Investigating English language teachers’ sentiments, attitudes, and concerns about inclusive education
Vol 9, Issue 8, 2024, Article identifier:
VIEWS - 428 (Abstract) 143 (PDF)
Abstract
While general and special education teachers’ sentiments, attitudes, and concerns about inclusive education have been extensively researched in recent years, little is known about English language teachers’ views on inclusive education. This is a critical research gap, as students with disabilities can face many unique barriers to learning a foreign language compared to other subject areas, and teachers’ views on inclusive education impact their ability to teach inclusively. However, many English language teachers have reported feeling unprepared to teach students with disabilities. Using postsecondary English language teachers in Japan as a case, the present research employed a modified version of the Sentiments, Attitudes, and Concerns about Inclusive Education Revised Scale (SACIE-R; N = 239). Respondents had a generally positive view of including students with disabilities in their instruction but were concerned about lacking knowledge and skills to teach inclusively and giving appropriate attention to all students in an inclusive classroom. Predictive factors included previous interactions with people with disabilities and inclusive practices self-efficacy, though both were overshadowed by the relationship that participation in pre- and in-service training to teach students with disabilities had with teachers’ views. The results have implications for how to best prepare English language teachers to teach inclusively, particularly as pertains to in-service training.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
1. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (2016). General comment No. 4. https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/crpd/pages/gc.aspx
2. Hunt, P. F. (2019). Inclusive education as global development policy. In M. J. Schuelka, C. J. Johnstone, G. Thomas, & A. J. Artiles (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of inclusion and diversity in education. (pp. 116-129). SAGE.
3. Ewing, D. L., Monsen, J. J., & Kielblock, S. (2017). Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education: A critical review of published questionnaires. Educational Psychology in Practice, 34(2), 150-165. https://doi.org/10.1080/02667363.2017.1417822
4. Forlin, C., Earle, C., Loreman, T., Sharma, U. (2011). The sentiments, attitudes, and concerns about inclusive education revised (SACIE-R) scale for measuring pre-service teachers’ perceptions about inclusion. Exceptionality Education International, 21(3), 50–65. https://doi.org/10.5206/eei.v21i3.7682
5. Yada, A., Tolvanen, A., & Savolainen, H. (2018). Teachers' attitudes and self-efficacy on implementing inclusive education in Japan and Finland: A comparative study using multigroup structural equation modelling. Teaching and Teacher Education, 75, 343-355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.07.011
6. Kormos, J. (2017). The second language learning processes of students with specific learning difficulties. Routledge.
7. Liu, M., & Huang, W. (2011). An exploration of foreign language anxiety and English learning motivation. Education Research International. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/493167
8. Piechurska-Kuciel, E. (2008). Input, processing, and output anxiety in students with symptoms of developmental dyslexia. In J. Kormos & E. H. Kontra (Eds.), Language Learners with Special Needs. (pp. 86-109). Multilingual Matters.
9. Sparks, R. L., & Ganschow, L. (1991). Foreign language learning differences: Affective or native language aptitude differences? Modern Language Journal, 75(1), 3-16. https://doi.org/10.2307/329830
10. Sparks, R. L., Humbach, N., & Javorsky, J. (2008). Individual and longitudinal differences among high- and low-achieving, LD, and ADHD L2 learners. Learning and Individual Differences, 18, 29-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2007.07.003
11. Sparks, R. L., Javorsky, J., & Philips, L. (2005). Comparison of the performance of college students classified as ADHD, LD, and LD/ADHD in foreign language aptitude. Language Learning, 55(1), 151-177. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0023-8333.2005.00292.x
12. Chen, T., & Chang, G. B. Y. (2008). The relationship between foreign language anxiety and learning difficulties. Foreign Language Annals, 37(2), 279-289. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2004.tb02200.x
13. Javorsky, J., Sparks, R. L., & Ganschow, L. (1992). Perceptions of college students with and without specific learning disabilities about foreign language courses. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 7(1), 31–44. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1992-25264-001
14. Horwitz, E. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21, 112-126. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000071
15. Horwitz, E., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125-132. https://doi.org/10.2307/327317
16. Ali, A. D. (2018). Identifying training needs of in-service EFL teachers in inclusive schools in Egypt. Arab World English Journal, 9(1), 163-183. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol9no1.12
17. Cimermanová, I. (2017). English language pre-service and in-service teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes towards integration of students with learning difficulties. Journal of Language and Cultural Education, 5(1), 20-38. https://doi.org /10.1515/jolace-2017-0002
18. Fernández-Portero, I. (2022). Measuring preservice foreign language teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education through a newly developed scale. Foreign Language Annals, 55(4), 1188-1211. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12660
19. Hale, C. C., & Ono, S. (2019). Second language learning for students with special needs: Perceptions of Japanese secondary school teachers. Accents Asia, 11(2), 78-83. http://www.issues.accentsasia.org/issues/11-2/hale_ono.pdf
20. Lowe, R. J., Schaefer, M. & Turner, M. (2021). Uncovering diverse perspectives and responses to working with English learners with special educational needs. In D. Banegas, G. Beacon, & M. Berbain (Eds.), International perspectives on diversity in ELT. (pp. 229-245). Palgrave Macmillan.
