Teaching english to visually impaired students
in Ecuador through l.g.b learning braille book
Enseñanza del idioma inglés para estudiantes
con discapacidad visual en Ecuador a través del libro l.g.b
learning braille book
Ensino de inglês para alunos com deficiência
visual no Equador por meio
do livro l.g.b learning
braille
Correspondencia: loguadalupe@espoch.edu.ec
Ciencias de la Educación.
Artículo Investigación
*Recibido: 25 de junio *Aceptado:
23 de agosto de 2021 * Publicado: 1
de septiembre de 2021
I.
Magister en Lingüística
Aplicada al Aprendizaje del Inglés, Licenciado en Ciencias de la Educación
Profesor de Idiomas Ingles, Grupo de Investigación Med
and Linguistics, Facultad de Salud Pública, Escuela
Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo, Riobamba, Ecuador.
II.
Magister en Enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera, Grupo de
Investigación Med and Linguistics,
Facultad de Salud Pública, Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo,
Riobamba, Ecuador.
III.
Magister en Interconectividad de Redes, Ingeniero en Sistemas
Informáticos, Técnicos Docente, Centro de Idiomas, Escuela Superior Politécnica
de Chimborazo, Riobamba, Ecuador
Abstract
The following study
investigated how visually impaired students are taught
English through L.G.B Learning braille book that englobes
English as a foreign language content, techniques, and activities teachers use
to teach English at Dr. Luis Benavides School. Three English teachers of
visually impaired students were interview. Furthermore, an observation guide was used to follow up on the progress of several classes.
Content analysis procedures were implemented to encode
and reproduce the data acquisition in the interviews. Observation guides
deliver the necessary information to understand the teachers' downsides when
presenting the contents, techniques, and orally interacting in the second
language with the visually impaired students while developing the activities
presented in the braille book. Interview data analysis demonstrated topics of
concern that include syllabus, social problems, lack of resources, and the
constant use of the audio-lingual method as the only technique available for
the teachers. Participants used the same materials in the different levels,
adding the braille book developed by a previous study, which was difficult to
introduce due to teachers' and students' lack of
previous capacitation. Students were exposed to
several tasks that the braille book presented, but the same antique methods
were necessary for teachers to accomplish them. The study presents suggestions
for in-service English learning program updates, especially for those who work
with students with visual impairments, for the syllabus to be rebuilt, evaluated, and made more effective for students
with special needs. Moreover, it includes comments on the teacher's materials
and techniques used.
Keywords: Teaching English;
visually impaired students; content; braille book.
Resumen
El
presente estudio investigó cómo se enseña inglés a los estudiantes con
discapacidad visual a través del libro L.G.B Learning braille book que incluye el contenido, las técnicas y las
actividades del inglés como lengua extranjera que los maestros utilizan para
enseñar en la escuela Dr. Luis Benavides. Se entrevistó a tres profesores de
inglés de estudiantes con discapacidad visual. Además, se utilizó una guía de
observación para hacer un seguimiento del progreso de varias clases. Se
implementaron procedimientos de análisis de contenido para codificar y
reproducir la adquisición de datos en las entrevistas. Las guías de observación
brindaron la información necesaria para comprender las desventajas de los
docentes al presentar los contenidos e interactuar oralmente en el segundo
idioma con los estudiantes con discapacidad visual, mientras se desarrollan las
actividades del libro en braille. El análisis de datos de las entrevistas
demostró temas de interés que incluyen problemas con el programa de estudios,
sociales, de falta de recursos y el uso constante del método audio-lingual como
la única técnica disponible. Los participantes utilizaron los mismos materiales
en los diferentes niveles, agregando el libro en braille desarrollado por un
estudio previo, el cual fue difícil de introducir debido a la falta de
capacitación previa de profesores y alumnos. Los estudiantes fueron expuestos a
varias tareas que presentaba el libro en braille, pero los mismos métodos
antiguos eran necesarios para que las cumplieran. El estudio presenta
sugerencias para actualizaciones del programa de aprendizaje de inglés,
especialmente para quienes trabajan con estudiantes con discapacidades
visuales, para que el plan de estudios se reconstruya, evalúe y sea más
efectivo. Además, incluye comentarios sobre los materiales y técnicas
utilizados por el profesor.
