Mutatis Mutandis: Inclusive Teaching and Assessment Strategies for Neurodivergent Students Differentiation.
Alastair Grant
The very word strikes fear into students and teachers alike, implying nights of sleepless study for one group, and nights of painful planning for another. On top of this, as awareness of neurodiversity grows, educators are increasingly called upon to create learning environments that are genuinely inclusive of all cognitive profiles - those with ADHD, autism spectrum conditions, dyslexia, and others. Yet many classrooms must rely on assessment methods and teaching practices that inadvertently disadvantage neurodivergent students. This session builds on Florian & Black-Hawkins statement, “teaching strategies must be extended to include everyone, not differentiated for a few.” (2011). We will explore ways of designing or adapting activities and development strategies that are reliable representations of neurodivergent students’ progress in skills and systems - practical to create and yielding reliable grades. After all, “inclusion is not a strategy to help people fit into the systems and structures which exist in our societies; it is about transforming those systems and structures to make them better.” (Richler, 2024)
ACCENTS, AUTHENTICITY, AND THE EFL EAR: RETHINKING SPEECH MODELS FOR TODAY’S LEARNERS
María Garay, María Emilia Herrera
In the EFL classroom, selecting appropriate speech models is a pedagogical decision that has far-reaching implications for learners’ perception, production, and identity. This presentation explores key questions about the nature of spoken input in language teaching: Which speech model best supports learners’ development? Should exposure be limited to a single variety? What insights do recent findings in phonetics and phonology offer for classroom practice? Drawing on Cauldwell’s distinction between Careful and Spontaneous Speech, this talk highlights the limitations of relying solely on idealised, scripted input. It also examines High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) as a promising approach to fostering robust perceptual learning. The role of accentedness and learners’ attitudes toward different varieties are considered, with special attention to the influence of nativespeakerism and the growing emphasis on intelligibility over nativeness. By integrating theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence, the presentation aims to offer practical guidelines for incorporating diverse, realistic speech models that support learners’ communicative competence in today’s globalised English-speaking contexts.
