Introduction
The educational transformations
advocated by the 3th process of curricular renewal of the National
System of Education (NSE) in Cuba are focussed on the fulfilment of the goals
and objectives of the 2030 Agenda. The
renewal postulates the Institutional and Group Educational Project and the
design of a flexible and contextualized curricular conception to satisfy the
diversity and needs of all pupils and contexts, which gives great importance to
collaboration in socio-educational networks. Therefore, the society demands the
need to provide high-quality education for all learners, including those with
learning difficulties, from now on (LD) and here comes the need to incorporate
inclusive practices in the teaching learning process of all school subjects
including English. Hence, identifying English language teachers’ attitude
towards inclusive English language education to pupils with learning
difficulties in primary and special schools is a big challenge that would allow
improving the training of these professionals and inclusive educational
practices as well.
In this regard, attitudes have been
studied for more than 100 years and its main precursor was Allport (1935).
Rodríguez (1987), affirms that an attitude is “an enduring organization of
beliefs and cognitions in general, endowed with an affective load in favour or
against a defined social object, which predisposes to an action consistent with
the cognitions and affects related to that object". (p.329). Attitudes are
expressed in tree domains: cognitive, affective and behavioural. The cognitive
refers to the beliefs, ideas, perceptions and thoughts about the object, the
affective, indicates the feelings and emotions that induce in the person the
object or phenomenon and the behavioural one alludes to predisposition or
tendency towards an attitudinal objective.
The literature review on this theme
confirms that to study attitudes, instruments such as Likert-type scales have
demonstrated to be effective. (Rodríguez; Caurcel
& Alaín, 2019). A variety of scales have been
created by researchers in the educational context. Initially, they were
implemented to describe how teachers or students with and without disabilities
reacted to educational processes. (Rosero., Delgado.,
Ruano & Criollo, 2021). Other authors, focus
their attention on the attitudes towards educational inclusion. (Granada, Pomés & Sanhueza, 2013; Forlin,
Earle, Loreman, Sharma,
2011; Herrera, 2012; Adame & Becerra, 2015; Saloviita,
2020).
On the other hand, the scales to
measure the English language teacher’s attitudes towards inclusive practices in
English language education to pupils with LD in primary and special schools are
limited. Scientific evidence focuses on verifying their attitude but in regular
and usual contexts. For example, studies by Kormos
& Kontra (2008), first scholars of this area,
applied a 36-item questionnaire. Out of them 23 items used Likert scale, 7 yes/no
questions and 7 open-ended multiple-choice questions on biographical background
to analyse the perceptions of language and special education teachers, and
speech therapists in Hungary (Eastern Europe) about dyslexic pupils and their
implications in the learning of a second language (L2). They found that
teachers are aware of the dyslexia implications in language learning and they
claimed they can identify dyslexia in language learning, but they do not know
how many dyslexic children there are in their classroom.
Currently, Nijakowska.,
Tsagari & Spanoudis
(2018) have created and applied a validated instrument (Nijakowska,
Tsagari, & Spanoudis,
2020) Scale Foreign Language teacher´s preparedness to include dyslexic
learners in regular classrooms (TEPID), to 546 teachers to- be and in-service
in Greece, Cyprus and Poland, (155 Greek-Cypriot, 233 Greek and 158 Polish
teachers). The scale consisted of 24 items measured on a six-point Likert
scale. It comprises three parts: A, referring to demographic information; B,
focussing on English as a second language teachers’ beliefs about their
preparation to include dyslexic learners in regular classrooms and C,
addressing prior training on dyslexia, inclusive instructional practices and
professional training needs. This alternative has more than one option to
select. The scale measured the beliefs about the self-efficacy that in-service
English language teachers and teachers-to- be have about their preparation to
include dyslexic learners in regular classrooms and it also measured their
professional training needs.
The study found that demographic
variables like country, level of training, type of school where teachers work
and experience in teaching learners with dyslexia, have effects in TEPID.
