Inclusivity – a win-win situation Stephanie Aldred Manchester Metropolitan University

The trouble with TEFL Different languages Different cultures (and cultures of education) Different (positive and negative) education experiences – and resilience Different ages Different motivation (intrinsic/instrumental/none) Different learning styles, preferences, personality types Different social class, including income group, family background Differing propensities of affect (anxiety, excitability) Different physical abilities Different levels of English, including variation in skills, and aptitude, self-regulation

The disadvantages of uniformity? Discuss!

An inclusive approach … will make good use of the rich ‘life material’ brought to the classroom by our students.

Social background Age, gender, class, ethnicity Can offer the class a range of perspectives, beliefs and experiences Can be important in both cognitive and interpersonal competence Fairly fixed – but social openness can be modelled, encouraged and trained

Intelligence General set of cognitive abilities Can offer rational and intellectual input to the class Fairly fixed, but can be developed via teacher and learner strategies Can help cognitive, declarative learning in class, including that of peers

Learning modalities The characteristic cognitive, affective and physiological behaviours that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment … (Keefe, 1979)

.. and other propensities and abilities Willingness to communicate/ take risks Motivation to succeed / help others Musical/graphic/sporting competence Affect (such as anxiety, calmness, excitability) Learning strategies ‘Busy’ group/’quiet’ solo working Field dependence or independence The mood I’m in today (Less fixed, more trainable)

Speaking Ss use a favourite photo to support autobiographical speaking Ss record on a voice recorder for info-gap tasks Ss make voiceovers for movie clips, adverts, or own short films Speaking tasks include ‘out and about’ visits to interview people Group presentations are made following visits, performances or tactile activities Students make a model of their experience using Lego, before talking about them Your idea

Listening Students are offered extension task of listening-with-reading Use films subtitled with English (teacher can do this with students) Students choose a favourite song, you compose an exercise on this song Students choose music from their culture, they compose a creative exercise on this song using any skills Students Google ‘news in + place x’ in English. Compare short video reports with the top news stories about place x in L1 Your idea

Reading Students read and translate recipes for typical food. Swap, and try out the new recipes at home – bring the results in to share Students Google ‘news in + place x’ in English. Compare reports with top news stories about place x in L1: make a bulletin board of key headlines Make and play a round of ‘Find someone who –’ craftily designed to capture specific experiences of the group Students go online to find translations of famous books from their L1. Read the blurb in English and tell others anything they know about the original Your idea

Writing Set up running dictations in pairs, to allow for non-runners. Have writing and handwriting exhibitions, with prizes Students do creative writing, stimulated by a song, painting or movie clip Introduce writing of graphic novels, cartoon strips, annotated slide shows Introduce short pieces about a biographical or autobiographical event, illustrated by a photo Encourage interaction with fanfiction online Help students engage with fanfiction online, or contribute in English to a feed they are interested in, to share with others Your idea

Integrating all skills: a task-based approach Make a grid for students to complete individually, with info to find out about, eg: - famous sights in capital city - traditional dishes - traditional clothing - most popular music - weather today Ss research online to get info about cultures they aren’t familiar with. Then they tell a person from that cultural background what they have found, to check it’s right, and gain additional info, personal experience etc. They listen to their informants and write in correct info on their grid. Your TBL idea?

Enjoy time spent with and for your students Thanks for listening!