21. Razmjoo, S. A., & Sabourianzadeh, N. (2018). An exploration of practices adopted by EFL teachers for learners with low-incidence disabilities in inclusive classes. Applied Research on English Language, 7(1), 89-110. http://dx.doi.org/10.22108/are.2018.110687.1283
22. Smith, A. M. (2006). Inclusion in English language teacher training and education. [PhD Thesis, Lancaster University]. http://www.eltwell.co.uk/docs/Inclusion-In-English-Language-Teacher-Training-and-Education.pdf
23. Smith, A. M. (2008). Inclusive education within TEFL certificate courses. In J. Kormos & E. H. Kontra (Eds.), Language Learners with Special Needs. (pp. 214-233). Multilingual Matters.
24. Sowell, J., & Sugisaki, L. (2020). An exploration of EFL teachers’ experience with learning disability training. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 13(1), 114-134. https://doi.org/10.5294/laclil.2020.13.1.7
25. Yphantides, J. (2022). EFL teachers’ experiences with neurodiverse students and self-efficacy for inclusive practice in Japanese universities. The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 11(2), 125-139. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2731481035?pq-origsite=primo
26. Dignath, C., & Rimm-Kaufman, S., van Ewijk, R., & Kunter, M. (2022). Teachers’ beliefs about inclusive education and insights on what contributes to those beliefs: a meta-analytical study. Educational Psychology Review, 34, 2609-2660. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-022-09695-0
27. Guillemot, F., Lacroix, F., & Nocus, I. (2022). Teachers’ attitude towards inclusive education from 2000 to 2020: An extended meta-analysis. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 3, 100175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2022.100175
28. Ieridou, N. L. (2017). Teachers’ perceptions on inclusive education: The effect of knowledge and experience. In I. H. Amzat & N. Padilla-Valdez (Eds.), Teacher professional knowledge and development for reflective and inclusive practices (pp. 157-167). Routledge.
