How Education Can Improve the Quality of Life for Students with Learning Difficulties: the Case of English Language Learning

The European Union identifies education as one of the nine life quality indicators. According to literature (Lyon et al. 2003, Klassen et al. 2005, Penney 2018), students with learning difficulties may show poor academic performances, despite their average intelligence. Many scholars (Alesi et al. 2014, Pearce 2017, Huang et al. 2020) claim that negative education experiences may cause damage to wellbeing and students with learning difficulties are more likely to experience anxiety, stress and school refusal than their peers. The problems Italian students may encounter when learning their native language tend to become more serious when learning English, an opaque language with a less direct spelling-sound correspondence than Italian. However, the importance of learning English is clear, as it is used as a lingua franca around the world and its command can improve students’ future opportunities, both in their personal and professional life. Therefore, teachers and educators play a key role as they have the responsibility to build a learning environment as inclusive as possible and guarantee the right to education. The purpose of the current study is to share preliminary results of a research project aimed at collecting evaluations and suggestions from high school students with learning difficulties about teaching/learning strategies and methods. Understanding in depth students’ needs and interests will help educators use actual student-centred teaching strategies, strengthen their relationship with students and tailor suitable interventions to motivate students to use English in their everyday activities.