Foreign language learning is a must for our multilingual society and technology dependent world, constituting, thus, a fundamental part of every educational system around the globe. According to Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), all students are entitled to education that must also include the instruction of a foreign language. The aim of this study was to examine which of the following factors, a) Learning Disabilities (students’ development), b) Learning Style, and c) Phonological Short Term Memory (PSTM) predict foreign language vocabulary retention in an inclusive foreign language learning environment in which Typically Developing (TD) students and students with Learning Disabilities (LD) learn English as a foreign language. The participants were 52 English language learners aged 9 to 12 attending a foreign language school receiving English language instruction at the level of A1 according to CEFR. 33 students were Typically Developing and 19 were ones with Learning Disabilities. The experiment was conducted on a computer environment. An English text with ten unknown, contextualized target vocabulary items were hyperlinked and instruction (definition, example, and translation equivalent on their mother tongue) was provided when students clicked on them. The experiment followed a typical pre-test, post-test 1 (after an hour) and post-test 2 (after a week) typical procedure and vocabulary retention scores of both post-tests were measured. Additionally, the Learning styles questionnaire was provided to the students while students' PSTM, and Learning Disabilities were assessed individually through tasks. Linear Regression analyses were performed. Results indicated that the factors Learning Disabilities and PSTM both significantly predicted foreign language vocabulary retention in both post-tests. However, the Learning Style variables did not predict vocabulary retention of either post-tests.
