Dr. Astrid Ebenberger, Med KPH Wien/Krems, Austria
English Language Teaching in Inclusive Settings (A research and development project)
5th International Conference Cross-Curricularity in Language Education
Krotoszyn, Poland 2017
“Inclusion … is a vision for a new
society which wholeheartedly
embraces diversity. All human
beings are part of the community.
The community takes care of the
needs of each single member
without labelling or segregating
them in any way”
(Bintinger, Eichelberger, Wilhelm 2005: 21).
Approach and goal of the project:
Creating settings and material for high-quality
inclusive English language teaching (IELT) in
primary and secondary schools (8-12ys)
Main questions:
In how far can findings about successful inclusive
teaching be transferred into the context of inclusive
language teaching?
Which didactics and methods are appropriate for
inclusive language teaching?
Contents
Theoretical background European strategy
Integration – inclusion
Austrian strategy
English language teaching – curricula
Approaches to teaching English individually
The project Studies: Main questions and methods
Pre-study
First findings
References
Theoretical background – European strategies
UNESCO world conference in Salamanca “on Principles, Policy and
Practice in Special Needs Education and a Framework for Action”
(UNESCO 1994) Salamanca declaration
In 2010 renewed by the European Commission
The UN convention of Human Rights (1948) and the European
Charter of Fundamental Rights the EC provided a framework to
implement national strategies. The goal is to guarantee full
participation to everybody in every part of life, society and
economy.
National strategies have to cover eight paradigms and areas:
Accessibility, participation, equality, employment, education and
training, social protection, health, and external action (EC, 2010:3).
In the area of education it postulates lifelong inclusive teaching and
learning. Disabled people should have the chance to attend the
same schools and educational organisations as all the others.
Theoretical background - defenitions
English language: integration = inclusion
In German language:
“Inclusion” (fig. right): different material for all the
individual pupils with all their different abilities and
needs, they all have access to everything, the
teachers care for all of them.
“Integration” (fig. left) : teaching disabled children in
regular classes towards a special curriculum by
grouping them separately and supporting them by
specially trained and educated teachers using special
material (Boban, Hinz 2005) 146).
Theoretical background – Austrian strategy
National plan (BAMSK 2012) – for education:
Creation of model-regions for inclusive education
In-service training for stakeholders and school
supervisors as well as monitoring people and teachers.
Abolishment of the separate education of teachers for
children with special needs (BMBF 2015a)
General paradigm in schools: Dealing with
heterogeneous classes as well as differentiation and
individualization in teaching and learning.
Creating material that supports individual development of
children e.g. for English language teaching (ELT)
Theoretical background – ELT-curricula
E.g.: different competences for ELT in primary schools (OESZ 2013)
skill level regular cognitively handicapped
Listening/
Understan
-ding
2c Can understand age-
appropriate, simplified
longer texts (stories, fairy
tales)
Can understand age-appropriate,
simplified texts (stories, fairy
tales)
Speaking
coherently
2b Can retell very simple,
short stories
Can retell very simple, short
stories with linguistic support
Joining
communi-
cation
2c Can perform simple
dialogues, dramas and
stories
Can perform linguistically
simplified dialogues and stories
after intensive preparation
Reading/
Understan
-ding
3c Can read along, read and
understand simple texts
(e.g. out of popular
storybooks)
Can read along and understand
very simple texts (e.g. out of
popular storybooks) after
intensive preparation
Writing 2b Can modify simple written
dialogues by the use of
given lexis
Can copy and modify very simple
written dialogues by the use of
given words
Social,
personal
skills
2b Can join cooperative work
actively
Can join cooperative work by
getting support and instructions
Theoretical background – inclusive teaching
Theories for inclusive teaching
Feuser (1989): model that follows the development and the
progression of the child
Internal differentiation does not mean a different topic, but it
provides different goals, different methods
Cooperation means collaborative, communicative and integrative
work on the same topics in an appreciative and motivating way.
A common subject is regarded as a common process, a common
idea.
Seitz (2005)
An explicitly subject-based didactical approach: The core is to
communicate between the technical perspectives of the subject
taught and the personal perspective of a child.
Theoretical background – inclusive teaching
Framework of inclusion (Kiel, Weiß 2016)
Successful inclusive teaching depends on the participants.
Teaching inclusively should require consistent and constant teams
of teachers.
Theoretical background – ELT
Approaches to English language teaching (ELT)
following Feuser´s (1989) and Seitz´s (2005) suggestions about the
requirements for successful inclusive teaching
Content and language integrated learning (CLIL)
“CLIL is a dual-focused educational approach in which an additional
language is used for the learning and teaching of both content AND
language.” (Coyle et.al. 2010)
Task Based Learning and Teaching (TBL)
TBL can be considered as “a classroom undertaking … where the
target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose
in order to achieve an outcome.” (Willis, Wills 2001).
Action Based Learning
Learning and teaching in primary school has to provide creativity,
play, action and experiment and exploration. It focusses more on
language acquisition than on accuracy. The use of a handpuppet can
be an appropriate means (Böttger 2010)
Theoretical background – ELT
Differentiated Instruction
“Differentiation is a proactive response to learner needs” (Tomlinson
2016).
Multi-sensory-learning
Children learn by visual, auditive and kinaesthetic support. Multi-
sensory-learning is related to the method of Total Physical Response
(TPR) by James Asher (Zaade 2014)
Multiple intelligences in language learning
Especially disabled children are often gifted in one specific area and
not interested in any others. Tasks may activate interpersonal,
intrapersonal, logical-mathematical, linguistic, musical, kinaesthetic or
spatial intelligences. They will stimulate motivation and thus lead to a
successful learning process and progress (Puchta, Rinvoluccri 2010)
The project – main questions & methods
(1) In how far can findings about successful inclusive
teaching be transferred into the context of inclusive
language teaching?
