Page 4 - Mainstreamer Volume 1, Issue 4, November 2023

NEED FOR INCLUSIVITY
Why Visually Impaired Students Find Learning English Phonics Challenging?

Nguyen Nhu
Hung

owadays, English plays a crucial role in Moreover, there is no policy to regulate specific
integration and globalisation, making it a teaching methods or conditions to meet the needs
Nsubject of great importance for everyone, of visually impaired students.
insufficient when working on phonics, as students “
including students with visual impairment.
Nonetheless, visually impaired students face
significant challenges when learning English
phonics due to their loss of vision. They must rely
In the classroom, visually impaired
on their sense of hearing to learn English, which is

on the board or monitor. Teachers
with visual impairment struggle to visualise how students cannot see what appears
English sound symbols represent words. usually provide explanations that
Phonics is key to speaking English fluently and cater to sighted students, neglecting
naturally. In the author’s observation as an English
learner, it was noticed that all blind students in to describe what symbols look like
inclusive classes face the same problem. The to help blind learners imagine the
lack of braille textbooks and untrained teachers image each symbol represents.”
exacerbate the situation when visually impaired
students participate in English classes, making it English is a mandatory subject in the
challenging for them to perform well in tests or Vietnamese education system, and students are
phonetic exercises. introduced to it from the primary level. English
Visually impaired students have the same proficiency, attested by a minimum B1 certificate
learning demands as sighted students, requiring or higher in the International English Language
them to accomplish tasks using braille or Testing System (IELTS), is a prerequisite for
computers. However, many students with visual obtaining a university degree. Despite this, visually
impairment majoring in English lack the knowledge impaired learners seem to be slightly marginalised,
of transcribing English sound symbols using relying on teachers’ explanations and computer
popular keyboards. While there are solutions for screen reader applications due to skills and
typing the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) facilities limitations.
symbols, they are unsuitable for blind users. For In the classroom, visually impaired students
example, the website ipa.typeit.org offers a virtual cannot see what appears on the board or monitor.
keyboard, but it is challenging and slow for blind Teachers usually provide explanations that cater
users and is not allowed during tests or exams due to sighted students, neglecting to describe what
to the no-Internet rule. symbols look like to help blind learners imagine
Microsoft Word’s “Insert Special Symbol” the image each symbol represents. Consequently,
function is another solution, but it is not aligned blind students rely on verbal communication for
with the characteristics of blind users, as most phonetic-related tasks, such as tests and exams.
computer speech synthesisers do not read special This lack of assistive devices means for visually
symbols. Using these solutions adversely affects impaired students to perform written tasks, like
their study results in time-limited tests and exams. transcribing from spelling to pronunciation using

3 November 2023 | Vol. 01, Issue 4