English Language Teaching

Topic

Literature Review: English Language Teaching Strategies for Learning-Disabled Secondary School Students

Date : 26 November 2004

Introduction

One of the aims of the Singapore Ministry of Education is to ensure that all school-going children receive a minimum ten years of general education. Streaming is one way to ensure that all students are taught according to their academic ability, and "learn at a pace which they can cope." (Coping with Singaporeans ' Concerns, 2001, p. 4). At the primary school level, remediation programmes such as the "Learning Support Programme (LSP) and the Encouragement Achievement and Better Learning (ENABLE) Programmes" are made available to assist students who have been assessed as weak in English and Mathematics (Coping with Singaporeans ' concerns, 2001, p. 4).

At secondary level, the Normal Technical (NT) stream was implemented in 1994 to cater to students who are less academically inclined. The majority of the learning-disabled students will be found in the NT stream. In NT stream, students follow a less rigorous curriculum which focuses on English and Mathematics, and more hands-on learning experiences. The NT curriculum basically prepares students for vocational/technical academic and career paths. Unlike primary schools where there are remediation programmes to support students who are identified as weak in academic performance or "learning-disabled", little attention is given to NT stream students, especially students with learning disabilities. This can be attributed to a number of reasons such as exclusion of NT stream students ' performance at National Examinations from the school league table, and inadequately-trained general education teachers to teach students with special educational needs. For any remediation programmes that are available, they are provided at an ad hoc basis by out-of-school "ethnic self-help groups and voluntary welfare organizations" (Coping with Singaporeans ' concerns, 2001,

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