Language Problems
Vignette #18
Context
One of my English groups has a student who has dysarthria and other musculoskeletal disorders. His speech is very difficult to understand, who first hears him talk, that doesn't understand him, I'm almost sure. I didn't understand his speech during my first visits, but later I got used to it. The aim of teaching English is to make the most of the students, so I try to give a lot of tasks to talk to each other in pairs or to talk to the whole group. Unfortunately, I can't get him involved in these, he doesn't want to talk much. There is practically nothing about how to deal with situations when he is expected to speak. I turned to the class teacher for help, and during my observation period I've examined how another teacher has worked with him. My general experience was the following: he didn’t talk during the lessons and the teachers also avoid involving him in the conversations. I wonder if this can disturb him, but I don't want to ask him directly because the situation is quite uncomfortable.
Dilemma
How can I help this student to learn without putting him in an uncomfortable situation? How could I get more knowledge about teaching student with this special disorder?
Choices
- Receive an advice from mentor (tool 7 and tool 9)
- Receive an advice from school psychologist (tool 21)
- Talk with student and or his parents about his learning (tool 8 )
- Receive an advice from student about his individual learning needs (tool 13)
- Read his expert report
- Force field analysis (tool 32)
- Reflect the situation (tool 33 and 34)