Autism-inclusive teaching of foreign languages in higher education

Guidelines for University Foreign Language Tutors

Caroline de Saint-Seine (Department of Anthropology)

James Youdale (Durham Centre for Academic Development)

Ekaterina Chown (School of Modern Languages and Cultures)

This guidance was generally designed with autistic students of foreign languages in mind, and was informed and approved by autistic students of foreign language and the Disability Support Unit at Durham University. We however believe that the recommendations might be applied to a broader range of students who might benefit from this approach. We therefore would encourage foreign language educators to consider the following when designing and delivering their classes. Please also note that, as with any other condition, all autistic students are unique in their specific abilities and preferences, we therefore use the descriptor ‘some students’ to acknowledge both individual differences among autistic students and the fact that these recommendations might be applicable to students other than those on the autism spectrum.

1. Pace of digesting new material:  Some students might need more time to go through the class material and process new information. Distractions coming from too many sensory stimuli (background noise inside and outside the classroom, multimedia format of information input etc.) can cause sensory overload and make it difficult to focus. Some students can only assimilate new information once they have done background research and  have had more time to process it in a quiet and familiar space. Please bear this in mind when planning and conducting your classroom activities. 
2. Release of teaching material: It would be helpful if class material (and ideally a lesson plan) can be made available at least 24 hours in advance if possible. This will enable students who need extra time to process new material to anticipate the type of activities planned for the next class, make their own printed copies and read around the topics if they find it helpful. It would be important, however, to clearly designate prior to the class what materials are a part of compulsory homework for that class, and which are for optional study.          
3. ‘On-the-spot’-testing of the level of understanding of the new material released in-class: if new information is introduced in class which has not  been made available in advance, please allow your students to take their time and initiative to answer a question on the new topic and don’t insist on an answer if they struggle or are reluctant to communicate. Asking some students on the spot to check if they understood the new material might trigger anxiety and be counter-productive because they need more time to assimilate the information rather than increased attention (see point 1).
4. In-class conversation practice: when designing your conversation class, consider allowing students to work in pairs or in very small groups.  They may prefer to work with someone whom they feel comfortable with. Please note that some students might find it difficult addressing their partners directly or maintaining eye contact. Please do not insist on students partaking in speaking exercises: interacting with others can be a very stressful experience. Moreover, some students learn more when working on their own, and often practice speaking in their own time at their own pace.
5. In-class large group discussions: in large groups, the voice of some students will often be lost due to a lack of confidence or mental health issues. Having said that, you don’t need to avoid large group discussion to accommodate the needs of such students, as they often benefit from passive learning by observing the discussion, taking notes and taking the time to process information.   
6. Role-play activities in oral classes: role-plays can be challenging for some students as a) it might be difficult for them to relate to an imaginary situation b) if a role-play requires improvisation and does not have a script to follow, it can create confusion and anxiety. Role-plays are generally based on assumed neurotypical interaction which deviates from some neurodiverse everyday experience and presents difficulty for some students to interpret and imitate. If you want to use them in your classes, role-play exercises can be made less stressful when students can prepare for them in advance (e.g. if they are signposted in the lesson plan or mentioned in the previous class) or/and if a scenario/script is provided.  Please allow students to opt out of these exercises since they can be stress-inducing for some.  
7. Presenting material on slides: in presentation slides, consider using one mode of media at a time – a text on one slide (with as little animation as possible), a link to an audio or video recording on another, but not all at once. However, please note that some students process visual information much easier than auditory, so if using a voice recording, it would be helpful to provide a transcript if possible (as an optional handout, if you prefer the rest of the class to practice listening comprehension without a transcript).
   When presenting visual information (i.e., text) think about how you use colour. Avoid using colour as the sole conveyer of meaning, but if you consider using colour-coding ensure that there is a consistent system in sign-posting information of the same type, which many students find very helpful.  
   Audio recordings: please note that while everyday background noises, such as in street interviews, can be easily ignored by most students, they can present a significant distraction to others. Minimising background noises and ensuring the best possible quality of the recordings used in language classes would be ideal.           
8. Asking questions in class: when asking a question (especially in an oral assessment), care should be taken to formulate it clearly and ask about one thing at a time. If practical in the context of a particular task, it can be incredibly helpful to have some questions written down either on a worksheet or a presentation slide, since some students  can sometimes have difficulties with listening to and processing auditory information quickly (see the previous point).
   Please note that reformulating a question which can be very helpful for many students to understand it better can create more confusion for others who might perceive it as an additional, new question. 
9. Oral in-class presentations: consider some equitable alternatives to oral presentations in front of the class, especially as a form of assessment. Having too much eye-contact and the lack of control over the quality of language produced orally, as opposed to written form, can create additional stress. Delivering a presentation only to the tutor might be less stress-inducive for some students, at least at the beginning.  
10. Making use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to supplement and augment in-class discussion and collaborative exercises might increase participation from autistic students by helping them feel more at ease and reduce their stress level. It will also contribute towards the diversity of class activities and ways of learning that all students would likely benefit from. 
11. Relationship with the tutor and the general class environment greatly affects the students’ classroom experience, their enjoyment of the class, and their ability to learn. Please provide opportunities for students to safely ask questions, particularly at the start of the year. Gently finding out what they are/aren’t comfortable with can be helpful, when done discreetly and confidentially. Please consider that some students might be particularly hesitant to approach you for help. Allowing students to use objects that they might find calming and comforting (e.g. fidgets), particularly in assessments or other stress-inducing situations, might prove beneficial.   
12. Transition to the university; Year Abroad. Please note that many first-year neurodiverse students find transition to a new city / environment being an additional challenge and thus need extra and more bespoke support and flexibility in their first year. Please make sure that they know that they can approach you during your office hour(s) (many would prefer to do it online, rather than in-person) if they want to talk discreetly about their difficulties adjusting to their language class setting.
    Extra support could be needed in the preparation of neurodiverse students for their Year Abroad in terms of manage expectations, accommodation, liaising with host institutions and arranging relevant remote and/or on-site support etc.  

