I will call specific students to answer questions, and when one repeatedly cannot answer a simple question that does not require advanced knowledge, then I will suspect something is amiss.

Homework is another good place to check understanding. I set homeworks at different tiers, each homework will contain several levels. Students may not be expected to complete all parts to the highest degree, however if a student is struggling with the basic ends, or is making consistent mistakes at the higher end, then this may draw attention.

Alternatively, if there is a mismatch between a student's ability and aptitude, then this may be a sign of a specific learning difficulty.

Other signs may include:

Emotionality - Difficulty managing emotions, outbursts, lack of self-regulation.

Avoidance - Refusal to participate

1. Has difficulties in memory or processing.

2. Limited understanding in own language.

3. Difficulty in writing, but verbal understanding.

4. Fine motor skill difficulties usually expressed through writing.

5. Hearing or visual problems.

And fundamentally, do these issues present themselves in other contexts?

1. Understands content in their own language.

2. A few points of vocabulary missing.

3. Lacks confidence to answer questions in class.

4. Struggles to absorb information by written words, requires visual support or demonstrations.

At this stage, one can also start to determine whether it is a learning disability or language issue. If the other English heavy subject teachers (English, Economics, Global Perspectives etc.) report similar issues, meanwhile less English reliant subjects such as Maths do not, then we may lean more toward the language barrier as the likely diagnosis.

If I have a concern, I will first discuss with their English teacher to see what their judgement is, they will likely have greater insight into the student's ability as they regularly discuss and translate between both languages.

After that I will often talk to their Maths teacher, to see if the same issues present.

Furthermore I will talk to their homeroom teacher, as it is they who have the most contact with the student's parents, and who will likely have the greatest picture of that student's history.

Our school psychologist will likely be the most qualified to make a formal assessment. Teachers here are by and large untrained to do so.

2. Parental/Family involvement

The homeroom teacher of the student may flag any potential concerns to the parents or family.

There is however a problem. Records of developmental history are not kept, or even created in the first place, and this would be essential to properly handling students with learning difficulties. By the time our students have reached us in high school, it is highly unlikely that they will have any record, and we will have no access to it even if it exists.

One useful point to consider is whether the student has learned English simultaneously or sequentially, as there is a mixture amongst our school’s population.

There are specialist schools for children with learning difficulties in China, but these are in short supply as so are the teachers.

Given this shortage, there is little to no provision at our own school. Policy has become more accepting to the concept of SEN, but in reality there is little accommodation.

The individual teacher/teachers must essentially make do.

The exact nature of accommodations naturally depends on the problem. However we are simply not equipped to deal with these issues. Students are placed into sets by ability, and there are some students in the lower sets that have learning difficulties, but the attitude is one of 'hope for the best'.

We will usually try to identify a group of struggling students and then share the additional workload of arranging extra classes, divided by need.

The main problems tend to be with students expressing themselves in academic writing, and vocabulary limitations.

Students who struggle typically write in a colloquial manner and their verbal English typically matches their written English, with similar grammar and pacing.

Academic writing practice can be arranged, as academic writing is a class offered at our school. I myself will have one on one meetings to discuss homework, mid term exams etc. We discuss answers and reword some things to try and improve, and most students do improve with time.

If a student is struggling on a fundamental level with the language, we may have to have some one on one time, but in truth, by the time the student has arrived at high school, it is too late to fundamentally change very much.

However, there are some things that can be done:

1. Visual learning - Students who have difficulty understanding through verbal or written content may have greater ease with visuals. I try to include visuals where possible. Some concepts are difficult to explain but easy to visualise.

2. Translated materials - Business comes with its own set of language and key terms. I have provided all of my students with a glossary of key terms WITH translations.

3. Example answers - Students who write colloquially improve when provided with example answers. I have noticed that over time, my students emulate my grammar, pacing and general sentence structure. This I believe is because I provide students with a good number of example answers written by myself.

4. Confidence building - Confidence can be a huge barrier to using a second language. I engage in strategies to build confidence in students. I do not nitpick grammar or spelling, instead I simply positively acknowledge what the student has written, and repeat it back to them in a grammatically correct fashion. This allows us to correct mistakes without criticism that feels like 'criticism'.