“Психология ва педагогика: муаммо ва ечимлар”
Республика илмий-амалий конференция материаллари (Тошкент, 8 сентябрь 2021 й.)
17
THE ESSENCE OF INCLUSIVE APPROACH INTEGRATION
INTO LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
PROCESSES IN UZBEKISTAN
Aziza Tursunova
Senior ESL/ESP Teacher,
University of World Economy and Diplomacy
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Abstract
This article provides the basic strategies to better integration of inclusive approach
into language acquisition process, highlighting the applicable techniques and practical
advice to assist educational representatives in creation of common notion and essence
of inclusiveness within classes. It has been found that student-centered approach in any
type of learning empowers students’ communication, collaboration and self-reflection
skills. Furthermore, the importance of deep approach, that forms inclusiveness,
contributes to the development of problem-solving capabilities and ability to categorize
the tasks by their complexity, fosters the recruitment process of a graduate. Finally, the
article provides some solutions to the issues related to the barriers to establish
inclusiveness imposed by the peculiarities of Uzbek learners within their educational
environment.
Keywords:
inclusivity, student-centeredness, deep approach, integration,
collaboration, language acquisition.
The integration of inclusiveness into the educational process is a key factor in the
development of education sector in developing countries, including Uzbekistan. The
echoes of last century’s methodology are represented by a number of approaches, the
main focus of which is teaching the masses, which by itself excludes consideration of
individual characteristics and aspects of the student’s perception. However, in 1990,
under the aegis of UNESCO, the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on
Special Needs Education has been adopted, which describes the policy of providing
the population with quality education, according to which the needs, individual
characteristics should be considered and the educational process must be tailored to the
needs of each learner. Thus, the “inclusive” approach is a relatively new concept that
requires more study and high-quality implementation in the educational system of
Uzbekistan.
The interpretation of the term “inclusiveness” implies extensive criteria that
characterizes the educational process. The most detailed set of criteria is provided in
the Inclusion Index (Booth T., Ainscow M., 2016), and states that inclusiveness allows
learners to have greater access to education, motivates them to better and active
participation, and directs them to better achievements in education. This article
suggests three outstanding approaches of inclusive education and describes a number
Секция №2. Педагогика фанлари/ Pedagogical sciences /Педагогические науки
“Психология ва педагогика: муаммо ва ечимлар”
Республика илмий-амалий конференция материаллари (Тошкент, 8 сентябрь 2021 й.)
18
of techniques proposed to have potential to contribute to the smooth integration of an
inclusive approach in the educational process in the framework of learning a foreign
language.
It is essential to mention, that language acquisition classes should be accustomed
to student-centeredness and the whole lesson should be designed, so learners interact
in pairs and group work, as these settings provide students with the opportunity to
practice and exchange their background knowledge and skills. Further students retrieve
significant information and mirror the skills of their peers, necessary personally for
them. The role of a teacher is to facilitate the lesson, to direct students when required
and to provide timely feedback. This way of learning that is called “collaborative” is
one of the main features of student-centered approach, as according to some research,
learner-centered techniques such as pair work, small group discussions, collaborative
activities, and role plays are the main practices associated with student - centeredness
(Drotar, 2019).
Another point, related to student-centeredness is the authenticity of materials and
topic, as learners should investigate the actual topic that happens in real life occasions.
These cases challenge the students to encounter the situation when they will need to
apply the skills and knowledge, so the lesson itself must prepare the students to cope
with real life issues. It is important to remember that student-centeredness is
characterized by the feature when the lesson is aimed at aiding the learners to apply the
skills they gained to the real-life context (Doyle, 2011).
Moreover, another very important element of student-centered learning is peer-
assessment, when the completed task is provided with a feedback, and every student
can comment, discuss within group setting how successful the work has been done. In
this way learners enjoy the opportunity to self-reflect, as they could decide how well
they did their task and how that effectiveness was reached by their partners. In order to
empower student-centeredness, the main figures in the process of learning should be
students, who ‘gain insight into the difference between their perception of performance
and that of another person’ (Rudland et.al., 2013).
To further discuss the extent of inclusive education it is vital to refer to deep
approach in learning. Once deep approach is mentioned, the lesson design should
consider smooth complication of tasks, so learners usually start with simple tasks, then
they may categorize the information based on gained knowledge. Further, the tasks
should be enough complicated by matching and gap-fill activities, that may encourage
students to gain new information. Then, should be suggested the task aiming at
structuring the content, preferably through authentic materials for further discussions.
This progression of task complexity with the contextual implementation of acquired
information adapted to social context is one another important feature in deep learning
approach (Singh, 2011).
