received from the 4 METHODOLOGY
students. (11, 12)
The study relied on the descriptive analytical ap-
The teacher also organizes the elements of edu-
proach that seeks to identify the problems that En-
cational and pedagogical tasks and analyzes their
glish language teachers face in educational roles with
tasks systematically and sequentially. He determines
students with learning disabilities.
sufficient time to teach students the tasks required
of them in the educational process and provides
feedback to help students to determine their level of 4.1 Sample of the study
performance (13, 14).
The study sample consisted of (122) teachers of
English language in public schools working with
students with learning disabilities in Irbid Gover-
3 PREVIOUS STUDIES norate. The following table shows the distribution
of the study sample according to the demographic
Abongdia et al (2015) (15) identified the challenges variables represented in gender, years of experience,
that teachers face in identifying students with learn- and educational qualification.
ing disabilities. The results of the study showed that
one of the most important challenges is the lack of TABLE 1: The demographic informa on for the
effective training for teachers in identifying students study sample
with learning disabilities and that the classrooms are Frequency Percent
crowded. The findings showed the shortcomings in Male 55 45.1
parental involvement and lack of cooperation be- Female 67 54.9
tween teachers. Total 122 100
Ahmed and Saleh (2018) (16) explored the problems Less than 5 years 69 56.6
facing special education teachers in the city of Bou From 5 to 10 44 36.1
Sudan. The results of the study revealed that the More than 10 years 9 7.4
problems facing special education teachers are the Total 122 100
lack of educational supervision, the lack of educa- BA 111 91
tional means, the lack of adequate opportunities for Post-graduate 11 9
teachers for rehabilitation, and the failure to follow Total 122 100
up on families for their disabled children and the lack
of communication between teachers and parents of Table 1 shows that the majority of the study sample
students. are females, as their number was (67) compared to
(55) males. As for the years of experience, it was
Aba Hussein (2019) (17) investigated the problems
found that most of the participants who had expe-
that female students’ teachers face with learning
rienced less than 5 years were (69), then the partic-
difficulties in public education schools. The study ipants whose experience was from 10 -5 years were
showed that the problems faced by female teachers (44), and then the participants who have experience
with learning difficulties are problems related to the of more than 10 years were (9). For the educational
school administration to a high degree. qualification, it was found that most of the partic-
Al-Qahtani (2020) (18) identified the obstacles fac- ipants are of those who hold a bachelor’s degree,
ing female teachers in learning difficulties programs and their number was (111), then those holding post-
in Riyadh from their point of view. The results graduate degrees were (11) respondents.
showed that the challenges related to the school
administration are very high. Among the challenges 4.2 Instrument of the study
is the lack of training courses and the challenges
related to the roles and responsibilities of a teacher of The questionnaire was designed based on (4, 19)
students with learning difficulties to a high degree. to collect study data. The questionnaire consisted

