This study aimed to adapt an EFL reading curriculum for the purpose of facilitating learners with ADHD in an inclusive classroom through using a multisensory approach. The purpose was to provide teachers with methods that would foster a learning environment conducive to all learners regardless of learning ability because of the increasing number of struggling learners attending private language schools in Taiwan. Ten fourth and fifth grade EFL children, five with and five without ADHD, attending such a school located in Taipei, were involved for a total of 60-hour instruction (lasting six weeks) to attest whether the multisensory approach helped improve reading comprehension and motivation, and whether they were satisfied with this curriculum and in what ways.
The curriculum developed in this study was inspired by the Orton-Gillingham approach (1937), which pioneered the use of the multisensory method to teaching L1 reading. In this EFL context, the supplemental extension activities required to complete this approach, i.e. TPR, storyboarding, and reader’s theater, have been confirmed to be effective for ADHD learners that have trouble with traditional methods (Hughes, 2014). Creswell’s (2007) mechanism was adopted for analysis by coding, developing themes, describing and interpreting the collected data. Multiple sources of data were collected to ensure trustworthiness and triangulation: teacher’s field notes, classroom observation, participant’s storyboards, audio-recorded interviews and attitude questionnaires. Member checking also took place to add credibility to the transcribed audio-recorded interviews.
The extracted themes in the findings illustrate emerging behavioral changes in the students with ADHD and a corresponding improvement in comprehension. The students with ADHD initially expressed a dislike of reading, performed poorly on comprehension worksheets, and had low motivation for reading aloud. Over the 60-hour instruction, the same students achieved an average of 8.6% greater accuracy on comprehension and exhibited increased eagerness to participate in reading aloud by raising their hands and asking to read. Students with and without ADHD began to collaborate during readers theater and encouraged one another in the storyboarding activities. In light of such a drastic change in student’s behavior and attitudes, further research with a larger sample is warranted.

This study aimed to adapt an EFL reading curriculum for the purpose of facilitating learners with ADHD in an inclusive classroom through using a multisensory approach. The purpose was to provide teachers with methods that would foster a learning environment conducive to all learners regardless of learning ability because of the increasing number of struggling learners attending private language schools in Taiwan. Ten fourth and fifth grade EFL children, five with and five without ADHD, attending such a school located in Taipei, were involved for a total of 60-hour instruction (lasting six weeks) to attest whether the multisensory approach helped improve reading comprehension and motivation, and whether they were satisfied with this curriculum and in what ways.
The curriculum developed in this study was inspired by the Orton-Gillingham approach (1937), which pioneered the use of the multisensory method to teaching L1 reading. In this EFL context, the supplemental extension activities required to complete this approach, i.e. TPR, storyboarding, and reader’s theater, have been confirmed to be effective for ADHD learners that have trouble with traditional methods (Hughes, 2014). Creswell’s (2007) mechanism was adopted for analysis by coding, developing themes, describing and interpreting the collected data. Multiple sources of data were collected to ensure trustworthiness and triangulation: teacher’s field notes, classroom observation, participant’s storyboards, audio-recorded interviews and attitude questionnaires. Member checking also took place to add credibility to the transcribed audio-recorded interviews.
The extracted themes in the findings illustrate emerging behavioral changes in the students with ADHD and a corresponding improvement in comprehension. The students with ADHD initially expressed a dislike of reading, performed poorly on comprehension worksheets, and had low motivation for reading aloud. Over the 60-hour instruction, the same students achieved an average of 8.6% greater accuracy on comprehension and exhibited increased eagerness to participate in reading aloud by raising their hands and asking to read. Students with and without ADHD began to collaborate during readers theater and encouraged one another in the storyboarding activities. In light of such a drastic change in student’s behavior and attitudes, further research with a larger sample is warranted.

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