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This editorial proposes a conceptual and instructional shift surrounding educating English learners with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities are the largest minority group in the world, yet in many classrooms across the world, they often lack the opportunities and support needed to be successful. This is especially apparent in English as a second or foreign language classrooms, where students with disabilities need first to be included and then provided with structured and systematic supports to be successful. We suggest that an initial shift in the way that we think about disability is a necessary first step. This can then be supported by using Universal Design for Learning as a framework to reduce barriers in instruction and increase access and success for English learners. This editorial also introduces five articles, which aim to further the discourse and understanding of how to support individuals with disabilities learning English across countries and contexts.

This paper proposes the design of an instructional model, referred to as the universal genre sphere, for teaching academic writing in a manner appropriate to all learners, but developed especially with consideration for the needs of English as additional language students with or without diagnosed learning differences. Despite growing research on, variously, second-language writing, English as an additional language and learning differences, there has been relatively little work that explores approaches to the intersections of these topics. Thus, the proposed universal genre sphere model is founded on the pillars of universal design for learning and the tenets of the genre-based approach, especially the teaching-learning cycle, to create more equitable and inclusive, as well as effective, learning environments. The universal genre sphere balances inclusive design that draws upon students’ interests, while breaking learning into manageable and adjustable segments, thus making academic writing more accessible to a greater number of learners. The combination of universal design for learning and the genre-based approach represents an opportunity to create a shift in second-language writing instruction (and, potentially, in L1 writing instruction) that aligns with the principles of inclusive education by reducing barriers in the classroom and providing students with multiple pathways to participate, which could do much to advance knowledge about more inclusive, equitable and effective writing instruction for all learners.

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This paper calls for a shift related to English language-in-education policy and inclusive education initiatives in Colombia to ensure that English language learners with disabilities receive equitable and inclusive classroom instruction that is context-appropriate. We call for English language initiatives and policies to draw from theories and practices from both the Global South and the Global North in order to teach towards inclusive education. Trends in both English language teaching and inclusive education have drawn upon the Global North for solutions, which cannot be systemised to fit one international standard. Instead, using the Colombian context as an example, the present paper suggests a localised approach to meeting the educational needs of English language learners that incorporates inclusive education at the institutional level. This model would favour the work of scholars within the region to ensure that all students receive equitable classroom instruction that builds in Global South epistemologies and localised ways of knowing.