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of (14) items divided into three sections. The first
section asks about problems related to English lan-
guage scholars in teaching students with learning
disabilities, and it includes items from (1-5). The
second section asks about problems related to the
class and curriculum and includes items from (6-
10). The third section asks about problems related
to the students themselves and includes items from
(14-11).The questionnaire was answered by partic-
ipants based on a five-point Likert scale ranging
from 1 “strongly disagree” to 5 “strongly agree.”
The questionnaire was distributed electronically to
male and female teachers in public schools in Irbid
governorate. The SPSS package was used in analyz-
ing data as a set of statistical tests were used, the
most important of which are mean scores, standard
deviations, percentages, T-test, and one-way analysis
of variance (ANOVA).
5 RESULTS OF THE STUDY
The study aimed at identifying the problems that
English language teachers face in teaching students
with learning disabilities. This part is devoted to
presenting the results of the study. The results will
be presented according to the study questions.
5.1 Results of the first ques on
Table 2 shows that the most important problems that
English language teachers face in teaching students
with LDs are problems related to the class and the
curriculum, where the mean score was (3.00). One
of the most prominent problems related to the class
and curriculum is the large number of students in the
classroom, with a mean score of 3.25. The items “the
short period for the lesson in teaching the curricu-
lum,” “the large number of topics in the curriculum,”
and “the educational environment is unattractive to
the learner,” had a mean score of (3.04. The problem
of the lack of modern technological means used in
the classroom came second with a mean score of
(2.63), followed by problems related to the teacher,
where the mean reached (2.88). One of the most
important problems related to the teacher is the lack
of material and moral incentives, as it had a mean
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ALKHAWALDEH AND KHASAWNEH
score of (3.10), then the lack of supporting resources
for the teacher in teaching curricula, with a mean
score of (2.94), followed by an increase in the teach-
ing load over the permissible, with a mean score of
(2.90).
Moreover, among the problems is the lack of devel-
opment courses with a mean score of (2.78), then the
difficulty of using various strategies and methods of
teaching, with a mean score of (2.68). Finally, the
problems related to the student had a mean score of
(2.85). Among the most important of these problems
are the chronic diseases that students with LDs suffer
from that hinder their progress, where it had the
highest mean score (3.23), then the repeated absence
of students from the classroom with a mean score of
(2.80), then the family neglect of the student in the
education process with a mean score of (2.69).
5.2 Results of the second ques on
Table 3 shows that there are statistically signifi-
cant differences between the responses of the study
sample about teacher-related problems in teaching
students with LDs due to the gender variable in
favor of females. The table shows statistically sig-
nificant differences between the responses of the
study sample about problems related to the class
and curriculum in teaching students with LDs due to
the gender variable and in favor of females. Finally,
the table shows significant differences between the
responses of the study sample about problems related
to students in teaching with difficulties Learning is
due to gender and in favor of females.
5.3 Results of the third ques on
Table 4 shows that there are no statistically signifi-
cant differences between the responses of the study
sample about teacher-related problems in teaching
students with LDs due to the educational qualifi-
cation variable. There are no statistically signifi-
cant differences between the responses of the study
sample about the problems related to the class and
curriculum in teaching students with LDs due to
the variable of educational qualification. The ta-
ble shows no statistically significant differences be-
tween the responses of the study sample about prob-
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PROBLEMS FACED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN TEACHING STUDENTS WITH
LEARNING DISABILITIES
TABLE 2: The mean scores and standard devia ons of the problems facing English language teachers in
teaching students with LDs
N Mean Std.
score Devia on
Challenges related to class and curricula 122 3 1.308
Too many students in the classroom 122 3.25 1.491
The short dura on of the lesson in teaching the curriculum 122 3.04 1.407
Lots of topics in the curricula 122 3.04 1.64
The educa onal environment is not a rac ve to the learner 122 3.04 1.501
Lack of technological means used in the classroom 122 2.63 1.652
Challenges related to the teacher 122 2.88 1.312
Lack of material and moral incen ves for teachers 122 3.1 1.481
The lack of suppor ng resources for the teacher in teaching the curriculum 122 2.94 1.586
Increasing the teaching load than allowed 122 2.9 1.301
Lack of developmental courses in the field of educa on for students with 122 2.78 1.622
learning disabili es
Difficulty using a variety of teaching strategies and methods 122 2.68 1.581
Challenges related to the student 122 2.85 1.377
Chronic diseases suffered by students with learning disabili es hinder 122 3.23 1.466
their progress
The frequent absence of students from the classroom 122 2.8 1.629
Family neglect of the student in the educa on process 122 2.69 1.66
Some students have family problems 122 2.66 1.562
Valid N (listwise) 122

TABLE 3: The results of the T-test to find the differences between the responses of the par cipants about
the problems they face in teaching students with LDs due to the gender variable
Gender N Mean Std. Deviation T value sig
Challenges related to the teacher Male 55 2.1927 0.82817 5.974 0
Female 67 3.4507 1.36907
Challenges related to class and curricula Male 55 2.3382 0.92686 5.279 0
Female 67 3.5522 1.32806
Challenges related to the student Male 55 2.2364 1.09017 4.86 0
Female 67 3.3545 1.39068

TABLE 4: The results of the T-test to find the differences between the responses of the study sample about the
problems they face in teaching students with LDs due to the educational qualification variable
qualification N Mean Std. Devia on T value Sig
Bachelor 111 2.83 1.337 1.226 0.223
Challenges related to the teacher
Post-graduate 11 3.34 0.955
Bachelor 111
Challenges related to class and curricula 2.95 1.305 1.246 0.215
Post-graduate 11
3.47 1.306
Bachelor 111
Challenges related to the student Post-graduate 11 2.79 1.368 1.534 0.128
3.45 1.386

