This is a quantitative descriptive research that aimed to examine the impact of shortness of breath on the speech of asthmatic language learners. To achieve this objective, over 405 asthmatic learners hailing from 54 different countries were involved using the snowball sampling method. To collect the necessary data, a questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale was carefully developed. Its validity and reliability coefficients were properly ensured as well. The findings revealed that shortness of breath had a tangible negative impact on the oral abilities of asthmatic language learners, irrespective of the seriousness of their asthma condition. The impact was found to cause several moderate speech and language with psychosocial problems, which would be aggravated significantly when their condition worsened. This research is admittedly the first of its kind that seeks to determine how shortness of breath in asthmatic language learners could affect their speech directly and psychosocial abilities indirectly. The current research establishes a precedent for upcoming studies that seek to determine the link involving breathing patterns and speech abilities of the language learners suffering from asthma and to decide whether it results in low speech achievement. Implications and recommendations for further research were presented, as well.

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Al-khresheh, M. H. (2018). The impact of shortness of breath on asthmatic language learners’ speech. International Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 4(6), 251-264. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.20469/ijhss.4.10006-6