Palabras
clave: Enseñanza de inglés; estudiantes con discapacidad
visual; contenido; libro en braille.
Resumo
O presente
estudo investigou como o Inglês é ensinado a alunos com deficiência visual por
meio do livro LGB Learning em braille que inclui o conteúdo, técnicas e
atividades de Inglês como Língua Estrangeira que os professores usam para
ensinar na escola Dr. Luis Benavides. Três professores de inglês de alunos com
deficiência visual foram entrevistados. Além disso, um guia de observação foi
usado para acompanhar o progresso de várias aulas. Procedimentos de análise de
conteúdo foram implementados para codificar e reproduzir a aquisição de dados
nas entrevistas. Os guias de observação forneceram as informações necessárias
para compreender as desvantagens dos professores na apresentação dos conteúdos
e na interação oral na segunda língua com alunos com deficiência visual, no
desenvolvimento das atividades do livro em Braille. A análise dos dados das
entrevistas evidenciou temas de interesse que incluem problemas com os
conteúdos programáticos, problemas sociais, falta de recursos e a utilização
constante do método áudio-linguístico como única técnica disponível. Os
participantes utilizaram os mesmos materiais em diferentes níveis,
acrescentando o livro braille desenvolvido em um estudo anterior, que foi
difícil de introduzir devido à falta de formação prévia de professores e
alunos. Os alunos foram expostos a várias tarefas que o livro braille
apresentava, mas os mesmos métodos antigos eram necessários para realizá-las. O
estudo apresenta sugestões de atualizações no programa de ensino de inglês,
principalmente para quem trabalha com alunos com deficiência visual, para que o
currículo seja refeito, avaliado e mais eficaz. Além disso, inclui comentários
sobre os materiais e técnicas utilizadas pelo professor.
Palavras-chave: Ensinando
inglês; alunos com deficiência visual; contente; livro em braille.
Introduction
The learning
process that visually impaired children pass through differs from people who do
not struggle to formulate mental images to understand the world. Instead,
visually impaired children try to live and learn,
constructing their meanings for the things they only know by learning through
the hearing sense, the only available input information source for them. For
creating social proximity with their peers and image the relationship between
how tools and words work together according to their correct function and
purpose they were conceived. How visually impaired
students perceive the class is beyond the common class boundaries. Therefore,
activities and techniques used to educate the visually impaired students follow
the assumption that they should be designed to focus on the weaknesses instead
of the students' strength. (Álvarez, 2019)
Researchers
state that there have been significant improvements in the education field for
visually impaired students. Methods and techniques had changed over time, and
plausible application in a real class is possible. (Bonilla, 2019). Thanks to
the technology development, transcript lessons to braille from a standardized
English learning book, it is achievable to allow visually impaired students to
explore an intellectual realm that they did not have the opportunity to meet
before Casierra (2021) and Mahler, C. (2020).
Recent research
asserts that only things that a person can perceive through the sight sense can be conceptualized according to the identification they
deliver to them that comes from the education process attained. Romero-Sánchez
(2017) declared in his study for teaching visually impaired students
that they born with visually impairing problems in their early life could not
generate a perspective concept. However, the fact that visually impaired
students cannot create concepts for themselves is not a trammel for being goods
in second language acquisition. Learning languages today is more accessible
than in the previous years because methods and technology are flexible enough
to adapt to visually impaired students' needs (Castañeda,
2018). However, despite teaching methods for visually impaired students’
advances and advantages, they tend to commit the same mistakes as in the years
previous the application of the new techniques. One of the most representative
issues they have is verbalism or the recurrence in using a word with an unknown
referent. Since visually impaired students can not construct a clear image or idea to correlated
with words it is a challenge for them to understand a wide variety of words.
Moreover, deliver a clear explanation of each word represent a challenge for
the teacher too. Thus, to ease this problem it is necessary and information
source that impaired students can handle. Furthermore, the contrast between the
interaction and concepts that the relatives of the visually impaired students
deliver to them and the teacher’s perspective about the exact contents
represents a difficulty to solve. The differences in some instances only
produce confusion for the students. For daily live interaction, some words are
difficult to understand and define for the ordinary person. People who do not
have sight disabilities use an expression like “I SEE,” “WATCH OUT,” or “SHE
LOOK LIKE.” Thus, a visually impaired student may find it challenging to
comprehend such expressions with visual meanings (Melo,
2017). How they understand and create a visual image of them is something that
they only know, and it got to be difficult for them to
understand. However, the newest research concludes that there is not a
consequential effect in the use of these expressions went the visually impaired
students start to use them for a while, so the learning process in means of the
use of the language is very similar to those students who do not have a sight
disability.
