Teacher-student interaction in classrooms of students with specific learning disabilities learning English as a foreign language

Foreign language teaching highlights the cultivation of the learners’ communicative competence, because the main purpose of learning a foreign language is to use the target language to communicate. However, many students in higher institutions in China cannot speak English fluently after having learned English for more than ten years, although they have mastered abundant knowledge of grammars and enough vocabulary, which mainly results from lack of interaction in classroom teaching besides the natural language environment. Classroom interaction is the key to effective teaching in EFL classroom. So, using strategies to promote the interaction in class is necessary. This paper explores the interaction between teacher and student in EFL classroom from the perspective of Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT). Data was collected from 540 minute video samples of three English teachers’ classroom teaching. This study aimed: 1) To identify whether the teachers use communication accommodation strategies to develop the interaction，when they are faced with the difficulties in EFL class; 2)To answer which strategies are often used in EFL classroom? Findings showed: 1) Communication accommodation strategies happened in Teacher-student interaction; 2) Communication accommodation strategies such as approximation, interpret ability, emotional expression and interpersonal control are the basic strategies which were employed by the three participants in each session of EFL class; 3) Interpret ability and strategy of discourse management such as face-maintenance, turn-taking, topic control, asking referential questions, conversational repair and feedback occurred frequently according to the discourse. 4) The more accommodation strategies the teacher used, the better the interaction in the classroom was.

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Foreign Language Assessment: Instructional Considerations for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities

Journal of Language Teaching and Research ◽

10.17507/jltr.0803.01 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 441 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Joshua B. L. Tolbert

Keyword(s):

Learning Disabilities ◽

Foreign Language ◽

The United States ◽

Specific Learning Disabilities ◽

Language Instruction ◽

Foreign Language Instruction ◽

Learning Needs ◽

Assessment Practices ◽

The Individual ◽

Specific Learning

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) continue to be more likely to experience anxiety about learning a foreign language, and possibly less likely to enroll in foreign language courses at all. As schools become more inclusive and more aware of diverse learning needs, it is important to be cognizant of how the individual needs of students with SLDs may relate to classroom instruction and assessment practices. What follows is a discussion of assessment practices, with an emphasis on diagnostic and formative assessment in the context of teaching students with SLDs. Given the prevalence of mobile phones and other devices in contemporary classrooms, a strong emphasis on the role of online polling resources plays a prominent role in this discussion. Specific examples of instructional activities which align with assessments are also provided, as part of a selective literature review intended to connect larger topics in language instruction to the typical needs of students with specific learning disabilities. The perspective of the discussion pertains primarily to students with SLDs in the United States, where the vast majority of foreign language instruction occurs in the middle and secondary grades.

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