EFL teachers' perceptions towards teaching pupils with special educational needs

Abstract EN

In many countries, integration of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools raises issues of curriculum access and whether teachers have training, skills and willingness to teach such children.

In Saudi Arabia, the integration of pupils with SEN has progressed considerably, but it is widely believed that such children can not learn a foreign language.

This study investigates the readiness of Saudi teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) to teach English to pupils with SEN and the challenges they anticipate or experience when doing so.

A 30-item questionnaire comprising two scales, Readiness and Challenges, was distributed to a random sample of 34 teachers in Al Madinah province and mean scores, standard deviation, overall agreement level and rank order within the relevant scale reported for each item.

Findings show that teachers felt ready to teach pupils with SEN, were aware of the need to use varied methods and techniques, and strongly supported collegial collaboration to help such children.

However, they doubted the adequacy of resources, thought classes were too large, and feared that teaching these children would come at the expense of their peers without SEN.

Recommendations are made for resourcing and teacher training.