Previous
research has stated that using meaningful materials that are adequate for
visually impaired students and directed exclusively for them has good
reception. (Moran, 2015). However, it takes a significant amount of time for
visually impaired students to get accustomed to them. Moreover, it represents a
significant challenge for teachers to use the materials because the students
may get lost in the material and what content the teacher is presenting to them
when the class has already taken its course. Nevertheless, once adequation complications are solved, the students start to
develop better-standardized concept images, at least for the group using the
same material, helping them interact a little bit more with their classmates.
Furthermore, the visually impaired students start to ask questions about the
perspective of the things that the teacher can see.
Despite the
findings that the observation guide provided, several issues are difficult to
solve even implementing the L.G.B braille book: how the students represent and
describe themselves and which is the real purpose for them to
learn and use a second language for real-life situations (Bravo, 2017).
The results of learning the second language structure and means to be used had
been covered, but the real-life situation in which the students imagine they
are going to use the second language still is something difficult to perceive
for them and even more difficult for the teachers to imagine. Therefore, this
study investigates new ways of upgrading and updating the methodology,
techniques, and material that teachers of visually impaired students got to use
to deliver meaningful information. Following this line of investigation, the
study supports itself by answering the following research questions:
1.
Which
are the downsides when applying new methodologies for visually impaired
students?
2.
Does the use of a material designed exclusively for
visually impaired students improve learning the second language?
3.
Which
are the strengths of using a material that was conceived
for visually impaired students exclusively?
4.
Which
is the most representative weakness that visually impaired students’ English
have?
2. Research design
This study has a
qualitative research design. Within this framework, three English teachers of
visually impaired elementary and high school students were
interviewed, and each teacher's forty-five-minute class was observed.
The interviews were only transcribed due to time
constraints. The content analysis process was followed
to analyze the interviews. Observation guides were used
to evaluate and triangulate interview data and deliver conclusions.
2. 1. Participants
The interviews were conducted at Dr. Luis Benavides school students, where
100% of the population have visually impairing disabilities. Seventeen students
were interviewed with ages from 7 years old to 17. In
addition, one principal teacher and two hired teachers were
interviewed at the school. Their ages were 30, 34, and 29 years old
(teachers are coded as T.A. (Teacher A), T.B. (Teacher B), and T.C. (Teacher C)
in the study to avoid any conflicts with identity). The first interview was
conducted with T.A. T.A. had a degree in English as foreign language teaching,
he had a visual disability of 100%, he did not have any instruction in teaching
people with disabilities. He reported for the study that he had been teaching
visually impaired students for four years, and before he did not have any
experience as a teacher before those four years. T.A. was
asked if he had courses or capacitation in teaching visually impairing
students, but he reported that he did not have any.
The second and
the third interviews were directed to the teachers
with no visual disabilities hired to help the principal teachers' needs and
time constraints. Both teachers work for Escuela
Superior Politecnica de Chimborazo with no visually impaired
students in their work. Both teachers had prior training for teaching and using
the L.G.B. is learning braille books at elementary and secondary levels. They
had a master's degree in teaching English as a Second language in different
universities in Latin America, and they reported that they had formal
instruction teaching people with learning and physical disabilities. Moreover,
they reported their capacitation for elementary and high school teaching for
students with learning and physical disabilities. Teachers review the syllabus
and program that the school propose and identified critical
issues. Thus, they reported that the program does not have meaningful
purposes. Besides, they affirm that there was no difference between the
contents presented for the different courses. Essentially, they were the same,
stating that the principal cause of the deficiencies that students present in
the courses is due to the implementation of the school program.
The same
observation guide and parameters were used in the different classrooms at Dr.
Luis Benavides school. Levels are
ranged from elementary level to middle-high school exclusively for
visually impaired students. Moreover, the school allows the inscription for
students who have different disabilities. Contrasting the standardized
educational system code implemented in Ecuador, this educational institution
does not distinguish the age of the students, so there is a significant
variation in their ages that sometimes make difficult their interaction in class.