However, the special school modality is not included within the type of
schools. This element is beyond the scope of its study; nonetheless, in the
Cuban context its measurement would be a novelty since there are special
schools in Cuba as resource and support centres. It was also found that primary
teachers´ beliefs is low regarding their knowledge on dyslexia, self-efficacy
about inclusive practices and insufficient teacher training. The authors
believe that these results are due to the differences between the educational
systems of each country, the training models and study programs.
According to the authors, the TEPID
concept has two components: (a) beliefs about acquired knowledge on dyslexia
and self-efficacy in implementing inclusive instructional practices with dyslexic
EFL learners (knowledge and skills) and (b) beliefs about general principles of
inclusion towards dyslexic EFL learners (attitude/position toward inclusion).
Component (b) refers to: the recognition of the individualization of the
teaching approach, the introduction of adjustments and adaptations, the
collaboration with parents and the educational professionals, as well as the
relationship between teacher’s behaviour in the classroom and student’s
self-esteem and self-determination. (Nijakowska, Tsagari & Spanoudis, 2019).
In this case, the authors of this article do not agree with Nijakowska,
Tsagari & Spanoudis
(2019), they recognize the attitude in its cognitive component, which expresses
the knowledge and beliefs about the attitudinal object. The attitude goes
further and also expresses the relationship between affective and behavioural
factors that can be modified.
In Cuba, there is an increasing
number of pupils with LD in primary and special education (Mendoza, Enríquez & López, 2022), which requires the study of
this diagnostic entity and their teaching.
However, studies about the design of instruments to describe teachers’
attitudes towards inclusive English language education to pupils with LD in
primary and special schools are still insufficient. Hence, a question arises:
what instrument would allow measuring the attitudes of in-service English
teachers and trainees towards inclusive in English language education to pupils
with LD in primary and special schools? The present research is aimed at
proposing a valid instrument to measure Foreign Language teachers’ attitude
towards inclusive English Language education to pupils with learning
difficulties in primary and special schools in the Cuban context.
Materials and methods
This
research is guided by the materialist dialectical method which allowed to
analyse the object of study, its dynamic relationship and objectivity. A
non-experimental descriptive research approach has been used, with a mixed
paradigm. Scientific methods have helped in different ways. At theoretical
level the documental study was used to review literature; the
analytical-synthetic method to explore and analyse different studies and
proposals as well as the Cuban context so as get to generalisations; modelling
has allowed to determine the structure and contents of the scale items. At
empirical level, the survey was used for measuring teachers' attitudes, by
preparing a Likert-type scale questionnaire "Scale Attitudes of Foreign
Language Teachers towards Inclusive English Language Education to Pupils with
Learning Difficulties in Primary and Special Schools"; consulting
specialists allowed to assess the proposal. In addition, Cronbach's alpha
coefficient formula (Cortina, 1993) was applied to verify the internal
consistency of the items. Descriptive statistics were implemented: frequency
distribution (absolute and relative percentage) to process the results obtained
in the applied instruments. The scale was validated in three essential stages:
Stage 1:
Design,
elaboration and evaluation rating by specialist criteria. A total of 11
specialists, all of them were PhD (5 psychologists, 3 foreign language
professors and 3 especial educational professors). To do this, an analysis
guide of four indicators was created: correspondence with the attitude
components; correspondence with the inclusion, speciality and educative
attention model to pupils with LD in Cuba; applicability to English teachers
-to -be and in-service; consistency and brevity of the items. The indicators
were measured on a value scale of (VA) Very Adequate; (A) Adequate; (LA) Little
Adequate and (NA) Not Adequate.
Stage 2:
Verification
of the effectiveness of the scale with its practical application. It was
applied in the printed variant to a study group of 50 English teachers at the
primary level in Havana, through visits to educational institutions and
participation in methodological preparations. Out of them, 52% (26) were women
and 48% (24) men between 19 and 50 years of age. 31 were elementary school
English Teachers of upper middle level graduated from the Pedagogical Schools,
between 19 to 25 years of age and 19 Bachelor in Education. Foreign Language
teachers graduated from the “Enrique José Varona”
University of Pedagogical Sciences, between 36 to 45 years old.