Which experience do integration teachers for primary schools, secondary
schools and for handicapped pupils have concerning different settings in
differentiation?
Which didactical approaches do they use to integrate cognitively
handicapped pupils in regular lessons?
Which didactical approaches can be regarded as being specific to
inclusive teaching?
Empirical-qualitative method: Guided interviews with
around 30 teachers who have experience in integration
classes in either primary or secondary schools
Category-based content-analysis.
The project – main questions & methods
(2) Which didactics and methods are appropriate for
inclusive language teaching?
Hermeneutic process: Models and evidence about
didactical approaches for language teaching and
inclusive teaching will be described and discussed.
Transfer of cognition:
Connection to the findings of the guided interviews.
Designing new models for inclusive English
language teaching (IELT), completed by several
practical examples to accompany different units in
IELT
The project – pre-study
Integration in New Middle School, NMS (Engelbrecht, 2015)
Approach: In 2012 the “Hauptschule” ( mandatory secondary
school, 10ys-14ys) was replaced by the “New Middle School”
(most important paradigm: diversity differentiation,
individualization, integration; team-teaching)
Goal: Clarification about the procedure, the integration process
and the efficiency of team-teaching concerning the work with
children with special needs in heterogeneous classes.
Empirical-qualitative research via guided interviews with team-
teachers in NMS
Results: Importance of differentiation and individualization via mixed-ability-grouping; Importance of
developing self-confidence and self-reflection;
Increasing gap in the development of regular pupils and handicapped pupils
Increasing tolerance concerning children´s weaknesses, their needs and their restricted
exercises and goals;
Team-teaching-problems some teachers prefer teaching their own independent lessons
with their group of special children
The project – first findings
The gap of the personal and mental development
between the children in one class will increase through
the years of education
Discussion about
same or different curricula?
different models due to different stages or one general model
that may contain all aspects?
Importance of music, interpersonal and multi-sensory
strategies in classrooms.
The first evidence- based results will be published in spring 2018.
First examples for inclusive English language teaching ELT will be
published in autumn 2018.
References • BGBl. 124/2013. Bundesrahmengesetz zur Einführung einer neuen Ausbildung für Pädagoginnen und Pädagogen. Online
submission. http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokumente/BgblAuth/BGBLA_2013_I_124/BGBLA_2013_I_124.pdf BGBl. II 137/2008.
Lehrpläne der Allgemeinen Sonderschulen. http://www.cisonline.at/fileadmin/kategorien/BGBl_II__Nr_137_Anlage_C_1.pdf
• Bintinger, Gitta, Eichelberger, Harald, Wilhelm, Marianne (2005): Von der Integration zur Inklusion. In Grubich, Rainer (2005)
(ed): Inklusive Pädagogik. Beiträge zu einem anderen Verständnis von Integration. 20-42. Aspach: Innsalz Verlag
• BMASK (2012). Strategie der österreichischen Regierung zur Umsetzung der UN-Behindertenkonvention. Inklusion als
Menschenrecht und Auftrag. Wien: Bundesministerium für Arbeit, Soziales und Konsumentenschutz,
https://www.sozialministerium.at/cms/site/attachments/9/5/0/CH3434/CMS1456743005402/nap_de_pdfua.pdf
• BMBF. (2015) PädagoginnenbildungNeu.https://www.bmbf.gv.at/schulen/lehr/labneu/index.html
• Boban, Ines, Hinz, Andreas (2005): Qualitätsentwicklung des gemeinsamen Unterrichts durch den Index für Inklusion. In
Grubich, Rainer (2005): Inklusive Pädagogik. Beiträge zu einem anderen Verständnis von Integration. 140-157. Aspach:
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• Böttger, Heiner (2010)) Englisch lernen in der Grundschule. Bad Heibrunn: Klinkhardt..
• Coyle, Do, Hood, Philip, Marsh, David (2010). CLIL. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Engelbrecht, Liesbeth (2015): Chancen und Grenzen der Integration in der Neuen Mittelschule. Non-published bachelor
thesis. KPH Wien Krems.
• EC - European Commission (2010), European Disability Strategy 2010-2020; A renewed Commitment to a Barrier-Free
Europe. http://Feuser, Georg (1989): Allgemeine integrative Pädagogik und entwicklungslogische Didaktik. In:
Behindertenpädagogik 28, 1, 4-48.
• ÖSZ (2013) Grundkompetenzen Fremdsprache 2. und 4. Schulstufe (Gk2/Gk4) für Schüler/innen mit kognitiven
Beeinträchtigungen, Hörbeeinträchtigungen, Sehbeeinträchtigungen oder Blindheit.
http://www.oesz.at/OESZNEU/UPLOAD/gk2gk4_gesamtbroschuere_2016_web_Dez.2016.pdf
• Puchta, Herbert, Rinvolucri, Mario (20107): Multiple Intelligences in EFL. Innsbruck: Helbling.
• Seitz, Simone (2005). Zeit für inklusiven Sachunterricht. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider-Verlag Hohengehren.
• Tomlinson, Carol (2010). Differentiated Instruction.http://www.caroltomlinson.com/2010SpringASCD/Rex_SAstrategies.pdf
• UNESCO (1994): The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education. World Conference on
Special Needs Education: Access and Quality, Salamanca 1994.
• Willis, Dave Willis, Jane (2001): Task-based language learning. In Carter, R., Nunan, D. (eds). The Cambridge Guide to
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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