Nurturing the Talented: Education Technology and Pedagogy Support Differentiated Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

Gifted students love learning new words and phrases. They also have inquisitive minds and curiosity about the origin of things, e.g. the Chinese culture. They like doing comparative studies of languages, e.g. grammatical difference, which helps to enhance their language proficiency. However, there is a group of students who are gifted with learning disabilities, such as insufficient attention, dyslexia, autism. The presentation introduces three types of gifted students with learning disabilities, using Chinese language as an example, and explain the language learning characteristics of twice-exceptional students and how they learn a second language. Suggestions for supporting their second language with a special focus on the application of information technology have been discussed.