The
analysis of the data obtained with the scale was processed following García
& Alonso´s methodology (1985). This allowed assigning a value to each
component of the attitude by calculating averages. The total score was divided
by the number of items evaluated. The minimum range determined was from 29
points to a maximum of 145, from the most negative to the most positive
attitude, where the variable was included. The total result was located for
each component of the attitude as follows: Negative or unfavourable attitudes:
total value of 0-48; Indecisive or neutral attitudes: total value of 49-96 and
Positive or favourable attitudes: total value of 97-145.
This
methodology made possible to measure and determine the score range from the
total value per component. This is translated into the fact that it allows to
determine, per component, how the attitude is characterized and verify that
part of the total of the group studied had negative, indecisive or positive
attitudes in each component. (Muñoz, Velásquez and Asprilla, 2018). For example: Cognitive component: negative
attitude 0-19, indecisive 32-63 and positive 64-95; Emotional component:
negative attitude 0-6, indecisive 7-13 and positive 14-20 and Behavioural
component: negative attitude 0-10, indecisive 11-19 and positive 20-30.
Stage 3: checking the internal consistency of the items on the scale. For this,
the Cronbach's alpha coefficient formula was applied, the reliability indicator
of psychometric scales most used in social sciences. It was obtained by
calculating the covariance between the total items, the total variance and the
number of items that make up the scale. (Curtain, 1993)
Results
and discussion
Attitudes
are psychological configurations that cannot be observed until they are
manifested as a human being's reaction to the attitudinal object. In the
educational context, and in particular the teaching of English to primary
students with LD, teachers’ attitude plays a determining role, since depending
on its positive or negative connotation, the implementation of inclusive
educational practices in any educational context can be predicted. The
literature review carried out and the application of the scale designed in a
prior study allowed the authors Mendoza, Enríquez
& López (2022) to operationally define that the attitudes of foreign
language teachers towards inclusive English language education to students with
LD in primary and special schools is:
“a lasting organization of beliefs of foreign language
teachers about inclusive didactic activity aimed at the acquisition of English
language skills by pupils with learning difficulties in any educational
context, which induce these feelings in favour or against and that predispose
to take actions accordingly, as an expression of the cognitive, affective and
behavioural components”. (p.4)
Taking
into consideration the conceptual content described in the definition tree
dimension of the attitudes were determined: cognitive, affective and
behavioural dimensions, that allowed to create the scale and its measurement.
The
linguistic analyses carried out in the authors' previous study (Mendoza, Enríquez & López, 2022) and specialised literature
reviewed suggested changing the terms used to name the scale. The elaborated
questionnaire to measure teacher’s attitude was a Likert-type scale
questionnaire "Scale Attitudes of Foreign Language Teachers towards
Inclusive English Language Education to Pupils with Learning Difficulties in
Primary and Special Schools". It was based on the (TEPID) scale proposed
by (Nijakowska, et al, 2020).
It was adapted to the Cuban context
and to the definition of attitude assumed, in fact it addresses the three
components of attitude. Demographic variables were readjusted, such as: the
country where they teach or study to become teachers, because a comparative
study with other countries was not carried out. The “special school” modality
was incorporated as a type of school because, in Cuba, it is maintained as part
of the educational provision to these pupils where the English subject is part
of the curriculum. At present, they are conceived as resource and support
centres, which offer guidance, as requested, to the entire educational
community on effective inclusive educational practices. The indicators of
component B and C that explore the cognitive component were reorganized,
grouped, and adjusted. A linguistic validity analysis suggested eliminating
items B1.3, B1.5, B1.11, B1.13 and B1.16. The scale was composed of 2 sections:
Section A: Composed
of nine questions on general demographic information regarding age, gender,
title, academic level, educational level in which they work, type of school,
years of general work experience, work experience with pupils with LD in primary
schools and experience in specials schools. They are shown below:
Figure 1. Scale. Section A.
