Teaching English to Visually-impaired Language Learners in an Islamic Senior High School in Yogyakarta

Abstract

This study aims to describe the instructional strategies employed by English teachers in teaching English to visually impaired students at an Islamic Senior High School in Yogyakarta. Despite the studies about effective teaching methods for visually impaired learners, there remains a gap in the specific strategies implemented in inclusive educational settings, especially Islamic schools. This qualitative research involved two English teachers as participants, selected through purposive sampling, to provide in-depth insights into their teaching practices. The data were collected through in-depth interviews and classroom observations, followed by analysis using Miles and Huberman's interactive analysis model, which includes data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The major findings revealed that the teachers utilized various strategies, including affective scaffolding, questioning, compensating, eliciting from visual residue, and differentiated instruction, to address the unique challenges faced by visually impaired students. The study concludes that employing a range of instructional strategies is essential for enhancing the learning experience of visually impaired students, thereby emphasizing the importance of tailored teaching approaches in inclusive classrooms.