Exploring specific learning difficulties in primary schools: an empirical research

Abstract

This study attempts to identify students with specific learning difficulty at inclusive primary school and to construct a model of assessment of specific learning difficulty. The data were collected by using observations, tests, interviews, and questionnaires and the data analysis used a descriptive quantitative and qualitative approach. The research results indicate that 85 (18.27 %) of 465 research subjects are identified as those having specific learning difficulty with the male ones among those so identified being greater in number than the female ones (their percentages being respectively 55.3 % and 44.7 %). The distribution of the types of their specific learning difficulty could be shown as follows: of the 85 research subjects, 26 (22.10 %) have difficulty with reading; 23 (19.55 %) have difficulty with writing; and 36 (30.60 %) have difficulty with mathematics. The model of assessment applied was as follows: difficulty in learning reading was assessed by using the Fernald, Gillingham, and Glass-Analysis methods, difficulty in learning writing was assessed by viewing students' activities of writing by hand (or beginning writing), spelling, and expressive writing, and difficulty in learning mathematics was assessed by using formal and informal assessment models.