Source: Elaborated by the authors, adapted from Nijakowska,
et al (2018)
Section B: Composed of 29 items, 26
positives with 5 points (5=strongly agree and 1=strongly disagree) and 3
negatives with inverse scoring (1-5). The cognitive component contains 19
items, from B1.1 to B1.19 it refers to knowledge and beliefs about LD; LD and
L2 learning; inclusive practices with students with LD in primary and special
schools.
The affective component contains 4 items, from B1.20
to B1.23, indicating the feelings and emotions that the inclusive teaching of
English to students with LD in primary and special schools induces in teachers.
The items from B1. 20 to B1. 22, were analysed and adapted from those proposed
by Forlin, Earle, Loreman,
Sharma (2011) as they are consistent with the affective states that it implies
and that are expressed through human behaviour. Finally, the behavioural
component made up of 6 items, from B1.24 to B1. 29 imply the concrete actions
of inclusive practices carried out by teachers. They are shown below:
Figure
2. Scale. Section B.
Source: Elaborated by the authors, adapted from Nijakowska, et al (2020)
By stages, the results showed
that: Stage I, 100% of the specialists valued the scale as very appropriate and
effective to use it with teachers- to- be and in- service teachers. In Stage 2,
the scale was applied to all the teachers. Stage 3, the application of
Cronbach's alpha coefficient showed high reliability of the internal
consistency type, with values of 0.81 points.
The results obtained with the
application of the scale to the totality of the study group confirmed that
demographic variables such as the academic level of teachers, age, teaching
experience with students with LD and the type of school where they work, impact
the in-service teachers’ attitude towards teaching English to pupils with LD in
primary schools. The teachers who showed a positive attitude in the cognitive
component (31) were graduated as English Teacher of Primary Education at the
upper middle level in the Pedagogical Schools, between 19 and 25 years of age;
besides, they had less than 5 years of experience teaching general classes and
in particular teaching students with LD. The reason for this is that the
teachers graduated from these institutions have received training to work with
students with special needs, as it is specified in a subject of the study plan.
However, its elements are
insufficient to address the LD students’ individual differences in the English
teaching-learning process. The rest, (4) have Bachelor’s degrees in Education,
between 36-45 years of age who work in primary schools. They declared having
learned to work with these students due to their constant interaction with the
students and special education teachers and self-learning.
It was revealed that in
general 9 (18%) teachers show positive attitudes, 41 (82%) showed indecisive
attitudes and none (0%) negative attitudes. When determining the range of
scores by component, it was found that, in the cognitive component, 35 (70%)
teachers show positive attitudes, 15 (30%) indecisive attitudes and (0%)
negative attitudes. Regarding the affective component, the results were
consistent with the cognitive component, it was found that only 8 (16%)
teachers showed a positive attitude and 42 (84%) teachers an indecisive
attitude. In the behavioural component, no teacher showed negative attitudes,
however 37 teachers (74%) revealed hesitant attitudes and 13 (26%) showed
positive attitudes.
The study allowed us to affirm
that currently in our country, foreign language teachers, specially
the English language teachers, graduated from the Enrique José Varona University of Pedagogical Sciences, have indecisive,
negative and unfavourable attitudes towards teaching in special schools in its
three components. However, graduates from pedagogical schools show more
positive results. There was a predominance of feelings of dislike towards
inclusive teaching for students with LD, anxiety and rejection in Bachelors in
education, due to insufficient knowledge about LD and L2 learning, as well as the
necessary resources and support. Similar studies have also been verified by
Sharma, Forlin, & Loreman,
(2008); Forlin & Chambers (2011); Forlin et al., (2014) and Kormos
& Nijakowska (2017). This situation generates
that the actions of inclusive teaching practices are insufficient with emphasis
on the adaptation of the teaching approach and implementation of methods,
resources and diverse supports in the classes, elimination of barriers and
creation of participatory learning activities in primary and special schools.
