YEREVAN STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EUROPEAN LANGUAGES AND COMMUNICATION

Department of English for Cross-Cultural Communication
LINGUISTICS AND CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
(ENGLISH)

TERM PAPER

Teaching English to the Learners with Special Needs

STUDENT: Yana Movsesyan

SUPERVISOR: Lilit Bekaryan

YEREVAN 2020
Introduction
Identification of English Language Learners with Special Needs

Special Education is based on a model of disability (Rueda et al., in press) that locates the
problem or ‘'disease’' in the child and then attempts to ''cure'' the problem with a series of
''treatments'' or interventions. Special Educational Needs refer to physical, mental or
psychological conditions that may impede the learning of students. The representation of
English language learners with special needs has suggested that teachers have difficulties
distinguishing students having difficulties learning English for certain reasons (e.g. limited
English) from students with learning disabilities (Yates & Ortiz, 1998). Struggling learners
(because of non-English background or for some other reasons) need prevention of failures
and intervention and when early prevention and intervention come to a failure to resolve
learning difficulties, the need of special education is warranted. Educators always have a
difficulty distinguishing students who truly have special education needs from students who
are learning English as a second language (Artiles & Klingner, 2006). Students with special
needs are even being negatively impacted by the shortage of special education teachers and
specialists.

Difference between ELL as a second language and ELL with SN is enormous and it is
everywhere. If a student with ESL may have difficulty in reading and writing because of
unfamiliarity of English words or because of a lack of exposure to English word reading and
spelling, students with SN may have memory problems, difficulties reading at the given
word-level etc. Lack of the English language grammar structures, syntax, pragmatics and
vocabulary may become a result for being unable to comprehend the text for learners with
non-English background, while the same will be seen as a result of language processing
problems, sequencing problems and the like for learners with SN.
 There are various factors for identification of English language learners with special
needs. Unlike most people, for whom speaking is an associative task, as they don’t
consciously think about words and expressions they utter or about the pronunciation of these
words, learners with special needs who are underperforming, speaking can be a cognitive
task. They may need some time to determine which letter matches up with a certain sound
or for varying grammar structures and expressions and so on.

Besides, the identification of learners with SN depends on the grades, special education
category, language program (straight English immersion, modified English immersion,
bilingual), and level of English proficiency. In one research findings have shown that
students limited in both Spanish and English are more likely to be placed in special education
than those who have more proficiency in their native language[ (Hoover & Klingner, 2011).
Teaching to LSN demands appropriate knowledge about every single student of the
classroom, awareness of the potential areas of concern in second language learning process
etc.

In Peer and Reid (2012) a number of conditions are considered under Special Educational
Needs, like Dyspraxia (poor physical coordination), Dyslexia (problems with spelling and
reading), Autism (developmental disorders leading to social interaction problems), Visual
impairment, Dyscalculia (number understanding difficulty), ADHD (difficulty in controlling
behavior). Learners with special needs may have problems in writing as they usually
experience a mixture of various ideas which may lead in a mess of organization and
sequencing of ideas while writing, they may have spelling problems. Among these problems
students with special needs may have difficulties responding to questions in the classroom.
Especially when a question is given spontaneously, the student may experience challenges
with producing speech. These students need supportive learning environment where they
will never be mocked as well as they need slower pace of introduction of a new material,
slower pace of giving instructions etc. Instructional intervention plays a great role in Special
Need Education as it helps the learner in a sphere he is struggling with. Instructional
intervention can be intentional if it is aimed at a certain challenge and can be specific if it
lasts for a while. But if the program doesn't help the learners, it should be changed.