Besides, the knowledge level varies from student to student since they have
extra instruction at home and others do not. According to the information
displayed and the educational particularities, data collection and analysis are detailed to provide vital information to stress the
importance of this research study.
2. 2. Data collection procedures
Data collection
procedures included: Semi-structured interviews for
the three teachers and students, an observation guide for each course, and
participants in the 45 minutes class. There was a pre-interview before the
observation guide implementation and a post-interview after the classes.
Interviews and observation guides were based on the
study research questions discussed with the institution principal and the two
hired teachers before their implementation. Moreover, the principal teacher was
informed and gave consent to enter his classes and interrupt them if necessary
for the study.
Once the
research question was meticulously studied, their
principles were used for the semi-structured interviews. The teachers deliver
the class plans and syllabus to be analyzed in which
it can be found the information to relate with the observation guide. However,
they do not mention the techniques and the methodology they follow; when asked,
they mention that the primary methodology was the audio-lingual method. Thus,
the observation guide considered the audio-lingual method features mainly the
process and objectives. Also, teachers' perceptions
about the materials and the implementation of the L.G.B Learning braille book
were gathered to know the opinion of its content. It was necessary to mention
the study purpose to the students to feel prepared for some of the changes that
the application of the book may carry in a class, especially for them not to
feel any pressure of having another person considering the teaching and
learning process.
The final step
was to compel the information acquired and triangulate the information with the
students’ and teachers’ perceptions about the research study for that, it was
essential to talk informally with the students after class, that information
was vital to understand the participants better, and so the results could be
trusted.
2. 3. Data analysis procedures
The data
analysis procedure was performed systematically since
time constraints were a considerable disadvantage for the study. Data was coded when it was gathered. Thus, data criteria were arranged according to the “Content analysis”, following
them for qualitative research. Thus, the coded system and criteria selection
allows the study to present rushing presumptions and generalization of results
with misguided conclusions. Data analysis criteria incorporate repeated content
to make it easy for the students to familiarize themselves with coding,
clustering codes that appeared a couple of times, and turning each cluster into
a critical study topic. After that, the transcribing data process follows a
comprehensible criterion for the results to be arranged
following the coding, clustering, and reorganizing model to create themes for
answer the study questions. Most relevant information was processed using a
word processor, for the topics have concordance with
the information that it has relation with, considering the study question principles.
The interviews were read several times to avoid the
content that may appear unnecessary for the study. Nevertheless, the
characteristics of the semi-structured interview items make it impossible for
information that does not relate to the criteria to appear.
Data obtained
from the observation guide application used in each class have little
differences from the interviews data considering they were
focused for the teaching and learning process observation instead of
gathering perceptions about them. The items in the observation guide consider
the contents that were included in the L.G.B learning braille book so the
number of the topics review during the observed classes were evaluated.
However, the information of the interviews was triangled
when both the observation guide and the interviews were finished to analyze.
Data criteria had to be carefully evaluated for the
process of triangulation to avoid taking in consideration unnecessary data.
3. RESULTS
3. 1. Results
from Classroom Observation
The observation
guide had its primary objective to determine and analyze teachers' challenges
in teaching. Thus, the teachers apply the contents related to the L.G.B.
learning braille book in which they can use the methodologies, techniques, and
tasks suggested during class to have a basis for triangulating the information
that they will encounter post-interviews. The observation guides applied in
class also deliver a clear picture of the students' performance while using the
activities and tasks suggested in the book. The usage of this observation guide
displays most of the issues that a classroom of visually impaired students in
Ecuador has concerning the topics of EFL instruction. The topics considered in
the observation guide and their most representative problems are
described at the end of this section, considering a participant's
perception.
Regarding the
critical issues identified by the teachers in the class, lack of interaction
among the students was one of the most problematic ones. Even though the
students started to understand the new material they were
exposed to, they did not want to share with the teacher or their
classmates what they understood in the class.
