Students that have academic deficits or other special needs are part of what is called special education in America, and can cover many different aspects. The students range from mild/moderate to severe, with the severe students requiring a paraprofessional or aide to be with them throughout the day. The students’ educational lessons are individualized to work specifically on the needs of the student. Some students need extra help throughout the day because their mental ability is very low, and he/she is unable to understand the routines without assistance. For a student to qualify for special education services he/she must be at or below the tenth percentile in an academic area. A student may have difficulties in learning to read or write and this will qualify him/her for special education services.

Teaching students with special needs is not easy. Classroom teachers in Hsinchu City identify the students and request that those students be given additional help. In the book Special Education Considerations for English Language Learners , the identification process was discussed and the way we can give continuing services to English language learners. Our students in Hsinchu have already been identified so we know what we need to do in order to help them succeed in the English language. In the following paragraphs, I will give some suggestions on ways to incorporate or help the students we have in our classroom that have special needs.

Before we talk about special needs students, let’s address ESL. From my many readings, it is known that it takes five to seven years of intensive English to be completely proficient in the language. It is not easy to learn a new language, but everyone can learn a new language, even our special needs students. It may take more time and effort to help the special needs students to be successful English learners. All of our students may struggle with the basic learning in English. A typical Hsinchu student may struggle to remember words from class to class, need additional time to think through what they want to say in English, or freeze when asked a question in English. Most students will space out sometimes in the English class because they have a hard time concentrating. When I am learning a new language, I struggle with all the things an ESL student may struggle with so I understand what they are going through.

One of my classes that I teach has a special education student with an aide. The student sits in the front row and many of the students will help him out throughout the class. Some ways that my co-teacher and I have worked with him are allowing him extra time to think. We will write in his book what he has to trace for homework. His aide works with him to ensure he is practicing his English. When we had the oral test, we modified it to ensure that that he could just repeat and not have to answer any questions. One of the major ways that the United States will work with special education students is by modifying tests. The teacher will take a test and make it shorter or the questions a little easier so the student can succeed. Special education students cannot help the fact that they struggle in school so we as teachers can help them by modifying items so that they will succeed.

Another class I have has many special education students. I believe that there are three or four students. My co-teacher and I try to work individually with these students to give them their practice in speaking English. When we have a group activity, we will stand next to the student and have them repeat after us. We know that they struggle with knowing what to say or what to do so we focus on helping them in this area. As an alternative to answering questions individually and putting attention on the special education student, the entire group can stand up and answer the question. This allows the special education student to get the practice he/she needs without being singled out and put on the spot. By having students stand allows all students to feel more confident in speaking English because they do not have to speak on their own.

One of the best ways to help special needs students or students that are struggling to understand English is individual attention. When I am teaching my grade four classes, my co-teacher will work with the lower students individually in the back to make sure they understand what we are doing. My co- teacher and I will discuss the lesson before class. She will take the activities that I am doing and work with the students on them. One of the activities is when I have the students do a dictation. My co-teacher will put part of the word on a piece of paper with a few letters or words missing so the students that are worked with individually can succeed. She will also help them to set up their homework so they understand what they need to do when they get home. The students have been able to increase their understanding of the classroom while becoming more confident in the English language.

Another way we can help out special education students is by finding websites they can view outside the classroom or by having the students purchase a CD. They can listen to the English on the website, play games, or work on the concepts that we are working on in class. The book company has some great ideas of websites the students can go to in order to practice their English. The book company also has CD’s the students can purchase in order to practice English outside the classroom. You can just ask the company and they will burn you a CD to sell to the students. Interesting stories are available on-line that can be downloaded for learners allowing the listener to follow along as the passage is read to the student. This helps the non-native English speaker learn the correct pronunciation and see the emphasis on specific words in the reading.

Differentiating learning is a good tool also. Instead of just reading and repeating the English, it is good to role play or have students remember information. One thing I do in my class is I work with graphic organizers to help students learn English. The student can find a picture, write the word in Chinese first underneath the picture, and then write the word in English. This helps the student personalize the new words and the student will have a better chance of remembering the English words. Instead of just reading the vocab or phonics words, I also have the students try to spell the words before they read them. I then turn this activity into a paired/shared activity by having students think of other related words and their meaning. This could also be turned into a game where one student says the word in English and the other student has to find the word. By organizing the material in this way, the students can refer back to it when studying.

An activity for grades five and six could involve students recording a movie or video giving information about a favorite topic. For example, information about an animal could be researched and the student could find pictures to accompany the information. Then the pictures could be put into a movie and the English speaker could record sentences about the picture. This would allow the student to hear his/her own mistakes and make corrections. Special education students can also be successful with this activity because the assignment can be individualized. The assignment can easily be differentiated allowing the student to delve further into the topic for learners with higher English skills or very basic for those with limited skills. The movie can allow students to show their parents, teachers, and peers what they have accomplished.

Teaching English can be very rewarding. As teachers, we must think of ways to help all students to understand what we are teaching. We should think of creative ways that will help relate the English to the student’s daily lives. When the English is related to what they do daily, the student will have an easier time to remember it.