Learners with special needs may add, delete or replace words while speaking because of a
difficulty to find the appropriate word, memory or as a result of the difficulty of oral
language processing. They may have problems with long-term memory like while telling a
story they’ve experienced. Very often they may have emotional problems because of mental
problems, as a consequence of frustration of learning difficulties. They may feel anxious, may
become depressed and aggressive when having social communication issues. Communication
and learning problems can result in frustration which may lead to behaviour problems,
violence, aggression and loss of temper. They may try to escape the lessons. Unlike students
with SEN, student with learning difficulties (because of second language) can read and write
fluently in their native languages. The latters have a poor and limited vocabulary even in
their own languages and their progress is very little over time. If students learning English as
a second language are able to make connections between what is also known and what is
new, if they are able to guess the meaning of the sentence with the words they know, SSNs
can’t make connections between words and expressions. Sentences they use are super simple
and they don’t increase in complexity over time. Thus, they are expected to be talked to
with simple sentences to help them catch the meaning of what is said.

Learners with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder) are very absent-minded, they can easily forget words, they can’t find words and
expressions to express their thoughts, they may get lost and come late for a class etc. These
learners need certain fixed rules of discipline, fixed rules of breaks and timetable for an
organized day.

Students in special education may spend part of their school day on regular classes. They may
have outside lessons, an assistant in class who will help them. They may sometimes not be
able to focus on the lesson, may have oral communication disorders, writing difficulties, they
work slowly and may have non-verbal difficulties and so on. Some children may feel
embarrassed from always being in the center of attention, others do need attention, so the
approach should depend on the individual and their psychologists should decide which
approach they need. Parents may decide if they want their child attend a public school or a
private education. The advantage of the latter is that here peers are equal and the child will
feel more comfortable among them. And here teaching methods are also more flexible
depending on the needs of the child. In both cases intervention should be sequential and
systematic, and the approach should be systematically changed depending on how the
student responds to the intervention style. In any kind of classroom teacher should estimate
the potential of the students, distinguish students requiring special needs with providing
materials, assessments, appropriate instructions, then monitoring the progress of the
students, teacher should provide on-going assessments. If the student is not progressing as
expected, another assessment should be completed to determine missing skills of the latter.
Here the student should be provided with intervention, a program should be adjusted. If all
these are ineffective and there is no obvious improvement, then there is a need of an out-
school intervention. Besides acknowledgment, in and out-school interventions, teacher
should increase parental involvement, should always keep in touch with the learner’s parents
and their actions and interventions should be interrelated, teacher should build community
partnerships. Progress of the learner should be recorded, the needs of the learner with special
needs should correspond to the needs of the others in the classroom.

So students have need of special education if they have a learning difficulty that calls for
special educational provisions to be made for them. These learners have significantly greater
learning difficulties than the others at the same level.
Supporting English Language Learners with Special Needs and
Developing a Language Task for Them

There exist numerous reasons why a child may need a special education program; the child
may struggle with developmental delays (e.g. dyspraxia and apraxia of speech), or the child
may have problems with numeracy and literacy because of a specific learning difference.
Some physical disabilities may affect the way of the child's learning and he (she) may need
some additional tools, materials to specific accommodation. However, we can never say that
these children are less talented or intelligent than the others in mainstream classrooms.

It can be very difficult and challenging for the children in special education to overcome
challenges in front of them. What their parents and teachers need to do is to give them more
energy and motivation. They should help the child find her strength, her talent. For
example, a child with autism may have interpersonal problems but can be a master of
computer, or a child may have problems with writing but be a wonderful artist. Revealing
their unique points you may encourage them to go forward and struggle. Every child is
unique and one may find a strategy for a certain child, e.g. a pen can motivate a child,
provide access to a special accommodation etc. Parents and teachers are to give out plenty of
encouragement and motivation to keep children away from developing a negative attitude
towards school and lessons.

The main point is that teachers not only need to help these children to overcome their
weaknesses but also to find themselves, for what and who they are. They should encourage
and motivate them as some of them have to work much harder to get the same result as her
peers and this may end in disillusion and they may begin to avoid learning. The atmosphere
of the classroom should be motivating: being corrected too often and working under pressure
students may feel uncomfortable, they'll not like to work in a stressful atmosphere or to do a
boring activity. So the lesson should be interactive, movement activities should be included
not to make them get bored, lexical and grammar materials should be repeated until they get
it.

