Teaching a Foreign Language in Terms of Inclusion

Pristavko Kseniya Vladimirovna Teacher in the Foreign Languages department of the Humanities faculty, Novosibirsk State Technical University 633162, Russia, Kolyvan, Siberian Combine, region, village. Kolyvan, ul. Sib-Combine, 9, of. Kolyvan, Sib. combine, 9 pristavko-ksuna.15@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

*Previously published in Russian in the journal Pedagogy and Education.

Introduction: Large-scale changes are associated with technologization and globalization in the modern world.

Approaches to the organization of educational activities are changing to meet international standards. In particular, the global trend "Education for All" provides for the need to provide conditions for education for all citizens without exception. ^[1]. Humanistic values, such as the observance and protection of human rights, are now universally declared. In particular, the issue of accessibility of education is important. Thus, article 26 of the Declaration of Human Rights states that "everyone has the right to education," "it should be free," and "education should be aimed at the full development of the human personality and strengthening respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms." ^[2]. Implementing the principles of "Education for All" is impossible if access to education is restricted or closed to people of any special social or medical status. The right to education of persons with disabilities (hereinafter referred to as the right to education) is legally enshrined in international documents of the European Union (EU), the most important of which is the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention"), adopted on December 13, 2006

The main postulates of the chapter on the education of this Convention are "non-discrimination; development of human potential, dignity, and self-worth; development of personality, talents, abilities, mental and physical abilities to the fullest" ^[3].

The concept of life-long learning involves continuous learning and constant acquisition of new skills and abilities, including the development of communicative skills in a foreign language, since the ability to communicate in a foreign language is recognized as one of the key competencies of an individual in the 21st century ^[4].

Forming communicative competence in a foreign language among people with disabilities allows them to expand their range of opportunities in the international labor market ^[5]. In this regard, active work is underway today to improve the quality and accessibility of language education for people with disabilities. According to the EU document "Guidelines for Inclusion," inclusive education is "the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, building an inclusive society, and providing education for all" ^[6].

Increasing accessibility and ensuring the quality of foreign language teaching in an inclusive learning environment is time-consuming. Many studies note that there are currently obstacles to this in the form of stereotypes that a student with special needs will not be able to fully perceive information, especially in a foreign language. According to researcher M.S. Wight, "Students with health disorders are not allowed to study a foreign language only because they have been confirmed to have special educational needs" (cited in ^[7]).

In the Federal Law "On Education in the Russian Federation" dated 29.12.2012 N 273-FZ, in Article 79 ("Organization of education for students with disabilities"), It is indicated that "the education of students with disabilities can be organized both jointly with other students, and in separate classes, groups or separate organizations engaged in educational activities." LOVZ training is conducted based on adapted educational programs and an individual rehabilitation program ^{[8; 9]}.

Despite the existence of laws and regulatory documents, there are several contradictions between the social and state order and the real possibilities of teaching a foreign language to students with special educational needs in inclusive groups. Several problems need to be solved to achieve the best result of teaching a foreign language in inclusive groups: 1. technological security and material equipment of educational organizations; 2. professional competence of teachers. There are also ethical and moral difficulties: 1. the attitude of other group members to classmates with health problems; 2. concerns about how the behavior of students with disabilities will affect the learning process. Also, an acute issue is the attitude of parents of children without restrictions to children with health problems ^[10].

Some modern researchers raise the question of the practical expediency of teaching LOVZ a foreign language together with typically developed children ^[11]. In his work, an employee of Aston University (Birmingham), Essi D'Almeida, points out that the obstacle to learning a foreign language for children with special educational needs is still the attribution of a foreign language by teachers and parents of such children to subjects of secondary importance. More often, a foreign language is associated with various difficulties. Not many students (both healthy and disabled) realize the real importance of knowledge of a foreign language in their lives [11: 11].

Nevertheless, despite the above-mentioned problems, the process of inclusive education is carried out in many countries, and experience has already been accumulated that allows us to judge the success of its implementation. Thus, the purpose of this article is:

1. The study of domestic and foreign experience of teaching LOVZ a foreign language in an inclusive education environment;
2. Discussion and analysis of their own pedagogical experience gained in foreign language classes in inclusive education.

