TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT EFFECTIVE FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING OF STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY IN A GREEK EFL CONTEXT

Abstract

Teachers’ beliefs are a central construct in education as they influence their teaching attitude, methods and practices, thus, their exploration becomes particularly important. The aim of the present study is to examine teachers’ beliefs regarding foreign language teaching of students with intellectual disability. The sample consisted of ten English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers who teach at Greek special/vocational schools in secondary education. Semi-structured interviews were used as a tool for data collection. The research findings suggest a lack of training of EFL teachers regarding specialized foreign language teaching methods for students with intellectual disability. Furthermore, there is a notable lack of training in using digital technology. As a result, further training of EFL teachers in teaching methods and use of digital technology is deemed necessary. Article visualizations: