ANALIZA STAVOVA I POTREBA NASTAVNIKA ENGLESKOG JEZIKA U PROCESU POUČAVANJA UČENIKA S TEŠKOĆAMA
ANALYZING ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES AND NEEDS RELATED TO TEACHING STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this research was to examine the experiences and needs of Croatian English language teachers (ELTs) in the process of instructing students with special educational needs (SEN). The focus was was on various aspects of teaching SEN students, such as being acquainted with various types of difficulties, the sources of information tied to SEN students, attitudes toward inclusion, the self-appraisal of teaching competences, as well as familiarity with and usage of assistive technologies in class. An online survey was used to reach as many Croatian ELTs as possible; a total of 90 ELTs responded to the survey. According to the findings, the participants have diverse experience in teaching SEN students. They have mainly come across students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. The teachers obtained their information about SEN students primarily from members of the administrative andprofessional services of their institution. While many of the teachers had experiencein teaching SEN students, they did not appraise themselves as adequately educated or skilled to teach this group of students. Some of the reasons included not being adequately trained as a university student, lack of funds and resources, as well as still inadequate support from the administrative and professional services. Given the current condition in the teaching sector, the participants stated that they would have liked to have acquired different skills prior to teaching SEN students, such as being able to adapt the teaching content and materials to the students’ needs and employ appropriate teaching methods in the classroom. Regarding assistive aids, the results revealed that only a fraction of the sample was familiar with and utilized various assistive technologies to facilitate SEN students’ language learning process.

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