Students only responded to the repetition of what the teacher said in
class, and it was challenging for them to create their
concepts or ideas about the topic. However, in front of these problems, even
though the strategies for solving them were given, the
teachers did not have the opportunity to apply them properly, they change the
teaching contents, but the students were as they have been until that day. The
only strategy that could be observed and applied was to present the realia, with a couple of interactive toys that make sounds
given by the study the students started to talk to each other, but the problem
was that the interaction was be halved in the use of their mother tongue and
the English Language.
A significant
achievement was gained for students who started to
interact with the words but not in a desirable percentage. Perhaps, this
situation happens because of the time constraints of the study that did not
allow it to continue with it for a longer time. Therefore, it was necessary to
apply similar content with all the classes and levels that the teacher has. The
L.G.B. leaning braille book contains the contents that shall
be shown to the students in primary and intermediate levels, but their
use must have a progression. Topics that are treated
in the beginning can be neglected and change to more advanced ones.
Moreover, the methods
and techniques that are presented there must have a
progression too. Thus, another issue for the students was for them to get
accustomed to the book use. In the first lesson, it was
observed, T.A. that was the principal teacher wanted the students to use
their L.G.B. books, which had content in braille, and wanted the students to
read per turns the contents presented in the book, but the teacher needed to
guide page per page the reading of the book. Although the content was
straightforward, the students tend to get lost in the pages that they must read
and interpreted in the book, so the intervention of a second person was
necessary. Sometimes the students who had visual field restrictions helped the
visually impaired ones, which was favorable for the learning and teaching
process and was serious about taking into consideration. Regarding the teaching
of grammar structures, T.A. does not have any preparation to distinguish
between the uses of a sentence in present simple with the verb to be and its use
with principal verbs that was a surprising recoil in the process of teaching,
and students seem a lot confused. As a result, almost the entire class was lost
for them, which was a considerable disadvantage considering the time
constraints mentioned many times in this study.
Meanwhile, T.B.
and T.C., which were teachers with a significant domain of the English language
and the education process, were able to apply the contents of the books in a
better way. As a result, students are shown a better
attitude towards the contents presented by them. Besides, students sometimes
started to smile and laugh, improving their class participation. Furthermore,
methodologies and techniques were used according to
the content because, as stated before, there was no distinction between the
class levels. Teachers started the explanation orally, just making
references in the book at the correct page and line that the students
could identify with haste. Then the teachers used some of the realia tools to construct mental images, and sometimes the
students were able to identify the tool by their shape and others by the sound
they make. However, when the tools were not practical for the students to
create a mental image of what the teachers describe, students tend to confuse some
of the words falling into verbalism issues. So, the
teachers needed to decide on a different approach to relate the words with
things that students already have a mental image of. If their efforts do not
achieve anything, they spelled letter by letter the words take notes about how
they explain those words and mention the student must work on that word the
next class, a technique that helped a lot the process of writing because they
do not stop in certain words which were unknown for the students. Finally, T.B
and T.C explained the structures with the help of language grammar through
braille table, a device created by the teachers which
consist of making grammar structures to develop the grammar skill into
students. However, the device only works with simple grammar structures, so for
more complex structures, the teachers used the oral repetition in which they
prefer to separate the subjects, verbs, and complement, isolating the
importance of each of those words, selecting as the most important ones the verbs.
3. 2.
Interviews results
Data analysis
and items that come from the application of the interviews were:
Methodologies, Materials, strengths, and weaknesses, taking into consideration
the principles of the SWOT (Strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats)
analysis for the last two items. These items are the summary of the
subcategories, which are the most relevant information about them.
The following
table considers items Primary category, subcategories, and regarding the
content analysis process, one of the most relevant answers was
given for each one of them.
