Some tips to motivate students with cognitive impairments in both social activities and learning English

experience initiative
Some tips to motivate students with cognitive impairments in both social activities and learning English
PART A. INTRODUCTION.
1. Rationales.
The disabled especially disabled children are the most unhappy and miserable people in the world. They are definitely vulnerable and often have a reserved nature. Many of them lead an aloof life. Their complex prevents them from mingling with non-disabled people in social and public activities. From the educational standpoints, disabled children are children who can not use part of the body in a normal way. They can be physically or mentally disabled. Physical impairments include mobility, visual, hearning, and speech ones. Mental impairment means cognitive disability. To children with physical disabilities, they can understand things easily. On the contrary, to children with cognitive impairments, they have certain difficulties in learning and comprehending things, but that does not mean they can not learn. Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison are two good examples. Albert Einstein, the father of modern physics, could not read until he was eight years old and the latter, the inventor of light bulbs and many other important inventions, was expelled from school on account of being a muddle-head. However, these obstacles did not stop them from becoming the greatest scientists of all time. 
To help students with cognitive impairments build trust in themselves, have enough confidence in social integration, be better at English and become good citizens, I have decided to choose : “Some tips to motivate students with cognitive impairments in both social activities and learning English” as the theme for my study.
2. Aims of the study.
Each work has its own aims, so does this study. The aims of my study are:
To eliminate the hindrance and barriers that prevent students with cognitive impairments from taking part in social activities.
To help them believe in themselves, become better at reading, writing some simple exercises in English.
To change non-disabled students’ attitude toward disabled students.
To fulfill my career passion and improve my teaching skills
3. Objects of the study.
Le Xuan Manh, a mentally retarded student from class 11A8
The attitude and treament of the students in class 11A8 (Basic Class of the school) towards their disabled friend.
4. Methods of the study.
Studying the policies and directions of the Government dealing with the theme (mainly the datas on google)
Using analytic methods
Assigning students with pair and group work
Observing and asking colleagues for ideas and experiences
Practising the application of the study
PART B. CONTENT.
1. Preparation 
1.1 Teacher
Prepares 10 questions to ask students before the study (These questions are utilised for 37 non-disabled students in class 11A8).
Questions for the survey.
Name : ..........................................Class: 11A8
Please answer the following questions honestly, thank you so much!
1. Is there anyone disabled in your class?
A. Yes 	B. No
2. Do you often play with him?
A. Yes 	B. No
3. In your opinion, can he learn normally?
	A. Yes 	B. No
4. Are you willing to help when he is in trouble or in difficulty?
	A. Yes 	B. No
5. Is there any day for People with Disability in the world?
A. Yes 	B. No
6. Do you think he can play games or sports like non-disabled students?
	A. Yes 	B. No
7. Is it wrong when we discriminate with him for his cognitive impairment?
A. Yes 	B. No
8. Have you ever taken part in voluntary work to help the disabled? 
	A. Yes 	B. No
9. Can disabled students contribute to our society and lead an independent life?
	A. Yes 	B. No
10. Should disabled students be given the equal study opportunities and be treated fairly?
	A. Yes 	B. No
Collects students’ answers, marks and notes down the results.
Each “YES” answer equals one mark, each “NO” answer equals zero mark. 
Total
mark 10
mark 9
mark 8
mark 7
mark 6
mark 5
< mark 5
37
2
5
7
20
3
0
0
The result shows that much as the students in class 11A8 do not discriminate or look down on their disabled classmate, they pay little attention to him. They treat him like an acquaintance rather than a friend.
Searching for Le Xuan Manh’s family and his attitude towards learning before the study
Collecting information by visiting his home, talking to his parents and asking his classmates for help.
Through the survey, Le Xuan Manh is known to be a child in a two-chidlren family. His parents are poor peasants who mainly live on growing rice. The family, in Xuan Giai village - Vinh Tien commune - Vinh Loc district, is about two kilometers from the school and Le Xuan Manh rides a bike to school everyday. His parents said that they had thought he could not learn anything at all. However, they still tried to send him to school with a view to helping him become more open and integrate in regular school. In fact, there were few friends playing with, the others did not on account of his disability, which sometimes made them depressed. They have a complex on their son and are afraid that his friends will hurt his feelings and play trick on him. Therefore, so many times have they intended to let him stay at home without learning anything. 
 	To Le Xuan Manh, Learning seems difficult to him, especially English, a foreign language. With his cognitive impairments, he can not read Vietnamese properly and his pronunciation is often deformed. Therefore, it is not easy to understand his saying.
Assign the members of the special help group.
