I taught an ESP (English for Specific Purposes) course during the pandemic. Students attending this class were 15 adults with ages range from 18 – 24. There were a small number of mature students. Students enrolled in this program to build their English language skills in preparation for higher level of academic studies. Chinese students made up the bulk of the class (~60%) with the remainder a fairly eclectic mix of Koreans, Japanese, Central & South Americans, and Middle Easterners. All students have completed Grade 12 or the equivalent, with some students achieving Bachelor or Graduate degrees from their home countries. Though students were in the general range of CLB 8 (CEFR B2), there was considerable disparity in proficiency in the various skill areas. The Latins and Middle Easterners tended to be stronger in Speaking and Listening, whereas the East Asians typically excelled in Reading and Grammar.
EDDL 5131- Week 3, Activity 3: Integrating UDL
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Teaching online during the pandemic enabled me to implement UDL in class easier. Much of our paper-based materials had to be converted into an electronic format. With a digital format, I was able to increase font size, change outdated information, and embed links in certain areas for students to get more detailed information.
One component from the UDL guidelines that is particularly relevant to my teaching context is the promotion of cross-linguistic understanding. Because of variability and unevenness in language proficiency of the learners, many strategies listed in the UDL guidelines under CHECKPOINT 2.4 could be integrated into my teaching to support the learning needs of the students, for example, provide technology related tools such as Google Translate, embed links to multilingual glossaries on the web, hyperlinks for vocabulary, footnotes for explanations, offer students opportunity to interact with information visually and auditorily, embed multiple means of representation with pictures, visual, non-linguistic supports for clarification of vocabulary. There are many more strategies for consideration. The ultimate goal for me is to reduce barriers for students to learn.
Reference:
CAST. (2018). The UDL guidelines (version 2.2).
http://udlguidelines.cast.org/