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lems related to students in the education of those with
learning disabilities due to educational qualification
variable.
5.4 Results of the fourth ques on
Table 5 shows that there are significant differences
between the responses of the study sample about
teacher-related problems in teaching students with
LDs due to the variable years of experience and in
favor of the participants who have experience of
more than 10 years. There are significant differences
between the responses of the study sample about the
problems related to the class and curriculum in teach-
ing students with LDs due to the variable years of
experience and in favor of the participants with more
than 10 years of experience. The table also shows that
there are statistically significant differences between
the responses of the study sample about the problems
related to students in teaching students with LDs due
to the variable years of experience and in favor of
the participants whose experience ranges from 5 to
10 years.
6 DISCUSSION
The results of the study showed that English lan-
guage teachers in public school’s face problems in
teaching students with LDs to a moderate degree.
This result differs from other studies (16–18). This
indicates that these problems must be overcome and
resolved in front of teachers to teach students with
learning disabilities efficiently. This could happen
by giving teachers financial incentives matching the
effort made with students, and this gives an impetus
forward for teachers to make more effort with stu-
dents. Crowded classrooms should also be avoided
because each class has its specified capacity of stu-
dents. This preparation must be adhered to and the
nature of students requires officials to place students
whose number is proportional to the duration of the
semester.
The concerned authorities in the school must list the
problems faced by teachers who teach students with
LDs and evaluate the educational process periodi-
cally and continuously, because new problems may
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ALKHAWALDEH AND KHASAWNEH
arise during the educational process. In addition, the
school’s follow-up to the problems facing teachers
and teachers make them feel that the school is keen
to provide the appropriate environment for the edu-
cation process, and they can also provide suggestions
and solutions to those problems.
7 CONCLUSION
The current study aimed to identify the problems
that English language teachers face in teaching stu-
dents with learning disabilities. The results of the
study revealed that teachers have problems related
to themselves, the class, the curriculum, and the
student at a medium degree. This is an indication that
there are problems that hinder the education process
even if they come to a medium degree. Therefore,
it is necessary to know those problems and solve
them to reach the goals. The training and awareness
programs help in solving these problems, in addition
to that, the problems are multi-caused. There is a
problem that belongs to the teacher himself, where
the teacher feels disappointed because of the lack of
appreciation.The teacher should not be given more
than one task in order not to increase the workload
on him. It is worth noting that there are problems
related to the class and the curriculum, as the number
of students exceeds the absorptive capacity of the
classroom. This makes the educational process diffi-
cult. The customized curriculum contains topics that
cannot be covered during the specified period. As for
the problems related to the student, the reason is that
the student may suffer from multiple diseases that
contribute to their absence from the classroom and
disrupt the education process. It is also important for
the family to cooperate with the teachers in following
up on the students’ lessons.
8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors extend their appreciation to the Dean-
ship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University
for funding this work through Big Research Groups
under grant number (RGP.2 /103/42).
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PROBLEMS FACED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN TEACHING STUDENTS WITH
LEARNING DISABILITIES
TABLE 5: The results of the T-test to find the differences between the responses of the study sample about
the problems theyface in teaching students with LDs due to the years of experience variable

Sum of df Variable Mean St. F Sig.

Squares Less than 5 score devia on
Challenges related Between 23.215 2 years 2.50 1.149 7.453 0.001
to the teacher Groups
Within Groups 185.333 119 From 5 to 10 3.37 1.425
Total 208.547 121 More than 10 3.42 1.007
years
Between 18.177 2 Less than 5 2.66 1.148 5.718 0.004
Challenges
Groups years
related to class
Within Groups 189.140 119 From 5 to 10 3.44 1.392
and curricula
Total 207.317 More than 10 3.46 1.417
121
years
Challenges Between 20.554 2 Less than 5 2.49 1.254 5.851 0.004
related to the Groups years
student Within Groups 209.028 119 From 5 to 10 3.55 1.524
Total 229.582 121 More than 10 3.26 1.393
years

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How to cite this article: Alkhawaldeh M.A.,
Khasawneh M.A.S. Problems Faced by English
Language Teachers in Teaching Students with
Learning Disabilities. Journal of Research
and Opinion. 2021;3058−3065. https://doi.org/
10.15520/jro.v8i11.132
JRO 8 (11), 3058−3065 (2021) 3065