The author's personal contribution to the development of the problem is the analysis of foreign and domestic scientific literary sources, which allows the presentation of inclusive education as a complex phenomenon. Based on the analysis, specific features characteristic of foreign and domestic pedagogical practice are identified, and the goals and objectives of inclusive education at the present stage of society development are formulated. This analysis served as the basis for developing their proposals for solving urgent problems in the inclusive education system.

The practical value of the work is the description and analysis of the results of the approbation of practical recommendations identified as key in teaching a foreign language to inclusive groups.

Research methods

The primary research method was analyzing scientific publications on the problem of the organization of foreign language teaching LOVZ. Pedagogical reflection was also applied to their own experience of teaching a foreign language LOVZ under the conditions of inclusion.

Discussion of the results of the study: The history of personality-oriented education goes back centuries.

The second half of the twentieth century is a time when stereotypes about various ailments ("as punishment; for the misconduct of parents," etc.) gave way to the real situation. This was gradually consolidated by law. "Declaration of Human Rights" (1948), "Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (1975) and "Salamanca Declaration" (Salamanca, Spain), during which the independent term "inclusive education" was first identified (1994) ^[10]. The guiding principles of this declaration are shown in Figure 1:

We consider and solemnly declare that:

• Every child has a basic right to education and should be able to receive and maintain an acceptable level of knowledge,
• Each child has unique characteristics, interests, abilities, and educational needs.
• It is necessary to develop education systems and implement educational programs in such a way as to take into account the wide variety of these features and needs,
• Persons with special educational needs should have access to education in regular schools, which should create conditions for them on the basis of pedagogical methods focused primarily on children in order to meet these needs,
• Ordinary schools with such an inclusive orientation are the most effective means of combatting discriminatory views and creating a favorable atmosphere in communities. Building an inclusive society and providing education for all: moreover, they provide real education for most children and increase the efficiency and, ultimately, the profitability of the education system.

Fig. 1 Principles of inclusive education, according to the Salaman Declaration

In 1990, the European Union, within the framework of global discussions, considered a declaration issued in the city of Jomtien (Thailand) under the title "World Declaration on Education for All" (Eng. World Declaration on Education for All) [6: 9]. According to UNESCO's definition, "education for all means ensuring that all children have access to basic education of good quality. This implies the creation of conditions in schools and within the framework of basic education programs, where children can and have the opportunity to study" [6: 10].

"Inclusion" is often mistakenly associated with the term "integration." The commonality of these terms is that both inclusion and integration presuppose introducing people with disabilities into the educational process for their further socialization. The difference between these concepts is in the scenario of inclusion of a group member with a disability in the general stream of students. So, "inclusion" implies much more than the presence of students with special educational needs in classrooms and schools; it is their participation in public life and recognition as individuals who belong to society and who should have the same rights and opportunities of an individual member of this society." On the contrary, integration is aimed at the independent adaptation of a "special" student in the environment of normotypic students. In the case of integration, the educational institution does not provide any assistance in this. Table 1 contains a brief description of inclusion and integration, presented by researcher Joanna Montagno Moreno ^[12]

Table 1

The difference between the terms "integration" and inclusion (according to Article ^[12])

As can be seen from the brief definition above, inclusion involves not just "being in the audience" of a student with disabilities. The task of inclusive education is the development of the student's personality and understanding of their importance and necessity in a "healthy society." Article 24 of the Convention contains the following objectives of inclusive education:

· "Full development of human potential and a sense of dignity and self-worth, as well as strengthening respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, and human differences;

· Development of the disabled person's personality, talents, and creativity, as well as mental and physical abilities to the fullest;

· Providing disabled people with the opportunity to participate effectively in the life of a free society" ^[3];

Inclusive education implies equal access to education for all students, taking into account various special educational needs and individual opportunities. Inclusion is based on the basic belief that a person, despite his physical, intellectual, ethnic, religious, and other characteristics and the family's socioeconomic status, has equal rights and can be included in the general education system. The system, in turn, considers these educational needs and provides resources to meet these rights ^[13]. In addition, one of the key goals of inclusion is to help people with disabilities find themselves in society, not to be a burden for them but to become valuable and productive citizens ^[14].

