In the first part of the course, we will take a closer look at what inclusion actually means and with which challenges and chances teachers may be confronted in an inclusive teaching context. Our focus will be on language acquisition processes and how they can be influenced by the different needs of heterogeneous learners. We will concentrate on the different levels of language (pronunciation, grammar, the lexicon) and identify possible constraints for special needs learners.

In the second part, we will look at suitable teaching techniques and methods as well as support measures for the special needs students; a couple of recent methods and techniques developed for the non-inclusive classroom will be put to the test for the inclusive classroom. It will be shown that methods which are clearly based on learner-needs (rather than on language structure or “Landeskunde” issues) are particularly suitable for the success of inclusion. The focus will be on young learners (elementary school) but some suggestions may apply to/can be adapted for older learners as well.

Reading materials and topics will be distributed in the introductory session. This session is mandatory for all participants.

The block class will be taught by Prof. Andreas Rohde and Kim Schick from Cologne University.