Adding more evidence to the deep approach in learning it is highlighted that the
tasks should be aimed at assisting the learners in dealing with real-life situations
through problem-solving. The lessons should let students learn about new information
and then apply it any case to train problem-solving skills. What is important in this
context is that students should be allowed to make mistakes, as later they will reach the
correct answer with the assistance of their peers. It is highlighted that the deep approach
Секция №2. Педагогика фанлари/ Pedagogical sciences /Педагогические науки
“Психология ва педагогика: муаммо ва ечимлар”
Республика илмий-амалий конференция материаллари (Тошкент, 8 сентябрь 2021 й.)
19
is integrated into learning when students gain independence in problem-solving that is
the integral part of high-order thinking level (Baeten, Kyndt, Struyven, Dochy, 2010).
Giving the importance to the deep approach in learning low-order thinking skills
should be discussed as well, as inclusive approach takes into consideration individual
needs of students with comparatively low-order thinking abilities. Within this prism
students should be engaged to communicate through the application of WH-questions,
as students with high and low critical thinking abilities can participate and make
valuable contribution into each other’s learning. It is important to mention that in order
to provide deep approach a teacher should keep in mind that in the classroom there
maybe also those, who handle low-order thinking assignments (Anjarwati, Chusnul
Chotimah, Sa’adah, 2019).
To ensure inclusivity there should be the support by different technical facilities
such as visual aids. It is recommended, teachers considered whether any of students
handle the information better through variety of communication means: listening,
visuals and kinesthetics. Information provided also must be measured, as nowadays
there are plenty of learners with poor eye-sight, so they should not be overloaded. Some
literature review statements suggest that inclusivity in the classroom is provided when
all the participants and learners, even those with some special needs feel comfortable.
(Preece, 2019)
Another important aspect of inclusivity that should be considered is some
reasonable adjustments to the procedure of lesson plan and assessment tools that are
stated in the approved the curricula by stakeholders in educational sphere. Here,
teachers should be given some space for adapting the lessons responding particular
educational and skills-related needs. It is important to mention, that the objectives of
the lesson must stay solid, whereas the design and techniques adaptation should be
carried out to let the learners observe their achievements by the end of the class. Some
research shows that the measures of inclusivity consider a teacher to be enough flexible
and proactive in the provision of multiple means of curricula presentation and
assessment modes (Molbæk, 2017).
One more element contributing to inclusivity is the topic selection for Uzbek
students, as some topics can be in the list of touchy issues by cultural and traditional
means and values. Though, it is recommended to introduce these sensitive topics
smoothly, letting the learners get adapted to the real-life issues, outlining that the aim
is to provide reasonable argumentation and rational attitude. In this case, when learners
get used to experience communication on various subjects it will promote their
adaptation skills and once they work both in Uzbekistan and abroad, their cultural
identity and customary behavior will not prevent them from quick adaptation and will
not affect the level of their motivation. Otherwise the consequences of ‘spontaneity’
and immediate diving into new environments can lead to de-motivation of some
students and may be very upsetting to them (Drotar, 2019).
Idea of inclusivity is driven mostly by the attitudes of teachers to every student as
if that is the special person with particular wishes and subjective motivation. Teacher
should bear in mind is that the his/her role as a teacher is not to teach, tell, give prompt
answers to students’ questions, be always there around to help constantly. Teacher
should serve the needs of students when witness ‘no-tool battle’ between a student and
Секция №2. Педагогика фанлари/ Pedagogical sciences /Педагогические науки
“Психология ва педагогика: муаммо ва ечимлар”
Республика илмий-амалий конференция материаллари (Тошкент, 8 сентябрь 2021 й.)
20
education, show a reasonably correct direction. As it is highlighted, a teacher should
serve rather as a resource, which students may refer only when they need some
direction, facilitation and mentoring (Singh, 2011).
References
1.
Anjarwati R., Chusnul Chotimah I., Sa’adah L. (2019) Students’ Order
Thinking Skill in Learning English. E-Link Journal, Vol. 6 No. 2.
2.
Baeten M., Kyndt E., Struyven K, Dochy F. (2010) Using student-centred
learning environments to stimulate deep approaches in learning: Factors encouraging
or discouraging their effectiveness. Educational Research Review, Volume 5, Issue 3.
3.
Booth, T. and Ainscow, M. (2016). The index for inclusion. Centre for Studies
in
Inclusive
Education:
Bristol.
Retrieved
at
https://www.eenet.org.uk/resources/docs/Index%20English.pdf
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Doyle T. (2011) Learner-Centered Teaching: Putting the Research on
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Drotar D. (2019) Student-Centered Language Teaching in the East Asian
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Molbæk M. (2017) Inclusive teaching strategies – dimensions and agendas.
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Preece D. (2019) Inclusive Teaching Presentation. University of Liverpool.
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Rudland J., Wilkinson T., Wearn A., Nicol P., Tunny T., Owen C., O’Keefe
M. (2013) A student-centered feedback model for educators. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
THE CLINICAL TEACHER; 10: 99–102.
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Singh N. (2011) Student- centered learning (SCL) in classrooms — A
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