I've been thinking about this over the course of the day and the
solution I think I would come up with would be to introduce a method of
facilitation in some way, whether a human interpreter or some assistive
device which would 'speak'.
The issue is not about the students level of English use or whether they
are 'up to it' but whether other players (stakeholders call them what
you will) can understand her sufficiently. I'd be interested to hear
what the student can offer as a solution too in this circumstance. The
oral part will need to be assessed in a different way (we did this for a
Deaf student learning Spanish)
Not sure that helps, but thank you for making me think!
Chris
-----Original Message-----
From: GIBBERD DEBORAH [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 14 October 2003 09:17
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: speaking requirement in language course
Posted on behalf of Clara Hall by Debbie Gibberd
We have a new international student (so not eligible for DSA - but I
don't think this is relevant to this problem) who has started on a
business degree but has opted to do French as an elective. She
has cerebral palsy which effects her speech quite seriously and it
is extremely difficult to understand her. Her tutor has contacted
me because they are worried about this given that its so difficult to
understand her english let alone her french pronounciation. They
are concerned that she is going to be unable to participate in the
class.
The assessment criteria for the module is part oral and part written
and they are looking into the possibility of making some changes
to this for this student given that they are unsure as to whether
they will be able to assess her properly. However, the tutor is
mostly concerned with the class participation,the pair work etc. as
she doesn't want to exclude the student but at the same time its
going to be really for her to participate and difficult for her partner
and the rest of the class to understand the student.
Anyone faced this one before, any advice?
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