In a study that sought to identify the gains in English oral communication skills of Spanish speaking learning disabled students in the elementary schools, the Basic Inventory of Natural Language (BINL) and the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery (WLPB) were administered to two groups of students aged 8 to 12 years: an experimental group of 20 students in a self-contained class and a control group of 20 mainstreamed students. Students in the experimental group received English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction using the natural approach (NAT) and the control group followed the audiolingual approach (AAT). The BINL was used as a measure of English oral production skills and the WLPB was used to measure English vocabulary comprehension skills and listening comprehension. Results reveal that elementary Spanish speaking learning-disabled students showed gains in English oral communication skills. The NAT and AAT showed instructional strengths for the acquisition of ESL in learning-disabled students. Students under the NAT treatment showed a significant difference in the Woodcock Analogies subtest by age group. (Contains 41 references.) (JP)