Editor:
Paula Rebolledo
Include short review and consolidation tasks at the beginning, middle and end of the lesson.
Introduce short mindfulness activities during the day (e.g. breathing, stretching or visualising exercises).
Offer rehearsals that allow students to practise before any assessment.
Provide different ways for students to show you what they know (e.g. acting out, using mini boards, comic strips, podcasts, videos, show and tell, dialogues or think-pair-share).
Break down and vary instructions to check students’ understanding (e.g.using body language, pictures or sequences).
Use different means of presentation/representation of information such as text, images, videos, diagrams, animations, subtitles, flashcards or authentic material.
Include activities for “fast finishers”, for instance, have a resource bank (or box) with questions, extra activities or tasks.
Include non-linguistic engaging and interactive activities such as colouring, choosing a picture, completing a map or connecting elements.
Include games such as board games, pictionaries, bingos, running and/or picture dictations.
Include any digital screen that is available to you, such as digital whiteboards, tablets, computers or smartphones.
Organise students using different grouping strategies and seating (e.g. randomly, mixed-abilities, student-choice, task interests or solo work).
What practical classroom recommendations can we make from this?
Include short review and consolidation tasks at the beginning, middle and end of the lesson.
Set clear and brief rules from the beginning and make students part of such a process (e.g. negotiate a class contract with students).
Providing comfortable learning conditions may help minimise students' impulsive and disruptive behaviour (Ref 7).
Breaking down instructions makes the verbal, auditory and written directions easier to remember by reducing the students’ memory load (Ref 3).
Promoting collaborative learning and tasks that require practice before assessment help reduce learners’ anxiety (Ref 2).
Providing multiple forms of presentation of content, materials, activities and performance tasks that allow learners to engage, process, and interact with classroom content according to their preferences and abilities (Ref 1).
Including games helps learners to have more security, reduces the fear of making mistakes and helps them develop their potential (Ref 7).
Including ICT-based activities to cover students' different learning rhythms and levels of concentration (Ref 7).
Despite the assumption that students with SENs will not be able to learn English, a study demonstrated that there were no major differences in terms of achievement, with those who did not have SENs identified (Ref 6).
What does research suggest to support EFL teaching and learning?
Learning an L2 is a high-demanding process due to activities such as monologues and dialogue rehearsals which may be stressful and cause anxiety in learners with speech conditions (Ref 2).
EFL teachers' awareness about the way they provide feedback impacts students. For instance, SEN students may consider corrective feedback as punitive and they may be reluctant to participate later (Ref 5).
EFL teachers’ beliefs and attitudes have a direct impact on their inclusive practices. If they feel prepared to work with SEN students, their self-efficacy improves, and they will be more open to working with them in the future (Ref 4).
What do we know from research?
SENs in the English Language Classroom:
Inclusive Practices
7. Use different means of presentation/representation of information such as text, images, videos, diagrams, animations, subtitles, realia, flashcards, and authentic material, among others.
8. Provide different ways for students to show you what they know (e.g. acting out, using mini boards, comic strips, podcasts, videos, show and tell, dialogues, think-pair-share, among others).
9. Offer rehearsals that allow students to practise before any assessment.
10. Break down and vary instructions to check students’ understanding (e.g.using body language, pictures, and sequences, among others).
11. Introduce short mindfulness activities during the day (e.g. breathing, stretching, and visualising exercises, among others).
12. Include short review and consolidation tasks at the beginning, middle and end of the lesson.
1. Set clear and brief rules from the beginning and make students part of such a process (e.g. negotiate a class contract with students).
2. Organise students using different grouping strategies and seating (e.g. randomly, mixed-abilities, student-choice, task interests, solo work, among others).
3. Include any digital screen that is available to you, such as digital whiteboards, tablets, computers or smartphones.
4. Include games such as board games, pictionaries, bingos, running and/or picture dictations.
5. Include activities for “fast finishers”, for instance, have a resource bank (or box) with questions, extra activities or tasks.
6. Include non-linguistic engaging and interactive activities such as colouring, choosing a picture, completing a map, and connecting elements.
D. What practical recommendations can we make from this?
Promoting collaborative learning and planning tasks that require practice before assessment, help reduce learners’ anxiety (García-Pastor & Miller, 2019).
Breaking down instructions is a successful inclusion strategy because it makes the verbal, auditory and written directions easier to remember by reducing the students’ memory load (Gore, 2010).
Providing multiple forms of presentation of content, materials, activities and performance tasks allow learners to engage, process, and interact with classroom content, according to their preferences and abilities (Barros del Río, Sigona, Blázquez Arribas & Alcalde Peñalver 2021).
Including games helps learners to have more security, reduces the fear of making mistakes and helps them develop their potential (Villafuerte & Mosquera, 2020).
Including ICT-based activities to cover students' different learning rhythms and levels of concentration (Villafuerte & Mosquera, 2020).
Providing comfortable learning conditions may help minimise students' impulsive and disruptive behaviour (Villafuerte & Mosquera, 2020).
C. How can research findings support EFL teaching and learning in the classroom?
B. What do we know from research?
There is an assumption that students with SENs will not be able to learn English. But the study by Sparks, Javorsky & Philips (2005) demonstrated that there were no major differences in the cognitive and academic achievement of students with ADHD and other learning disabilities, with those who did not have SENs identified.
EFL teachers’ beliefs and attitudes have a direct impact on their inclusive practices. If teachers feel prepared to work with special needs students, their self-efficacy improves, and they are more open to working with SEN students in the future (Nijakowska, 2019).
EFL teachers' awareness about the way they provide feedback impacts students. For instance, SEN students may consider corrective feedback as punitive and they may be reluctant to participate later (Landrum & Kauffman 2006).
Learning an L2 is a high-demanding process due to the tasks involved, such as monologue or dialogue rehearsal among peers. These activities may be stressful and cause anxiety in learners with speech conditions (García-Pastor & Miller, 2019).
Students with SENs may have difficulty following long instructions, since they may not understand the main message teachers are sending; this may be confusing for the learners (Gore, 2010).
Despite its importance, the learning of EFL may present a challenge for students who live with cognitive, socioemotional, behavioural, and physical conditions. To make sure educational systems address their needs, the adoption of inclusive practices has been suggested to help them achieve their potential.
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