Focus on Practice: Teaching French in a School for Children with Moderate Learning Difficulties

Abstract

Margaret Riley, who teaches at Woodside Senior School, Bolton, considers approaches to the teaching of a modern foreign language in a school for children with moderate learning difficulties.

The FLES teacher's voice

“…FLES teachers at Murray rely on the special education teachers as an important resource for the students with special needs in the foreign language classroom, and have had to learn how to express their subject specific needs to those resource persons, an example of how FLES teacher behavior has been impacted by NCLB. Because working with special needs students is a chief concern for Murray's FLES teachers, all FLES teachers facing increased differentiation of instruction may consider turning to the current literature regarding professional development (Tedick and Walker, 1996;Bell 2000) and special education in the foreign language classroom (Nichols and Thomas, 1992;Riley, 1997;Wilson, 2001;Arnett, 2000;Gahala, 2002;Theisen, 2002;ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, 2003;Gould, 2003;Tew, 2004;Wire, 2005). American FLES teachers looking to expand their programs to students of all cognitive and behavioral abilities under NCLB may find the experience of long-mainstreamed European FLES programs helpful (Andrade, Kretschmer, and Kretschmer, 1989;Early Language Learning-Forum, 2000;Sutherland, 2002).…”