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Pokrivčáková, S. et al. (2015). Teaching Foreign Languages to Learners with Special Educational Needs: e-textbook for foreign language teachers. Nitra: Constantine the Philosopher University. 128 p. ISBN 978-80-558-0941-0 Special secondary schools Learners learning a foreign languages in 2014 total English German Spanish Russian French Italian public 1216* 1104 550 92 39 5 0 private 13* 13 13 0 0 0 0 church 10* 10 9 0 0 0 0 total 1248* 1127 572 92 39 5 0 Tab. 3: Numbers of special secondary school learners who learned foreign languages in 2014. Note: since learners usually learned the combination of two languages (English + other foreign language), the total numbers in the column do not equal the sums of numbers in individual lines. B. Integration Integration as a form of education is based on involving learners with SEN in mainstream schools and classes for mainstream learners. They become regular students, however, they follow their individual educational plans (designed by both the CPPCs and the school), which means that SEN learners spend part of their school day with other learners within a regular school class completing the regular school tasks as others, and in the other part of the school day they learn individually (either in special classes with special teachers, or completing tasks in the mainstream classroom with their assistants). Integrated learners follow the same curriculum and target standards as the mainstream learners. The school management is responsible for equipping the classes and other school environment so it meets the special needs of these learners: modification of school buildings´ design, classroom equipment, compensating teaching strategies (c.f. Davis et al., 2004) and aids, etc. Typically, individual educational plans are designed by adapting educational objectives, reducing or extending content, applying different timing, etc. Learning two foreign languages is a standard requirement for this group of learners. The main expectation for their foreign language education is to compensate the existing defects to such an extent as to make it possible for them to manage at least basic syllabus, so that they could lead a productive and successful life in the future. Table 3 shows the number of such “internally” integrated learners at all types of Slovak schools. It does not include either the number of talented or the number of learners from socially disadvantageous environment. Type of school Number of integrated learners 2009 2014 nursery schools 446 557 primary schools 20,246 21,168 grammar schools 518 909 Conservatories 44 53 secondary vocational schools 4,770 5,725 Total 26,024 28,412 Tab. 4: Number of integrated learners at Slovak schools The official statistics by UIPŠ include education of learners who come from socially disadvantageous environment (for more see chapter 8) to the integrated form of education. The table 4 shows the number of such learners at nursery, primary and secondary schools in Slovakia in 2014 (numbers for 2009 were not available). 11
Pokrivčáková, S. et al. (2015). Teaching Foreign Languages to Learners with Special Educational Needs: e-textbook for foreign language teachers. Nitra: Constantine the Philosopher University. 128 p. ISBN 978-80-558-0941-0 Type of school Number of learners coming from socially disadvantaged environment in 2014 nursery schools 4324 primary schools 20,785 grammar schools 388 conservatories 0 secondary vocational schools 1932 total 27429 Tab. 5: Number of learners coming from socially disadvantaged environment in 2014 C. Inclusion In accordance with the School Act 245/2008 all learners with special needs, whose learning performances and outcomes are not seriously affected and who do not require special attention of special educators/assistants, should be included into regular classes. It means that learners with SEN are involved in regular school activities during the whole school day. During the entire time, they are taught by mainstream teachers alongside mainstream learners, which brings important social consequences for the future life of all the subjects involved, since the experience usually has an enriching effect on both learners with SEN and mainstream learners. This type of organization relies heavily on the expertise of the teacher who must be skilled to differentiate the learning objectives and manage mixed-ability group activities, based on solidarity and as team work (for more see Ainscow, 2006; Bernard, 2000; Stubbs, 2002 and others). Professional support for teachers Slovak foreign language teachers are provided with several types of professional support while dealing with learners with SEN: institutional (ECC, MPC, universities), specialized teachertraining courses, conferences, specialized publications and other sources. Centres of Pedagogical and Psychological Consultancy and Prevention (Centrá pedagogicko-psychologického poradenstva a prevencie) provide complex psychological, special-pedagogical and diagnostic consultancy to both schools/teachers and parents. CPPC´s services are free of charge for both. Regarding learners with SEN, they are responsible for diagnosing the learners and working out their individual educational plans. Moreover, they furnish schools/teachers with methodological instructions, special teaching materials and compensation aids if necessary. Teachers, school managers and parents can also consult the special needs counselling/resource centres (centrá špeciálno-pedagogického poradenstva) which focus on searching for and diagnosing learners with various disabilities or disorders. Moreover, they assess the prognosis of learner´ progress and recommend the optimal form of intervention/education. In addition, teachers may ask for help school special pedagogues, school special psychologists, or educational consultants. Training teachers for teaching SEN learners Methodological and Pedagogical Centres (MPC) are, in accord with Law 596/2003, the organizations under direct management of the Ministry of Education. They focus on in-service teacher’s training and life-long education. So far, no courses have been organized to train foreign language teachers how to perform foreign language teaching to learners with SEN. In Slovakia, there are 8 universities which have the accredited right to organize pre-service and in-service teacher training for foreign language teachers. Only a few of them (i.e. Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, University of Matej Bel in Banská Bystrica, Prešov University and the Catholic University in Ružomberok) provide their students with 12
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