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:

Innsalz Verlag

• 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

• Zaade, Sara (2014): Multisensorisch Englisch lernen. In: Böttger, Heiner (20142). Englisch – Didaktik für die Grundschule.

Berlin: Cornelsen.

Your questions, please!

astrid.ebenberger@kphvie.ac.at