During the past few weeks I have traveled to New Jersey (what a progressive state when it comes to foreign language education!) twice to do full-day workshops for teachers there. They always want more information on how to differentiate instruction in their classrooms.
Thanks to Edwige Simon at the University of Colorado for the link to this article on differentiation and accommodations in the world language classroom written by Peggy Veal in March, 2016. Veal explains the difference between a 504 plan (“a legal document that states the need for accommodations for a student based on a medical diagnosis”) and thus “is designed to help a student who has a disability that interferes with the learning in the classroom” vs. an IEP [Individualized Education Program] which “is designed to help a student with a disability that impacts the student’s ability to learn in the classroom.” She adds that “a 504 does not usually define the student’s learning goals. It only lists ways in which the student can be accommodated to be successful.”
This article was published in the FLTMAG which is an online publication of The International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT).
There are many excellent suggestions and examples here, so check out this great link:
https://fltmag.com/differentiation-accommodations-world-language-classroom/