Table 1: Primary
categories, subcategories that were taken from
interviews, and relevant examples
PRIMARY CATEGORIES |
SUBCATEGORIES |
RELEVANT SAMPLE |
Methodologies |
·
Audio lingual method ·
Grammar translation method. ·
Generating new mental images with realia. |
“I repeat several times the words, so
they notice how they sound “We deliver the translation for the words that are complicated for
them” “We create a context with tools or realia objects” |
Materials |
·
Lack of material ·
L.G.B Book |
“We just one course book for all the
levels.” “A little bit difficult to get accustomed to the content presented on
it.” |
Strengths |
·
Classroom management ·
Willingness
to learn ·
Willingness
to help |
“Class size is good, only five students
per class, help me a lot” “Students are always ready for the
lesson and are very happy when the English teacher come in. they said we
always wait for you teacher.” “Students with less disabilities or
visual field shortage help the others.” |
Weakness |
·
Multiple disabilities ·
Learning disability ·
Time constraints |
“Half of the students have multiple
disabilities.” “They are unable to retain information
for longer periods of time.” “We don’t have enough time for apply all the materials and class
topics.” |
Source: research
post-interview items
Author: ureña david
Data analysis from the interview answer showed that the
teachers applied the Audio lingula method and the
Grammar translation method in all the classes that they deliver to the
students. Participants were asked to repeat several
times the words when they could not pronounce them with accuracy. Moreover, the
teachers sometimes had to spell the entire world several times. The situation was verified with the observation guide. Grammar structures were introduced with the Grammar creating tool, a device
that the students were a little bit accustomed to using, and it was
constructive for the teachers because they already know how to use it.
Translating contents and isolated words were another method that the teachers
used to apply with the students. T.A mentions no difference between teaching
with the Grammar translation method for visually impaired students and the
other students with no disabilities. Besides, he stated that the only major
problem was the lack of mental images that some of the students born with the
visual impairing disability have. T.B used realia to
get rid of the mental image issue. Several times he
used items presented in the L.G.B learning braille book for students to
understand how to use specific tools and reference the shape and sound of the
tool when they were used. T.C focused on the communication between the
students; he thought that interaction was the key to learning, so he delivered
an enjoyable environment when he arrives in the class. Thus, students have the
willingness to learn, and they wait for his lesson all the time. With the excellent
environment, the interaction was easy, and some of the students started to ask
questions about the vocabulary they would like to know. T.C stated that if he
had had more time, he might be able to try a Communicative approach with them.
Following the content analysis nature, the next
excerpts deliver a more specific image of the situation in class:
T.A: “I spell the words several times, sometimes I
make them to repeat over and over again, but class time limits me.”
T.B: “I bring as many things as I could, at first
other professor were looking at the different things that I bring but at the
end they were very useful.”
T.C: I try to make the environment enjoyable for them,
first we play and talk about them, sometimes I make a couple of jokes, every
time that they do something good, I encourage them.
To answer the second study question, the participant was asked about the materials they had used and the use of
the L.G.B leaning braille book. They mention in common that
the previous material was just a random English coursebook
with activities that do not consider the unique circumstances of teaching for
visually impairing students. T.A mention that before the research study was initiated, he had not as many materials that the other
teachers carry and give to the students to deliver the lesson. On the other
hand, T.B and T.C have well-versed in implementing
their materials, especially the L.G.B learning braille book and the unknown
grammar structure tool. The impact that material generated in the students was
critical to distinguish a drastic attitude change of the students.
The following excerpts deliver a broader vision of
what occurred in class.
T.A: the course book that we use have contents that
are not according to the real life situations for my students.
T.B: L.G.B book was accepted by the
kids, it was easy to follow up with the activities, but sometimes we
have to stop for a break due to the wide number of words learned. It was a
little overwhelming.
T.C: it was a good idea to change the course book with
L.G.B book, participation of students was more active.
The third study question related the strengths that
the teachers encounter when teaching English for visually impaired students. Subcategories considered were the classroom management which in all
the class was appropriate for an effective teaching- learning process, the
willingness to learn that the students have before, during and after the study
research that was really helpful to acquire significant data, and the
willingness of those students with less grade of visual impairing disability
for helping the other students that have visual disabilities from the day they
were born and also several learning disabilities. T.A mention that five
students per course was more than enough to manage the classroom make them all
to participate or at least make them to repeat the words and structures he
taught to them. In concordance with the classroom management and display T.B and T.C mention that the conditions for learning
with no more than five students were the appropriate ones for teaching.
Moreover, the relationship that the classmates have was important to have a
good leaning environment, students always response to
the application of something new in a good way and whenever a student have a
problem location a word in the book or a page the others were willing to help
him or her. T.C mention that it was not only the help that
they delivered to their classmates, but they also really care about the
health and anemic state of their classmates. All the characteristics were the
adequate ones to deliver the class in the best way possible so all of them were considered as strengths.
The following excerpts support the ideas discussed for
the third study question.
