Introduction

Learning a foreign language is within reach for people with all types of disabilities. This issue of the A World Awaits You (AWAY) journal focuses on the personal experiences of students, disability service providers and teachers in making the foreign language learning experience accessible to all students. In the following articles, they reflect on the challenges and rewards of studying and teaching foreign languages at home and abroad.

Whether you are going abroad to take an Italian language course, coming to the United States to learn English, or enrolling in a Russian language course at a local college, foreign language learning entails communication and culture. How one expresses or understands a foreign language may vary based on disability type, yet the benefits of achieving this knowledge are universal.

For example, job applicants with foreign language skills may have an edge when applying for career positions. Sixty-three percent of employers recognize that in five years the scope of work will be such that foreign language and cultural skills will be increasingly important for high school and college graduates—more so than any other basic knowledge area or skill, according to a 2006 research study conducted in-part by The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and The Society for Human Resource Management. The U.S. federal government alone requires 34,000 employees with foreign language skills, according to the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange, not to mention the need for foreign language speakers and translators in multi-national businesses, educational institutions, hospitals, the media and other industries.

Knowing a foreign language also increases opportunities to meet and share experiences with people who speak other languages. This can be helpful as societies worldwide grow increasingly interconnected. If one decides to explore study or volunteer opportunities in a foreign country, knowing the local language can make for a more meaningful experience too. Americans historically have not pursued foreign language learning in large numbers, and people with disabilities lag behind their non-disabled peers – but this attitude is changing. Sixty-two percent of Americans say that they wish they had taken more foreign language courses in school, according a survey of over a thousand people by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University, and the National Transition Longitudinal Study-2 shows that more high school students with disabilities are taking foreign language courses than ever before.

Foreign language learning can also have academic benefits for young children. Research listed on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages website indicates that students who have taken foreign language courses show gains in cognitive functioning, academic performance and SAT scores. 

In the first article of this issue of the AWAY journal, teachers share their experiences designing foreign language lessons so that students with and without disabilities can succeed and gain the full benefits of foreign language learning in the classroom. Enjoy these first-hand accounts and suggestions as told by students with disabilities and their teachers.