Please bear in mind that students who might not be actively participating in some class activities are still likely to learn from observing class discussions and absorbing material in their own pace and way through independent work. Do monitor their progress, but also trust them to apply their own methods of digesting material, even if they are not necessarily meeting all the milestones at the same time as other students. Putting pressure on them to conform might make them disengage and eventually stop attending classes. To put it into the words of one of our autistic student participants,  “less pressure means I am more likely to engage”.  

There are also some language-specific issues that language educators should be aware of: 

1. Some students might find it difficult to adjust the volume of their voice (they might speak either too quietly or too loudly) or to imitate correct or clear pronunciation and intonation, tone or pitch. While it can take more time and practice to get it right, please bear with your students, as most of them will get there eventually. Providing feedback can be helpful, although doing this in front of their peers and by bringing the class’s attention to them can be stress-inducing.
2. Some students tend to find it difficult to read context clues. This means that they might misinterpret body language of facial expressions, not take into account / misread implied information, have slight problems with turn-taking in a group activity or when a tutor is waiting for an answer from another student (see the point regarding role-plays).
3. Memorising new words and grammar structures can be difficult for some neurodiverse language learners, but not for others. Please give extra time to assimilate this information to students needing it.
4. Many students would find it easier to process new grammatical rules if an inner logic behind them is explained. An extra historical or cultural context, parallels with structures that they might be familiar with, as well as simple etymological analysis (for demonstrating semantic links between words and the principles of word-formation) will help immensely with assimilating new grammar and vocabulary.
5. Please note possessive pronouns and words denoting directions, space and time (the so called ‘spatial and temporal deixis’, such as ‘here’, ‘over there’, the day before tomorrow) and passive structures might at times present some initial difficulties and take a little longer to process. It is more helpful for some students to be given a sheet with translations and explanations, rather than demonstrations in class.
6. Some students might also have difficulties with organising their discourse which can be manifested in the incorrect use of the word order in sentences and paragraphs in longer texts. They might need extra help in understanding the principles behind these structures.
7. Figurative language, culture-specific metaphors and humour could be tricky even for neurotypical students. You might need to provide extra clues to help decode a joke or an idiomatic expression.
8. Speech production in a foreign language is the skill most adult learners acquire last (they usually develop language skills in the reverse order of how the first language is acquired, from writing and reading to listening and speaking). With the additional anxiety associated with speaking, some students will develop fluency in oral language later than others. They might also demonstrate a delayed development of listening comprehension. Please bear with them and let them learn different skills at their own pace.    

As final remarks, many autistic students that took part in the study that resulted in this guidance reported that learning a foreign language helped them boost their self-confidence and often encouraged them to explore their abilities beyond their comfort zone which equipped them better for their social and professional life. Making small adjustments to classroom activities and allowing some students to join when / if they feel comfortable, rather than automatically exempting them from these activities, will make the process of learning more enjoyable for them, enable them to achieve at their best capacity and help them develop new strategies to adapt to live outside the university.

Further Reading

Autism&Uni (2013). ‘The Autism&Uni Project.’ Available from:  www.autism-uni.org/

Eigsti, I-M., Marchena, A., Schuh J. & Kelley, E.  (2011) ‘Language Acquisition in Autism Spectrum Disorders: a Developmental Review’, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5, pp. 681-691. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2010.09.001. 

Ochs, E.  (2003) ‘Becoming a Speaker of Culture’, in C. Kramsch (ed) Language Acquisition and Language Socialization: Ecological Perspectives, Pp. 100-120. London, NY: Continuum, 2002.