One can offer a motivating book to the child taking into account the level of the book and
child's interests. Even encouraging to beat the record of the pages read a day one can
motivate a child. These kind of motivations are called intrinsic. There are also motivations
called extrinsic, like promising a toy, providing external rewards, or giving a candy for
reading. The teacher should provide the right strategy for encouraging the child to learn. For
example, some children may prefer to type on a computer than to write by hand. Some
children prefer to read from colorful worksheets, so it's also important to find the appropriate
strategy.

Use the right word when talking to the child in special education is also an important factor.
One should not use words like 'disabilities', 'disabled' etc. These kind of words can affect the
self-esteem of the child.

The teacher teaching to learners with special needs is to have a certain plan for the lesson,
should take into account the strong points of her students. For these students a certain
teaching material should be chosen, which will not only be catchy and attractive, but also
appropriate. A curriculum should be adapted for the student without a pressure to cover the
entire material. The concentration should be on developing the skills. Among these strategies
an individualized study plan and extra working time should be drawn for each student with
SEN.

The homework for a child in special education also matters. Some of them prefer to repeat
the same task they did at school or during previous classes. They may even feel more
confident doing this and the advantage is that repeating the same material they make it into a
long-term memory. Parents should also take into account the time spent on homework and
the way they do it. Many of them do need longer time to do the same tasks compared to their
peers. Or they may need to have a little break after a hard school day, so parents shouldn't
make a pressure on them.

What teachers, teaching to learners with special needs, need to do is to call for differentiated
instructions to find the best option for their students, to match their approach to the needs of
learners as even if all the learners have the same goals, the teaching approach varies
depending on how each of them prefers to learn. Special education teachers that use the
differentiated instruction for special education students create lessons based on various
assessment measures. As long as teachers are unaware of their students' readiness, learning
profiles and interests, differentiation will hardly take place.

For example, giving feedback can be very effective for some learners as they may have
difficulty monitoring their own progress. Giving feedback will help them reflect on their
own work. Or using graphics while teaching may help visual learners who respond well to
information in the form of a graphics, T-charts or maps.

So teachers should differentiate content, process, product and learning environment based on
the information they have got by assessing their students. Content, in general, is grounded in
grade level curriculum and standards. Process is delivering learning experience and here
visual, auditory content can be very useful to deliver a more vivid learning experience. Here
teachers should support learners based on their individual needs. In this stage assessments
and tasks should be connected, and besides audios, listening activities or pictorial supports
can be provided to differentiate the process for learners. Product stage is measuring the
material learners have learnt. It's very important to take into account each learner's
background and potential of learning. Teachers should give learners the opportunity to use
technology, pictures or other objects to demonstrate what they’ve learnt. Learning
environment is also very important point for LSN. Diving the classroom into group will help
them get in touch with different students and keep them engaged in the lesson. Various
arrangements and furniture types can also be a good idea.
For the process part the teacher can use mime games, where students mime the object they
have on a card. They may listen to songs about food, drinks or something else about the topic
they cover and try to memorize them. The teacher may use visual images and the like to help
the learners. Students can be to make presentations on the topic or something else taking
account their needs and preferences. Through a presentation they will both revise the
knowledge they've got and will improve speaking skills while presenting it to the class. For
approving reading abilities small texts or dialogues can be used and they can even be
personalized to make more interesting. After reading they can be asked to act it out.

Instructional intervention plays a great role in Special Need Education as it helps the learner
in a sphere he is struggling with. Instructional intervention can be intentional if it is aimed at
a certain challenge and can be specific if it lasts for a while. But if the program doesn't help
the learners, it should be changed.

