Participation Process of Students with Intellectual Disabilities in Classroom Discourse: A Sociocultural Approach

Abstract

The paper discusses the classroom discourse participation process of students with intellectual disabilities. In lessons containing activities for independent living in a special education school, we assigned some students with the role of moderators and supported them using an interactive whiteboard. The research subjects were two students with mild intellectual disabilities (MID). We videotaped five lessons and examined them using classroom discourse analysis, focusing on the level of students' initiative in contributing to classroom discourse sequences, their contents as well as the focal points of the eyes of four student observers. Findings revealed that first, the increase in student-led discourse sequence stemmed from changes in the classroom activity system. Second, initiative participation enhanced students' awareness of their role as moderators. Third, students' initiative participation and student observers' acknowledgments were interactive. These suggest that transforming the way of MID students' participation should be regarded as a dynamic process involving multiple actors. This process makes teachers aware of different positive detours of development in children with intellectual disabilities.