All we can do is trial and error: English language teachers' inclusive practice experiences

Meeting the basic education needs of students with special needs, which are the legal rights of students with special needs, requires the implementation of successful inclusion practices within an effective education process. In the process of successful inclusion practices for students with special...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Emrah Bilgiç, Ammar Tekin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Octagon Education Services 2023-11-01
Series:Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.j-psp.com/download/all-we-can-do-is-trial-and-error-english-language-teachers-inclusive-practice-experiences-13931.pdf
Description
Summary:Meeting the basic education needs of students with special needs, which are the legal rights of students with special needs, requires the implementation of successful inclusion practices within an effective education process. In the process of successful inclusion practices for students with special educational needs, academic and non-academic skills can be taught. Foreign language is also included in the teaching of academic skills. While it is possible to realize effective English language teaching for students with special needs with the necessary arrangements, problems are experienced due to various reasons. Hence, in the process of successful inclusion practices, students with special needs either cannot learn a foreign language at all or have limited foreign language knowledge. The aim of the study is to determine the adaptations made by teachers in effective foreign language teaching for students with special needs in order to ensure successful inclusion practices, the problems they encounter in this process and their solution suggestions. The study is a qualitative study, employing a narrative approach as the research design. The data is collected via narrative interviews with eight teachers of English. The thematic analysis of the findings is presented four main categories: insufficient theoretical knowledge about inclusive practices; problems encountered in the classroom; instructional adaptations, and suggestions from the practitioners. The findings illustrate that the participants received either no or little training on special education and inclusion at undergraduate level or as a professional development opportunity. Moreover, the training they received was only at the theoretical level and partially or completely forgotten due to the fact that it could not be transferred to the application level. Moreover, participants underline that they face problems regarding the diagnosis of students with special needs, as well as their needs to have cooperation between experts, teachers, families and students. Yet, participant teachers found novel ways to overcome their problems and have a more successful inclusive practice for students with special needs. Their offers of solutions to these problems are listed at the end of the study.
ISSN:2687-3788