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The Special-Needs Student in the Foreign Language Classroom

Welcome to the May electronic newsletter of the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center!

The theme of this issue is special needs and foreign language learning. The belief that ALL students can learn a foreign language has resulted in increased attention on the inclusion of special needs students in the second language classroom. In this issue of the Alumni Connection, we will look at curriculum, policy, and technology issues within the realm of special needs students in the foreign language classroom.

Cindy Kendall, Newsletter Editor
Marcia Rosenbusch, Director, National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center

Next issue: Thematic Teaching

Focus on Our Alumni
Martin Smith (Teacher Educator '97, Assessment '94, '95, Interactive Multimedia '94), President of the Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey (FLENJ), and his FLENJ colleagues "have been testifying for over a year now before the State Board of Education as they have considered eliminating the two year high school graduation requirement for world languages. The Board is catering to the vocational education lobby that is pushing for no language requirement so that their students would not have to study a language other than English." This month we are reprinting Martin's testimony as an example of the advocacy work that we all must actively pursue in order to address policy and foreign language education on local, state and national levels in order that ALL students may learn a second language.

Featured Website of the Month and a Focus on Research
Visit the website of scholar and teacher David R. Wilson. Currently an educator at the Harton School in Great Britain, Mr. Wilson has written extensively about special needs students, curriculum planning, and technology in the teaching and learning of foreign languages. Mr. Wilson holds multiple advanced degrees in Education, German and Special Needs.

In reference to Building bridges to inclusive foreign language education through appropriately applied technologies Wilson writes, "The special educator and the foreign language teacher share a professional interest in human diversity. The former identifies variation among learners and supports them when their individual needs mismatch the demands of an institution or curriculum. The latter initiates the young into a world of difference, where multilingualism is a key to international communication. Both practitioners are versed in the benefits of learning through technology and charged with the development of basic reading and writing skills. At least one distance remains to be conquered, however. The special educator starts with the individual needs of the particular student, while the foreign language teacher begins with the demands of the subject. These two approaches must be skillfully and sensitively interwoven when a foreign language is introduced to students with special educational needs."

Some of Mr. Wilson's works include:

• Accessible authenticity: using Internet resources with school foreign language learners in difficulty
• Applying new technologies appropriately to foreign handwriting recognition difficulties
• Applying new technologies appropriately to modern foreign languages
• A bibliography of modern foreign languages and special educational needs

The United Kingdom has a national curriculum, and has provided the resource Planning, teaching and assessing the curriculum for pupils with learning difficulties: Modern foreign languages, containing philosophy and strategies for teaching, learning, and assessment.

Focus on the Classroom and District Level
So how is a teacher to adapt classroom practice for special needs students? New Jersey has a K-12 foreign language requirement in place, and the World Languages Framework Chapter 12, Instructional Adaptations for Students with Diverse Needs provides concrete suggestions for classroom practice.

Focus on the National Level
ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education has published a one-page brief answering the questions: Should students with learning disabilities be exempt from foreign language requirements? What are some factors to be considered, and is there any research on teaching strategies?

Focus on the Teacher Level
Fellow foreign language colleagues who have experienced special needs students in their class have much to offer. You can find teachers through the FLTEACH (Foreign Language Teaching Forum) listserv and archives. The FLTEACH forum can be a wonderful source of information and support for the foreign language teacher. As with any community, there are multiple perspectives and varying levels of participation. By using the phrase (special education) to search the FLTEACH Archives, here are some of the threads describing classroom situations and advice offered by colleagues from across the country. Simply click on the light bulb in the navigation toolbar to see the each of the replies to the following messages:

• Autistic child in my FL class
• Emotionally Mentally Handicapped student in "Regular" Education Class (Spanish)
• a tiny rant

Technology Tip
This month's technology tip is actually a website, Closing the Gap. Assistive and adaptive technologies, both hardware and software, are available for special needs and this website can tell you about them. Online communities or forums are also available, enabling you to pose questions to experts on topics ranging from policy and hardware to research and types of disabilities. Do you have great tip that makes your work easier? Send it to Cindy Kendall, Editor.

Memories of Iowa
Farming is an integral part of Iowa, and visions of crops and herds are part of our Iowa memories. In keeping with our May theme, even animals have special needs. This month we bring you the Special Needs Barn of the DairyCam. In the Special Needs Barn, "cows are conditioned for the milking string." Ah, only in Iowa!

Subscription Information

You received this electronic newsletter because you are an alumni of an activity associated with the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, email us at nflrc@iastate.edu with the subject line "remove alumni connection."

This Newsletter was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education under Title VI grant #P229A020023. The publication of products and website URLs in this newsletter is provided for informational purposes only and does not imply an endorsement by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center, Iowa State University, or the positions or policies of the U. S. Department of Education.