S

P

E

C

I

A

L

E

D

U

C

A

T

I

O

N

A

L

N

E

E

D

S

.

C

O

M

A Foreign Language Learner with Selective Mutism

Home | Casework | Documentation | Technology

Introduction
n Olivia, a student with selective mutism (SM), is joining your class. Students with SM may converse happily with their classmates but never communicate orally with adults. For many young people with SM, English is an additional language (EAL). Some with SM and EAL may choose to speak their mother tongue but never English. Others may refrain from speech in either language. Students with SM may comprehend and communicate perfectly well on paper and also listen with understanding, but they will not communicate by word of mouth.

Problem 1
n You decide to find out how other teachers include students with SM and EAL in their classes.
n Read Selective Mutism and Play Therapy: Helping Children to Talk, Bee Vang's case study of a selectively mute six-year-old Hmong boy who is enrolled in an English as a second language (ESL) class. Study carefully the investigative strategies deployed by the author to determine what underlies the boy's SM. For more general information about the educational implications of SM, visit the Contact a Family Selective Mutism web page and SMIRA's official website (Selective Mutism Information & Research Association).

Problem 2
n You decide to find out about good practice in teaching MFL to students with SM.
n Study Hilary McColl's 1999 and 2000 SENCO Forum messages entitled MFL and Selective Mutism, which flag up the benefits of MFL to students with SM. Her website is an excellent source of information and advice about the implications of special educational needs for modern foreign languages. Read what she has written in Can all children benefit from foreign language learning? and Languages for all? about Sally and Raji, two learners of French with SM.

My brother hosts this site.

© 2009 · David R. Wilson