The starting point has been an overview of the laws and guidelines on this topic in the partners’ countries. The authors have examined the current literature about the needs of adults who experience learning difficulties in foreign language learning and have collected experiences in the application of E- learning methodologies to the target group.

Each partner has illustrated the state of art in its own country, taking into consideration the legal framework, the organizations involved with SLD adults and how adults’ language learning difficulties and disorders are diagnosed and measured. Particular attention has been given to the needs of SLD adults in foreign language learning as well as to the needs of the trainers.

The authors have examined how SLD adults’ needs are dealt with, from the point of view of applied didactic methodologies and learning materials. Existing foreign language E-teaching methodologies and tools have been mapped and a selection of good examples has been added.

The Desk Research activities in the partners’ countries began in the kick-off meeting in Rotterdam at the end of October 2018 where a constructive collaboration started among the researchers. The partners met also in Larissa at the end of February 2019 to share their experiences and enable an initial comparison among their findings. This document is the basis for the partnership’s future work.

The document has been compiled by Enaip Piemonte, in the role of coordinating partner in the Erasmus+ project “IRENE”.

The point of departure of the desk research was to analyse the laws at national and regional level regarding learning difficulties/disorders in adults, their diagnosis and treatment.

The research issues show a great variability of the reality concerning SLD adults due to the different legal framework of each state. Even in a single country there are significant differences according to the varied regulations set by national and local authorities (regions, communities, municipalities).

The presence or absence of public services or private organizations dealing with disabilities and learning difficulties may also affect the situation.

The analysis of the legal framework in the partners’ countries shows that norms and measures on learning disorders refer mainly to the school environment, above all to children and youngsters in compulsory education, and no specific attention is paid in workplaces and in lifelong learning paths with only few exceptions.

The diagnosing of Dyslexia in adults, that is in people who have finished secondary schools, is everywhere very rare and the desk researches do not put in evidence any collected data on this issue. The signs of Dyslexia often go undiagnosed during the school career. Most adults realize they are dyslexic when their children meet problems at school and get a diagnosis. In a technological era like the one in which we live, many of the characteristics of dyslexia are seen as a sign of the times.

When we began our common work we were aware that the field of our research referring to adults with difficulties in learning foreign languages was not much investigated. A collaborative process among the partners started, sharing ideas and getting to a common agreement on what the final product could look like, what its main purpose was and to which audience it was addressed.

As already pointed out, even in presence of a great amount of information about SLD and foreign language learning in younger ages, a lack of literature and experiences with SLD adults was found.

Few researches could be found about the needs of trainers and teachers in FL teaching with SLD adults, despite of a great demand of attention and resources coming from professional resources dealing with the problem (FL teachers, support teachers, etc.).

The education and vocational training system do not cope with the problem and no support is given to individual adults with learning difficulties/disorders learning a foreign language. Only few services could be described regarding specific categories of SLD adults that is students at University and employees.

Nevertheless, a common path has been individuated leading to the development of a teaching methodology more adequate to the adult public than the most used “scholastic” one. The Total Physical Response and the Autonomous learning seem to be particularly suitable and effective with our target group.

The research findings serve to the implementation of a didactic approach and to the definition of the guidelines for teachers and trainers who will be trained to improve their skills needed to teach FL to adult people with learning difficulties.

As regards e-learning methods and tools the research shows that a lot of programs and devices are at disposal (Speech Software, Extensive dyslexia tools, videogame-like applications), when an adult starts to learn a foreign language, but little attention is given to the measurement of their effectiveness, to the evaluation of their benefits for the teaching and the learning process and to a common reflection about any disadvantages and obstacles.

The mapping of existing practices in the area of FL e-learning support provides sufficient examples with details about their accessibility and usability criteria. Their use might be extended to SLD adults learning a foreign language.

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The complete list of references is cited in the full study.