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A Foreign Language Learner with Medical and Physical Disabilities

Home | Casework | Documentation | Technology

Introduction
n Laura suffers from a debilitating illness that means spending long periods at home or in hospital. When she attends, she is often tired and sometimes confined to a wheelchair. She is an intelligent student who is keen to do her best in every subject, including MFL, but she is in danger of falling behind with her work because of her protracted absences.

Problem 1
n You decide to find out about the delivery of MFL in special schools for those with physical disabilities.
n Portsmouth's Futcher School for physically disabled boys and girls aged 3-16 not only offers French lessons to a proportion at key stages 3 and 4 but also runs a "French Week" for all. Ivan Ricci's article on page 3 of the CILT Languages and Special Educational Needs Bulletin Issue 12 describes the event. What purpose does it serve and what are the outcomes? Then read French for All - Increasing Access with ICT, where Robin Snaddon of Ashcraig Secondary School for Physically Disabled Pupils in Scotland writes about his pupils' use of ICT to access the MFL curriculum. What are the benefits of using technology in this context?

Problem 2
n You decide to find out how special schools for the physically disabled in other countries teach MFL.
n Which three languages are taught at the Rheinische Schule für Körperbehinderte in Cologne? Read Förderpädagogik in der Praxis, where Katrin Straube-Weißhahn writes about the teaching of English in a school for the physically disabled in Leipzig, then read about the two MFL/ICT lessons Computer und Internet and London - the capital of the UK she is planning for her physically disabled students. Storytelling "The Little Indian Boy" describes a unit of work within an English course for students with physical disabilities in Stuttgart.

Problem 3
n You wish to learn more about medically and physically disabled people who study foreign languages.
n Read about George, a muscular dystrophy sufferer who can speak Arabic, English, Spanish and French; Anthony Vitale, whose amyotrophic lateral sclerosis proved no barrier to his learning French, German, Italian, Polish and Swahili; and Zhang Haidi, a paraplegic who learned foreign languages, including English, Japanese and German, through self-study.

Further reading
n References of use in the teaching of modern foreign languages to learners with medical and physical disabilities is an offprint of the medical and physical difficulties section of a Bibliography of Modern Foreign Languages and Special Educational Needs.

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© 2009 · David R. Wilson