ELT inclusion of learners with SENs

Teacher’s beliefs towards visual impairment students’ English learning opportunities in mainstream classrooms

Keywords: Inclusion, ELT, visual impairment, teachers' beliefs

Abstract

Inclusion has been a topic of conversation in recent years since the need to integrate all students equally in ordinary classrooms has caused this boom in the educational community. In the context of English language teaching, teachers sometimes happen to have students with visual impairment. This disability has a negative impact English because it does not allow students to complete learning activities in the same way the rest of the students would. Therefore, this study focuses on visual impairment, and its objective is to explore what teachers' beliefs are regarding the opportunities for students with visual impairment to learn English and their inclusion in their classrooms. Data was collected through interviews, gathering comprehensive information about participants' beliefs regarding the English learning opportunities of these students and their inclusion within their classes. Data analysis was performed by coding interview responses and identifying specific patterns that were related to research questions that might be useful for the study. The study shows that there is insufficient information and training for teachers so there is a need to deeply understand their own beliefs to act wisely, strengthen inclusion, continue to provide the same opportunities and consolidate the way teachers interact with students with visual impairments. on learning 

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Author Biographies

Tomás Hernández-Ángeles, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo

Tomás Hernández Ángeles es licenciado en Educación con la Especialidad en la Enseñanza del Inglés y cuenta con una Maestría en ‘English Language Teaching’ otorgada por la Universidad de Southampton, UK. Es profesor-investigador y docente en la Licenciatura en Enseñanza de la Lengua Inglesa de la UAEH.  Sus intereses de investigación están relacionados con la percepción y actitudes de maestros y estudiantes de inglés, el uso de Anglicismos como Préstamo Lingüístico, Paisaje Lingüístico, Migración de Retorno, y de Ciudadanía Transnacional. 

Martha G. Hernández-Alvarado, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo

Martha Guadalupe Hernández Alvarado holds an M.A. in ELT from the University of Southampton and is a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics at this university. She has been a language teacher for 20 years, coauthored a series of English textbooks, and participated in materials design projects. She is a lecturer and researcher at UAEH. Her research interests include virtual exchange, teacher/learner autonomy, and language teacher education. 

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Published
2023-11-05
How to Cite
Noriega-Pérez, G. P., Paz-Dominguez, R. M., Hernández-Ángeles, T., & Hernández-Alvarado, M. G. (2023). ELT inclusion of learners with SENs. Revista Lengua Y Cultura, 5(9), 59-69. https://doi.org/10.29057/lc.v5i9.11582