Teacher education projects
Effective strategies for promoting inclusion in pre-service English language teacher education in Uzbekistan
This project supported by the British Council aimed to strengthened institutional capacity for inclusive English language teacher education through collaboration between Lancaster University, Westminster International University in Tashkent(WIUT), and Uzbekistan State University of World Languages (UzSWLU). Over the five-month implementation period, the project focused on developing practical, context-sensitive tools to support inclusive practice at PRESETT level and building the professional capacity of the Uzbek team and wider teacher educator community.
Website of the project: https://uzbekistanteachers.com/focus-on-action-partnerships-and-goals
Dyslexia for teachers of English as a foreign language (Dystefl2) project
DysTEFL2 project is innovative and practical in its content, structure and format. It addresses a gap in the field of English language teacher training where the needs of dyslexic students are frequently neglected. It provides both a solid theoretical foundation about the nature of dyslexia and practical suggestions for classroom teaching, task and curriculum design, and assessment.
Funder: European Commission, Erasmus+
Website of the project: http://dystefl2.uni.lodz.pl/
ENGaGE project: Teacher training materials in English and German
The ENGaGE Teacher Training Programme aims to raise teachers’ awareness of the needs of language learners with dyslexia and specific learning difficulties. Its goal is also to enrich teachers’ methodological toolkit to be able to cater for these needs in the language classroom. This innovative free online programme accompanies the ENGaGE digital task bank developed for dyslexic language learners aged 10-14. It familiarises teachers with the potentials of the task bank and offers a wide repertoire of useful teaching methods, techniques and tools that they can apply to foster inclusion, collaboration and intercultural communication in language learning. The teacher training materials are available in English and German.
Funder: European Commission, Erasmus+
Link to the ENGaGE project homepage: http://engage.uni-miskolc.hu/
Comics for Inclusive English Language Learning (CIELL)
The Comics for Inclusive English Language Learning (CIELL) project aims to develop the competences of second language teachers by promoting the use of comic art, and other visual representations of knowledge. Another goal of the project to enhance the quality of language teaching materials used for teaching writing as a second language and support the needs of dyslexic learners in a socially inclusive manner.
Funder: European Commission, Erasmus+
Raising awareness of teachers and teacher educators in Sri Lanka on dyslexia (2017-2020)
Since 2017 Dr. Bimali Indrarathne has conducted a series of projects on raising awareness of specific learning difficulties in different sectors of education in Sri Lanka. She has organized workshops and teacher training events, prepared teacher training materials and drafted policy documents.
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council, United Kingdom
Link to project website: http://www.dyslexiaprojectsl.com/about-the-project/
Enhancing inclusion in language teaching course design and teacher training
In this collaboration Judit Kormos works together with Cambridge University Press to create language learning materials that are inclusive of students with SpLDs. We will write guides to teachers on how to use the materials with their learners so that they can enhance language learning opportunities for students with SpLDs. The guides will be based on teachers’ needs collected from a sample of coursebook users and teacher trainers. Meetings will be held course editorial teams, the course design team of Cambridge University Press and a webinar for teachers on using digital course resources for inclusive language teaching will also be offered.
Kormos, J. (2020). Specific Learning Difficulties in ELT. Part of the Cambridge Papers in ELT series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://languageresearch.cambridge.org/images/Language_Research/CambridgePapers/CambridgePapersInELT_SpLDs_2020_ONLINE.pdf
Funder: Impact Acceleration Fund of the Economic and Social Research Council, United Kingdom
Research projects
Well-engaged
English language learning among teens with and without ADHD-related traits
This project investigates how 15- to 16-year-old students with varying attention-related profiles – ranging from learners diagnosed with ADHD, reporting related symptoms, or exhibiting impaired working memory, to others showing no such specific learning differences – learn English as an additional language. Our study examines how these cognitive differences relate to performance on standardized tests in reading, listening, and writing; self-reported use of grammar and writing strategies; and classroom well-being, particularly experiences of boredom and enjoyment.
The study also explores how the different learner groups engage with extramural, i.e., out-of-class, English (e.g., gaming, social media, YouTube) and how this affects second language performance and well-being. Conducted in Austria (N > 300) and Slovenia (N > 150), the project includes teacher interviews about experiences teaching students with attention difficulties, as well as learner interviews focusing on classroom experiences and English use beyond school.
https://anglistik.univie.ac.at/staff/teams-and-research-areas/celter/projects-research/well-engaged-english-language-learning-among-teens-with-and-without-adhd-related-traits/
Scientific Team
Dr. Alexandra Schurz, University of Vienna (Principal Investigator)
Univ. Prof. Dr. Judit Kormos, Lancaster University & University of Ljubljana
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Milena Košak Babuder, University of Ljubljana
Investigating the text comprehension process of students with and without dyslexia in Slovenia
In the this project Judit Kormos, Karmen Pizorn, Milena Kosak Babuder and Michael Ratajczak investigated the effect of read-aloud assistance on young English learners’ language comprehension scores. We also examined whether students with dyslexia identification benefit from this assistance differently from their peers with no official identification of dyslexia. The results of our study revealed that young L2 learners with no dyslexia identification performed similarly in the three conditions. The read-aloud assistance, however, was found to increase the comprehension scores of dyslexic participants when reading difficult texts, allowing them to perform at the level of their non-dyslexic peers. Therefore, our study suggests that this modification of the test administration mode might assist dyslexic students in demonstrating their text comprehension abilities.
Listen to this podcast to learn more about the results listen to: http://languagetesting.info/sage/podcasts/Accomodations.mp3 or read: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0265532218756946
Time Extension and the Second Language Reading Performance of Children with Different First Language Literacy Profiles
This study sponsored by the British Council Judit Kormos and Michael Ratajczak investigated the effect of different timing conditions on the L2 reading performance of adolescent learners of English who demonstrate different first language (L1) literacy profiles. It aimed to uncover whether Hungarian L2 learners who have below average L1 reading comprehension and word-decoding skills, which can be indicative of SpLDs, gain from time extension differentially in the reading component of the Aptis for Teens test from those whose L1 skills are in the average or above average range. Our generalised linear mixed-effects model predicted no significant effect of the time extension and no interaction between time extension, L1 skills and test tasks. This suggests that time extension did not boost students’ scores and did not confer a differential advantage for students with low-level L1 skills either. Our results confirm the importance of universal test design and providing a generous margin of around 50% extra time from the mean test population completion time for all test-takers.