29. Agavelyan, R. O., Aubakirova, S. D., Zhomartova, A. D., & Burdina, E. I. (2020). Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education in Kazakhstan. Integratsiya obrazovaniya, 24(1), 8-19. https://doi.org/10.15507/1991-9468.098.024.202001.008-019
30. AlMahdi, O., & Bukamal, H. (2019). Pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education during their studies in Bahrain Teachers College. SAGE Open, July-September 2019, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019865772
31. Li, X., Xu, S., Xiang, Y., & Potměšil, M. (2016). Pre-service teachers’ sentiments, attitudes, and concerns about inclusive education in Chongqing, China. e-Pedagogium, 16(2), 133-141. https://doi.org/10.5507/epd.2016.022
32. Opoku, M. P., Nketsia, W., Odame, L., & Agyei-Okyere, E. (2021). Predictors of the attitudes of preservice teachers toward teaching students with Down syndrome in regular schools in Ghana. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 18(3), 229-239. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12379
33. Özokçu O. (2018a). Investigating classroom teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion. Inonu University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 19(3), 418-433. https://doi.org/10.17679/inuefd.472639
34. Poon, K. K., Ng, Z., Wong, M. E., & Kaur, S. (2016). Factors associated with staff perceptions towards inclusive education in Singapore. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36(1), 84-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2014.922047
35. Stavroussi, P., Didaskalou, E., Greif Green, J. (2021). Are teachers’ democratic beliefs about classroom life associated with their perceptions of inclusive education? International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 68(5), 627-642. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2020.1716961
36. Tahsein, S. S., & Ahsan, M. T. (2016). Four-year B.Ed. (honours) students’ attitude towards inclusive education in Bangladesh. Primary Education Journal, 9(1), 31-53. https://nape.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/nape.portal.gov.bd/page/f4896617_7264_4889_aa0b_4072142919fb/journal2016.pdf
37. Tuncay, A. A., & Kizilaslan, A. (2021). Pre-service teachers’ sentiments, attitudes and concerns about inclusive education in Turkey. European Journal of Special Needs Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2021.1873524
38. Emmers, E., Baeyens, D., & Petry, K. (2020). Attitudes and self-efficacy of teachers towards inclusion in higher education. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 35(2), 139-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2019.1628337
39. Navarro-Mateu, D., Franco-Ochoa, J., Valero-Moreno, S., & Prado-Gascó, V. (2020). Attitudes, sentiments, and concerns about inclusive education of teachers and teaching students in Spain. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 521. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00521
40. Kunz, A., Luder, R., & Kassis, W. (2021). Beliefs and attitudes toward inclusion of student teachers and their contact with people with disabilities. Frontiers in Education, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.650236
41. Ayub, U., Shahzad, S., & Ali, M. S. (2019). University teachers’ attitude towards inclusion, efficacy and intention to teach inclusive classrooms in higher education. Global Sciences Review, IV(I), 365-372. http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2019(IV-I).47
42. Özokçu O. (2018b). The relationship between teacher attitudes and self-efficacy for inclusive practices in Turkey. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 6(3), 6-12. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets. v 6 i 3 3034
43. Li, K. M., & Cheung, R. Y. M. (2021). Pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy in implementing inclusive education in Hong Kong: The roles of attitudes, sentiments, and concerns. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 68(2), 259-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2019.1678743
44. Mouchritsa, M., Romero, A., Garay, U., & Kazanopoulos, S. (2022). Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education at Greek secondary education schools. Education Sciences, 12, 404. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12060404
45. Romero-Contreras, S., Garcia-Cedillo, I., Forlin, C., & Abril, K. (2013). Preparing teachers for inclusion in Mexico: How effective is this process? Journal of Education for Teaching, 39(5), 509-522. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2013.836340
46. Cohen, I. (2011). Teacher-student interaction in classrooms of students with specific learning difficulties learning English as a foreign language. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders, 2(2), 271-292. https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v2i2.271
47. Firman, F., Tersta, F. W., Riantoni, C., & Sekonda, F. A. (2020). Teachers’ attitudes to special needs students in English language teaching. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 8(2), 37-45. https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.82e03
48. Nyikes, N. N. (2019). Integrating students with specific learning differences in the EFL classroom. WoPaLP, 13, 14-32. http://langped.elte.hu/WoPaLParticles/W13NagyneNyikesN.pdf
49. Damayanti, A., Lintangsari, A. P., Kusumawardani, I. N. (2022). Teachers’ efficacy in inclusive teaching: A study on EFL pre-service teachers. Indonesian Journal of Disability Studies, 9(2), 253-263. https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.ijds.2022.009.02.09
50. Aiello, P., Sharma, U., Di Gennaro, D. C., Dimitrov, D. M., Pace, E. M., Zollo, I., & Sibilio, M. (2017). A study on Italian teachers’ sentiments, attitudes and concerns towards inclusive education. CQIA RIVISTA, 20, 10-24. http://hdl.handle.net/11386/4682089
51. Aubakirova, S., & Mukatayeva, K. (2017). Studying the attitude of future teachers towards inclusive education in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Journal of Exceptional People, 2(11), 97-105.
52. Gallego-Ortega, J. L., & Rodríguez-Fuentes, A. (2021). Teaching attitudes towards students with disabilities. Mathematics, 9, 16-37. https://doi.org/10.3390/math9141637
53. Kis, A. (2016). Adaptation of the sentiments, attitudes, and concerns about inclusive education (SACIE-R) scale on a Turkish population. Academic Research International, 7(1), 123-134.