When developing a language task or a lesson for learners with special needs, teacher should
take into account learners’ interests, the level they have, their abilities, weaknesses and
strengths. Task should have an instruction part with simple sentences to make sure learners
understand the essence of the task. Teacher should analyze the support learners will need to
complete the task and of course (s) he may have certain strategies to succeed in the aim.

Here is a language task example developed for learners with special needs. As SN students
can remember well due to visual memory, I will use paintings in my task and I will give the
learners copies of my instructions in case they forget them while doing the task. And teacher
should break down her demands into step by step, simple instructions with simple words and
sentences, so that learners can catch the meaning.

Level: Pre-intermediate Length: 25 minutes

Task Type; Vocabulary task (pronunciation, speaking, listening)

Main Aims;
By the end of the task, the learners will have been revised the key vocabulary of the
text they've covered, they will get it into a long-term memory with the help of visual
memory, and different examples.

Subsidiary Aim(s)
The engagement of all the students.
To encourage students to talk to each other which will improve communication and
speaking skills.
Pronunciation mistakes will be corrected.

Evidence: (I will know if my aims have been achieved if ...)

Learners are interested and engaged in the task.
They can recognize the key words when rereading the text, can translate and use them in
other sentences confidently.
They can notice the mistakes of the other groups.

Materials needed.
Copied papers of a graphic with four boxes and one in the center for each of the learners,
Markers, sticky cards with the pictures of the key words.
TIME STAGE STAGE AIM
5 minutes Lead-in Teacher should present the essence of the
task to get learners' attention and engage
them in it. She should divide learners into
groups (3-4 students in one group). Each of
the students should get one copy of the
graphic and each group should get painting
cards corresponding to the words of
graphics.
7 minutes Visual memory Putting the paintings next to the words they Instruction: Look at every single
will be able to remember it visually.
5 minutes Usage in Using key words in sentences they’ll
speech become more confident to use them in
everyday speech. This stage will also help
them improve sentence making skills.
PROCEDURE AND
MATERIALS
Teacher shows the graphic to the
learners and explains what it is
and what they're going to do.
From learners' reactions she can
understand whether they're
interested in the activity or not.
graphic your team has and look at
the word in the center of the
graphic. Discuss and find which
one is the picture of the word you
have in your graphics. Attach the
picture in the first circle.
Instruction: Write a sentence
using the word you have. Your
team members' sentences should
be the mental continuity of your
 sentence.
3 minutes Making Making connections with other words will Instruction: Write a word that
connections help them to get the word in a long-term comes to your mind when you
memory. look at your key word in the third
circle.
5 minutes Encouragement Giving rewards will encourage the learners Teacher can give candies to the
to be more enthusiastic for the upcoming students and give positive
activities. feedbacks to their works. Candies
can be colorful (like M&Ms) and
before giving teacher can ask the
student the color of the candy. In
this way they will revise the
colors as well.

Graphic Model

1.

MOON
2. 4.

This task will help them later on either. They can collect these word
graphics in a copybook and can come back to look through any time
they need.
CONCLUSION
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Figueroa, R. A., & Newsome, P. (2006). The diagnosis of LD in English learners: Is it

nondiscriminatory? Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(3), 206-214.

2. Fletcher, T. V., & Navarrete, L. A. (2003). Learning disabilities or difference: A critical

look at issues associated with the misidentification and placement of Hispanic students in
special education programs. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 30(1), 30-38.

Resources

1. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-english-learners-special-
educational-needs-sens-%E2%80%93-myths-realities
2. https://www.readandspell.com/students-in-special-education
3. https://maec.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/English-Learners-and-
Disproportionality-in-Special-Ed.pdf
4. https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/specedu/fas/pdf/4.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2km66-
ALlCCOet1CdSBtcI2wgkSrYzok6SK95NROyZLyiy3Tqt4Cix4qE
5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
233354810_Meeting_the_Needs_of_English_Language_Learners_With_Learning_Dis
abilities_in_the_General_Curriculuam