Pair 1 includes the monitor TRINH THU HUONG and the secretary NGUYEN THI THANH HUONG: Count Le Xuan Manh into class activities 
Pair 2 includes TRINH DUC HAO and PHAM THI HANH DUYEN: Guide Le Xuan Manh to read and write simple English exercises
Pair 3 includes DANG MINH DUC and NGUYEN VAN CANH: guide Le Xuan Manh to kick shuttle cocks. 
Pair 4 includes HA VAN LINH and TRINH CONG SON: encourage Le Xuan Manh to comply with the school regulations such as uniform, student card, sandals ...
Group work includes all the above members with the leader PHAM THI HANH DUYEN and Vice TRINH DUC HAO: prepare essays on: 
The problems facing children with cognitive impairments
Some outstanding people with disabilities in the world
Is there any day for the Disabled in the world?
Some important policies of Vietnam Government for the disabled
1.2 Students:
Be willing to do the assignments given by the teacher
Answer the questions for the survey frankly and honestly
Prepare for the lessons carefully at home 
Pay attention to every lesson 
Give help and support in class activities when necessary
Be respectful to the disabled friend
1.3 Special help group:
Work in pairs and in group, co-operate with groupmates to do the assignments given by the teacher
Be respectful to the disabled friend and be willing to help him
1.4 Le Xuan Manh- the student with cognitive impairment:
Co-operate with classmates and the teacher in different activities
Eradicate the complex, appreciate himself and what others are doing for him
Try hard to reach the target in integration and in learning English
2. Procedure:
2.1. Presentation.
2.1.1 The representative : PHAM THI HANH DUYEN - the leader of the special help group will present “The problems facing children with cognitive impairments” in front of the class and the rest listen to her attentively.
In developing countries, there are many children with cognitive impairments. In addition to lack of medical care and economic hardships, these children face a lot of discrimination in life. They are treated less fairly because of their disabilities and many non-disabled people have negative attitudes towards them.
How can we solve this problem and help these children? First, People should learn more about children with cognitive impairments. They have different learning difficulties but the fact has proved that if we believe in them, give them equal opportunities, they can do magic things. Second, there should be more contacts between people with cognitive impairments and other non-disabled people. Study groups or group work can bring them together and will help to build their self-esteem. When working together, we will recognise each other’s limitations and discover hidden talents. This will also unite people from different backgrounds under a common goal and strengthen our community.
Many people think that disabled people can do nothing and can not live independently. They think disabled people are burdens to their family and the society but in fact many disabled people can do magic things such as swimming fast without arms, using legs to write and do certain things ...
 PHAM THI HANH DUYEN continues with “Some outstanding people with disabilities in the world”
Marla Runyan is the first blind athlete in the Olympic Games and she also won the gold medal for the disabled. 
Hugh Herr is a talented climber but a terrible accident derived from him two legs, and after 20 years studying, he is the inventor of Massachusetts Academy which specialize in designing facilities for the disabled. 
In PARALYMPIC 2016, Le Van Cong won the gold medal in weight lifting
Nguyen Hong Loi, a swimmer without legs, comes from Ho Chi Minh City. He won the bronze medal in Asian Para Game 2014.
May be the most familiar to us is NGUYEN ANH TUAN, the son of a well-known actor QUOC TUAN. He was born unlucky with his mentally retarded development. Mr QUOC TUAN used to confine in a television pragramme that when he first knew that his son was a child with cognitive impairment, he felt very disappointed. However, with the strong will and determination as well as the great efforts, his son became one of the five most outstanding candidates recognized by Vietnam National Academy of Music. This makes Mr QUOC TUAN feel proud of his son.
After all, we should listen to their problems, give them encouragements, and help them to overcome their difficulties and especially never discriminate against them.
	2.1.2 The ideas of 	some students in Class 11A8.
	To determine the students’ attitudes towards their disabled classmate after the presentation part, Teacher asks some students in class 11A8: “What do you think of helping the disabled in general and Le Xuan Manh in particular?” 
TRINH THU HUONG, the monitor of the class said: “Everyone has a problem, no one is perfect. With the help of the classmates especially the special help group, I do believe that Le Xuan Manh can create something amazing!”
“Someone says people who bring happiness to others are the happiest people in the world. I entirely approve of this idea. Giving makes people happy and useful. People with a disability can still participate fully in our community’s life,” said NGUYEN THANH HUONG, the secretary of the class.
“I want to pay back to our community. Volunteering is the most rewarding way to get involved and change people’s life. I believe that the students with disabilities should be offered support to do the things they like. Eradicating the hindrance that prevents them from mingling with other non-disabled students is the thing I enjoy most,” said TRINH DUC HAO, the vice leader of the special help group.