54. Main, S., Chambers, D. J., & Smith, P. (2016). Supporting the transition to inclusive education: Teachers’ attitudes to inclusion in the Seychelles. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 20(12), 1270-1285. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2016.1168873
55. Murdaca, A. M., Patrizia, O., & Costa, S. (2016). Evaluating the perception of disability and the inclusive education of teachers: the Italian validation of the SACIE-R (Sentiments, Attitudes, and Concerns about Inclusive Education – Revised Scale). European Journal of Special Needs Education, 33(1), 148-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2016.1267944
56. Vogiatzi, X-A., Charitaki, G., & Kourkoutas, E. (2021). Assessing psychometric properties of the Sentiments, Attitudes and Concerns about Inclusive Education Scale in a Greekspeaking sample of inservice teachers. Technology, Knowledge and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-021-09554-x
57. Yada, A., & Savolainen, H. (2017). Japanese in-service teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education and self-efficacy for inclusive practices. Teaching and Teacher Education, 64, 222-229. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.02.005
58. Smith, A. M. (2018). Inclusive practices. Oxford University Press.
59. Salmi, J. (2018). All around the world – Higher education equity policies across the globe. https://worldaccesshe.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/All-around-the-world-Higher-education-equity-policies-across-the-globe-.pdf
60. Ruddick, M., Pryor, S., & Diaz, M. (2021). English language teaching faculty members’ knowledge and awareness of special educational needs at universities in Japan: A qualitative study. English as a Foreign Language International Journal, 1(3), 46-65. https://doi.org/10.56498/822562021
61. Boeltzig-Brown, H. (2017). Disability and career service provision for students with disabilities at institutions of higher education in Japan: An overview of key legislation, policies, and practices. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 30(1), 61-81. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1144616
62. Kondo, T., Takahashi, T., & Shirasawa, M. (2015). Recent progress and future challenges in disability student services in Japan. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 28(4), 421-431. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1093579
63. Young, D. (2024). The emergence and development of inclusive education in Japan: Local to global and back again. In A. Burke, D. Young, & M. L. Cook (Eds.), Barrier-free instruction in Japan: Recommendations for teachers at all levels of schooling (pp. 22-64). Candlin & Mynard. http://doi.org/10.47908/30/1
64. JASSO. (2023). Ryō wa 4-nendo (2022-nendo) daigaku, tankidaigaku oyobi kōtō senmon gakkō ni okeru shōgai no aru gakusei no shūgaku shien ni kansuru jittai chōsa kekka hōkoku-sho [AY2022 fact-finding survey report on study support for students with disabilities at universities, junior colleges and colleges of technology]. https://www.jasso.go.jp/statistics/gakusei_shogai_syugaku/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2023/08/29/2022_houkoku_1.pdf
65. Clark, L. A., & Watson, D. (1995). Constructing validity: Basic issues in scale development. Journal of Psychological Assessment, 7(3), 309–319. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.7.3.309
66. Pfingsthorn, J., & Giesler, T. (2022). Specific preferences vs. inclusive foreign language education: (Pre-service) teachers’ implicit attitudes towards varieties of English. In M. Callies & S. Hehner (Eds.), Pedagogical Implications and Innovative Approaches to Language Teaching (pp. 91-112). Routledge.
67. Loreman, T., Earle, C., Sharma, U., & Forlin, C. (2007). The development of an instrument for measuring pre-service teachers’ sentiments, attitudes, and concerns about inclusive education. International Journal of Special Education, 22(2), 150-159. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ814498
68. Sharma, U., Forlin, C., & Loreman, T. (2008). Impact of training on pre-service teachers’ attitudes and concerns about inclusive education and sentiments about persons with disabilities. Disability & Society, 23(7), 773-785. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687590802469271
69. Sharma, U., Loreman, T., & Forlin, C. (2012). Measuring teacher efficacy to implement inclusive practices. Journal of Research in Special Education Needs, 12, 12-21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-3802.2011.01200.x
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v9i8.2761
(428 Abstract Views, 143 PDF Downloads)
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2024 Davey Young
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.