T.A: the number of students it is okay for the class
T.B: the kids try to answer and participate but it is
a little difficult for them.
T.C: class performance exceeds my expectations, they
get along really well and that was a favorable point.
The fourth item was related
to the teachers' weaknesses in the students aside from their visual impairing
disability. There were considered in the subtopics the
multiple disabilities that students have, the learning disabilities that
several students present, and finally, the time constraints that the class from
the class present. Regarding the multiple disabilities, there identified
sensory and motor disabilities that some of the students presented. Also, behavioral disabilities were identified in three
students who were very difficult to deal with. T.A mentioned that the three
students with multiple disabilities have sometimes to take another class for
them to interact with him. Besides, he reported that two of them have critical
learning disabilities that made it impossible for him to include them in the
class participation without losing a critical amount of time. Thus, he prefers
to focus on them when the class was nearly over. T.B and T.C support what was
mentioned by T.A a suggest a second professor focus on
the learning of those students who required special attention and teaching
procedures. Both teachers tried their best to include them in the lesson, but
they get distracted too quickly, and they did not answer the stimuli that the
teachers deliver to everybody.
The following excerpts support the ideas analyzed in
this section:
T.A: …there are students with very specific need which
require special a priorized attention just for them,
it is difficult to deal with them while try to maintain the class rhythm .
T.B:
… some students required specialized attention, they cannot be
isolated but they are delaying some lesson.
T.C: I am concern in those kids with major problems
but I think they need more attention, attention that a teacher cannot give to
them without delaying or neglecting the others in class.
4. Analysis
and interpretation
Overly results from the evidence that English teachers
who taught to the visually impaired students and were observed and interviewed
tried to use different methodologies to continue with their class or improve
the way the students had to learn. However, the methodologies they used were
the traditional ones. It is true that the hired teachers for the study state that
if they had not time constraints, they would be able to apply communicative
methodologies with the students. Moreover, they state that similarly with
non-visually impaired students, they have similar class behavior and formal
learning styles (Salas, 2017). Another point of relevance was the materials
that teachers started to use. It was proved that the use of suitable materials
directed for the students' needs was a huge help, not only for the students to
know and create visual images of the things that they do not know but for
attracting their attention and learn in a different way they were accustomed to
(Cevallos, 2018). Thus, one of the implications that
must be taken into consideration by the Ecuadorian ministry of education is the
training process for those teachers who are going to impart their classes to
students with unique and specifics need. This study demonstrated that only
teachers with extensive preparation could obtain tangible and decisive
achievements.
Moreover, alongside the training of the teachers'
materials that must be given for the institution with
students with special needs, it is necessary to cover up all the students'
learning needs before starting the teaching and learning process. For that, the
evaluation for students with visual and other impairments is necessary to know
what type of capacitation is necessary for them to acquire (Cardenas, 2019).
Regarding the implications mentioned, programs and curriculum of the
institutions must be designed or re-designed to help the
teacher to cover the gap of the special needs that a visually impaired student
has. Such redesigns should be focused on the
language skill that the visually impaired students have easiest to use. Hence,
technology could consider speaking and reading while the teachers focus on the
reading in braille and perhaps writing in braille. (Malca,
2019)
5. Conclusions
This study focuses on teachers' and students'
methodologies, materials, strengths, and weaknesses in an EFL class. Analyses
of the interviews and the observation guide introduce new issues like multiple
disabilities and lack of materials. However, strengths like willingness to
learn and willingness to help were essential things that are necessary to
remark. Their importance could be the starting point to study the behaviors and
attitudes of the students with visual impairments in an English learning class.
After taking into consideration the results of the observation guide and the
interviews, it is essential to mention that inclusion of the students
need, especially those who have particular needs it is the most crucial issue
that the people in charge of creating the curriculums for the teaching process
and those who create materials have to bear in mind. It is a particular need
for the students who have physical and learning disabilities that are not
considered. Then it cannot be possible to talk about inclusion. Hence, for the
reasons mentioned above, is it a primordial need that the inclusion has to
consider not only in paperwork but in action for
making the learning process something that the students feel comfortable with
and necessary for their lives. There is not most unique
inclusion for a human being capable of communicating with others by any means
necessary, in the case of this study de English as a second language.
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© 2021 por los autores.
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condiciones de la licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
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