Teachers' Challenges in Teaching English to Students with Special Needs: How to cope with them?

Dewi Listia Apriliyanti

Abstract


Special skills are needed for the teachers to teach the students. This study was carried out as an initial investigation regarding the challenges of two teachers teaching a class of students with special needs. An intensive interview with two teachers who teach students with special needs was used to conduct this case study. There are two main focuses in this study, investigating teachers’ experiences and barriers in terms of language and communication with students. This study concluded that in terms of teaching English; speaking, listening, and reading skills are most prioritized to be taught but are also the most difficult to teach in an inclusive classroom. Teachers need to prepare interesting and innovative media to attract students' attention in learning considering the unpredictable focus of students with special needs. Visual media such as videos and pictures are the most effectivemedia in learning English.Calling the student's full name, making eye contact, and body language is the best way to communicate and teach them, and research and development should be conducted to design effective media and learning strategies. This study suggests that in the future there will be many researchers conducting research and development research who design effective media for teaching English to students with special needs.

Keywords


Barrier; Challenges; Experience; Students with special needs; Teachers

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/ijcsne.v3i2.56869

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