As mentioned above, knowledge of a foreign language is an important skill that increases the chance of a person with a disability to find a profession without being tied to any location to be successful and useful to modern society. However, in pedagogical science, some researchers raise the question of whether LOVZ can really master a foreign language at a satisfactory level. Agreeing with the work [11:10], we will say that such questions in connection with the discrepancies of theoretical prescriptions with the real state of affairs are natural.

In their study on teaching a foreign language to "special" children in Scotland, Jane Essex and Maggie Gurney Macaskill point out several obstacles in this area. Firstly, in educational institutions, the teaching staff has no proper support in determining pedagogical approaches within the framework of specialized programs.

As a second reason, the authors cite the example of "gaps" in Scotland's legislation regarding the provision of equal conditions for education. Thus, in one of the regulations of the Scottish government, in the section on equality, the concept of "social deprivation" is indicated as a phenomenon that should be combated, including in the field of education. According to Essex and Macaskill, this document does not consider such cases that fall under the category of "unequal," as disability and many others. Accordingly, students with disabilities do not have the necessary conditions to receive a high-quality education, including language.

The authors consider the third reason to be the negative expectations of teachers themselves for teaching foreign languages to students with special educational needs. Thus, the reasons for suspending such students from foreign language classes are explained by the fact that "he already has enough of a workload" and "he already has so many difficulties with the English language!" ^[15].

However, it should be taken into account that many teachers (both already working and in the future) positively perceive inclusion and can generalize its goals. A survey of Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Moscow State University students named after N. P. Ogarev showed that "inclusive education" is a familiar term for students. Most of the survey participants demonstrated a positive attitude toward inclusive education. However, some respondents have not yet decided on a choice, and almost a quarter of respondents opposed the included training. Also, more than half of the students did not express a desire to work in an inclusive class/group. Future teachers of a foreign language noted an improvement in healthy students' attitudes toward persons with disabilities. They noted that students with disabilities will feel like full-fledged members of society. Among the difficulties in teaching students in the HIA were ignorance of the basics of inclusive education, psychological unpreparedness of the teacher, and unwillingness to take responsibility ^[16].

Finally, researchers see the reason for restricting access to learning a foreign language by students with special educational needs in the psychological unavailability of teachers themselves.

According to G. V. Sorokov, it should be recognized that today, there are clear trends in both world and Russian education, such as the shift of the content part of education from mass-reproductive to active activity. Today, the task of education is not to teach those who are easily taught and to displace those for whom mastering the material will be difficult.

Personality-oriented learning is nowadays not an option but a necessity since the task of education is no longer to give out a set of certain knowledge in the same way and to everyone at once. Thanks to the development of domestic and foreign pedagogy, today, there are many ways to make the material of a foreign language lesson understandable not only for healthy and ordinary children but also for children who have special educational needs due to their illness ^{[15, 17]}.

Of course, the perception and information processing process in people with disabilities is different. Agreeing with Essex and Macaskill, we adhere to the point of view that to successfully educate people with special educational needs, an inclusive education teacher needs to receive additional education and undergo advanced training or professional retraining. It is necessary to know the specifics of your category of students and the methods acceptable for working with this category.

According to researcher Jonathan F. Arries, who has been observing his students with disabilities for many years, such students are often not inferior to their typically developed peers in intellectual abilities. However, the researcher's observations made it possible to establish that students with disabilities have difficulty imitating (language sounds, etc.) and reading. They have a strong negative language interference. Also, students were prone to a lower concentration of attention, which caused a distraction in class and omission of important information. Also, students with deviations from the norm of development are prone to excitement, as they are aware of their physical shortcomings and sometimes pay attention to the fact that their peers master the material more successfully without deviations [Arries 1999].

Our analysis of sources and our pedagogical experience allowed us to understand which strategies can be effective in inclusive education and which require modification or cannot be applied at all. Here are some of them:

1. Inclusive education should be based on the principles of social adaptation, humanity, synergy, supporting the independent activity of a person with disabilities, and individualism ^[10].

2. Much attention should be paid to the instruction preceding the training tasks. It is necessary to think over the explanation of the material in advance so that students correctly and equally understand what the purpose and result of this or that activity, task, etc., implies ^[12].