This is due to lack of undergraduate training and experience teaching students
with LD.
On the other hand, insufficient understanding was
also found about the creation of the Institutional and Group Educational
Project towards inclusive teaching of English. This unprecedented finding in
our context demands urgent research in view of the generalization of these new
forms of work in all schools in the country. It is suggested to initiate
research on how to eradicate these insufficiencies, reduce teachers' concerns
and increase their self-confidence towards the inclusive teaching of English in
primary schools, with an emphasis on special schools. (Mendoza, Enriquez &
López, 2022).
The components of attitudes are characterized by
their dynamic relationship and system character, it is logical to deduce that
if teachers have limited knowledge about LD, its characteristics, limitations,
its impact on the learning of a language such as English and the adequate
resources and support to teach them, will generate teachers’ insecurities and
negative feelings towards this activity, represented in the chart below:
Figure
3. Representation of the dynamic relationship and
attitude system character and its components.
Source:
self-made
As a result, there will be few
inclusive English teaching practices carried out in any educational context
where these learners’ study. If the teachers-to.be have limited experiences
during their teaching practicum with these children either in the regular
schools or in special education institutions, then they would not be able to
develop the necessary professional skills in keeping with the current demands
of education to undertake inclusive education for all as it is required. In
this regard, a limitation of the study was that the influence of teaching
experience in special schools on the attitudes of English teachers could not be
directly verified as they had not worked in these centres, nor were they placed
in them during their initial training. (Mendoza, Enriquez & López, 2022).
However, teachers believe that they should also work in special schools,
indicating that they are likely to develop favourable attitudes towards
inclusive English teaching in these institutions.
When carrying out an analysis
of the training of these professionals, a problem that explains the results of
the study conducted has been identified. The program for the major in Foreign
Language Education trains teachers with two graduating profiles: Foreign
language education specialized in English and the other in English with a
second language, generally French. The curriculum is aimed at helping trainees
to develop the skills that will enable them to teach in different educational
levels- primary, secondary, upper secondary, technical and vocational, adult
and higher educations. It is interesting to highlight that special education is
not included; however, these institutions, as the rest, have the social need to
provide English language learning opportunities to their students, so as to
help them face successfully the current scientific, technological and human
development demands; nevertheless, this is outside the scope of the training
process of these professionals.
If teachers have insufficient knowledge and skills for teaching pupils
with LD and little experience with them in primary and special schools, it is
most likely that they will reject or avoid teaching them, that they will not
make an effort to find the necessary resources and/or support, and therefore,
will not develop inclusive teaching practices. Adequate initial training and
sufficient direct experiences teaching pupils with LD in any educational
context is necessary. For a deeper review, you can consult the original study
(Mendoza, Enríquez & López, 2022).
A
series of studies have been analysed that have made it possible to prepare and
propose the "Attitudes Scale of Foreign Language Teachers towards
Inclusive English Language Education to Students with Learning Difficulties in
Primary and Special Schools" for both teacher trainees in undergraduate
courses and in-service teachers already working in schools. It has a valid
structure similar to the studies by Nijakowska, et al
(2020) the Scale of Preparation of Foreign Language Teachers to Include
Dyslexic Children (TEPID) but adapted to the Cuban context, with a total of 29
items, 26 positive and 3 negatives with reverse punctuation.
The application of three
stages for its validation with emphasis on its application in a group of
English teachers allowed to verify its validity and identify the attitudes of
these teachers towards teaching English to students with LD in the Cuban
context. The findings of the study allowed us to conclude that training and
educating an English teacher capable of teaching students with LD from a
corrective-compensatory and developmental approach in any educational context
is a current challenge for teacher education in Cuba. The results of the study will allow the
initiation of research focused on the training of this professional to equip
them with the
necessary tools to cater for the special
needs of the students, increase their positive attitudes towards inclusive
practices in English language education to these students in primary and special
schools, reduce their concerns and increase their self-confidence in
developing inclusive practices.
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