3. The document "Guidelines for Inclusion" suggests the following criteria by which an inclusive education teacher should work. They are also suitable for teaching a foreign language: a) all students take part in all activities in the classroom; b) the curriculum should take into account the differences of students; c) all members of the group participate in the classroom; d) a variety of teaching styles and strategies are used; e) students should feel a sense of success; f) learning difficulties are perceived as an opportunity for development in practice.

4. Individual educational trajectory (hereinafter referred to as IET). In modern education, there are entire pedagogical systems in which IET is the main pedagogical tool. Also, modern specialized material and technical support make it possible to individualize education in an inclusive learning environment ^[17].

5. E. G. Dolgopolova, S. M. Kolova, and O. V. Belkina proposed criteria that should be followed in this matter: "individual approach to students with disabilities; information accessibility for students of various nosological groups; absence of discrimination based on disability; full and effective involvement of students of various nosological groups in society and the educational process; joint lectures, seminars and practical classes for all students; equal academic requirements with all; maximum expansion of the educational space by increasing social ties" ^[10].

6. When teaching a foreign language, paying attention to the difficulties that arise in teaching language skills and abilities is necessary. When learning phonetics, there may be difficulties such as breathing disorders in pronunciation, a violation of the pace of speech, so-called "tongue-tied," hearing disorders, etc. Using complex grammar does not make sense; it is better to use ready-made speech samples. Vocabulary can be perceived and remembered more slowly, so it is necessary to determine the lexical minimum for memorization. When teaching, you should select adapted texts of a small volume. To choose tasks for the pre-text stage that will help to better understand the text of a particular group, it is necessary to observe the group's reaction to the task among this specific category of students. The same applies to audio texts ^[13]. The teacher needs to pay increased attention and notice which tasks/activities help specific students to better understand the topic, complete a task, and form a certain skill. It is necessary to study the pace of students' work, the reaction to the load, the peculiarities of perception, etc. ^[18].

7. Separately, it is necessary to pay attention to the motivation and evaluation of the student's activities with HIA. It is necessary to give feedback regularly, not forgetting about encouragement. We believe that, especially at the first stages of training, it is necessary to focus more on the student's success and positive achievements, not on mistakes. For example, O.V. Kiryushina ^[13] believes the "2" rating is unacceptable when working with LOVZ. Perhaps (if the rules of the educational institution allow), you should completely abandon the assessments.

It is also necessary to pay attention to solving the above problems that arise in the process of implementing inclusive education. As a result of the analysis of the sources, the main issues that arise in inclusive education and possible ways to solve them were highlighted. This information is shown in Table 2.

Table 2.

Ways to solve problematic issues of inclusive education

Conclusions

Summing up the above, the following should be noted:

1. It is necessary to increase the accessibility of inclusive education and learning a foreign language for persons with disabilities by improving the material and technical internal conditions of educational institutions, providing professional training, and developing teachers' skills to adapt work programs, as well as skills of correctional work; providing teachers with professional pedagogical and psychological support; educational activities that go beyond educational institutions;

2. Inclusive education is the implementation of a set of tasks: unity of principles (humanity, social adaptation, synergetics, support for independent work of LOVZ, individualism, etc.); pedagogical work (goal-setting, adaptation of existing work programs and curriculum, building educational trajectories, variety of strategies used, evaluation system, instruction in class, removal of assumed difficulties, motivation and reward system);

3. When conducting foreign language classes in inclusive groups, which include students of the age category from 15 to 20, it is necessary to take into account:

• the type and nature of their disability;
• age characteristics of adolescence (inconsistency of self-esteem, the desire to belong to a group and recognition in it, the desire to prove oneself, to be successful among peers);
• language features of the selected material and its accessibility for students with disabilities;
• applied techniques, strategies, and technologies in their alternation in the classroom;
• psychological difficulties that arise when learning a foreign language LOVZ;

4. The systematic application of the principles of inclusive education described in the work has had a positive impact on:

• Motivation of students with disabilities;
• Their activity, quality of training, and level of awareness;
• Increasing interest in the foreign language being studied;

Research on teaching a foreign language in conditions of inclusion requires continuation in terms of developing educational materials and creating pedagogical conditions for different categories of persons with disabilities.