	2.1.3 The result: After the presentation of the representative of the special help group and the ideas given by some students in class 11A8, all the students in the class are aware of their responsibilities for the disabled, especially their classmate Le Xuan Manh.
2.2 Practice
Assign the students in the special help group to assist Le Xuan Manh in each aspect required and support when necessary.
Pair 1. TRINH THU HUONG and NGUYEN THI THANH HUONG are the monitor and the secretary of class 11A8: In the fifteen-minute meeting before the lessons each day, the whole class sing simple songs such as KHAT VONG TUOI TRE, NOI VONG TAY LON, DAU CHAN TINH NGUYEN, MUA HE XANH, MUA HE QUE HUONG ... Although Le Xuan Manh does not learn by heart the lyrics of the songs, he seems very excited and claps his hands to the melody. Smiles and happiness are shown in his face. 
In addition, in the class meeting each Saturday, after the comments and reminders of the teacher, the monitor and the secretary often organize small activities like singing contest among four teams, picking the note and explaining indirectly for others to guess what the word is, pulling right and left arms, picking balloons in pair of a boy and a girl without using hands... In these activites, Le Xuan Manh is prioritized first. The whole class cheer him up and make him feel much more confident.
Pair 2. TRINH DUC HAO and PHAM THI HANH DUYEN are the two students with the best knowledge of English in class 11A8. Guide Le Xuan Manh to read and write simple English exercises. In the break after each English lesson, TRINH DUC HAO and PHAM THI HANH DUYEN in turn help Le Xuan Manh to read the simple words, simple phrases, simple sentences and then simple paragraphs. At first, it was quite difficult since Le Xuan Manh had difficulty in pronouncing words or he had speech impairments. His pronunciation was not clear enough for others to understand what he was saying. Later, however, he gradually got used to reading repeatedly and perceived the meanings implied in each words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. To writing, TRINH DUC HAO and PHAM THI HANH DUYEN showed him the ways to observe the model examples guided by the teacher in exercises in Grammar parts. Then if he did not understand, HANH DUYEN and DUC HAO tried hard to make similar examples to enable him to realize the form and then repeated that form. The problem here is that Xuan Manh writes quite slowly. Therefore, he has to practise fairly hard to catch up with his classmates. Sometimes, he feels frustrated but his classmates encourage him to do better after each lesson. Thus, thanks to his great efforts, he is able to do simple exercises with simple structures such as Cleft Sentence, Conjunctions, Tag questions ....
Pair 3. DANG MINH DUC and NGUYEN VAN CANH: guide Le Xuan Manh to kick shuttle cocks. In the twenty-minute break in the afternoon, MINH DUC and VAN CANH implicate him to play shuttle cock kicking on the playground of the school. The first kicks were not easy at all. However, this could not make him give up. Xuan Manh was involved in this sport after two-week practice. He looks more active now and is ready to play with not only two coaches, other classmates but also students from other classes in the school. Not only can he now play shuttle cock kicking but he also plays football quite well. In the physical education, Mr Trinh Van Quan, his PE teacher remarks that he is one of the students that play football the best in class 11A8. In his opinion, Kicking shuttle cocks and playing football are an excellent way to relax and develop the friendly relationship among students. Living in the friendly atmostphere of the classmates and the support from the teachers Le Xuan Manh expresses his excitement. Rarely do we now see him alone during the breaks at school. His timidity seems to vanish. 
Pair 4. HA VAN LINH and TRINH CONG SON help Le Xuan Manh and remind him to wear uniform, student card, and sandals. Sometimes, he forgets the days in a week the students in school must wear the uniform. To solve this problem, HA VAN LINH and TRINH CONG SON write a timetable for him and attach it on Xuan Manh’s handbag, which makes him follow the school regulations more easily. Le Xuan Manh seems to look more decent when putting his shirt into the trousers with a belt. He is aware of adhering to the school rules. He brings enough textbooks, notebooks, and other types of learning equipment that are needed for the lessons everyday. In each lesson, he tries hard to listen to what the teacher is saying and notes down the things that make sense to him. He does not write very quickly but slowly and carefully. His handwriting is quite easily read by other students and the teachers. This proves his great determination and efforts to get the same knowledge as others. He says that wearing the uniform with the symbol of Vinh Loc high school makes him feel very proud and it is one of the things that interest him each day he goes to school. In other words, to Le Xuan Manh, “each school day is a happy one”.
The teacher: The principles when working with students in general and disabled students in particular:
Build a trust and a good relationship with the students.
Sympathize and do not discriminte when they have unusual behaviour.
Care greatly for them regularly so as not to make them feel left out or out of place.
Encourage them to become more confident to take the chances of leading an independent life.
Tell them that they can contribute to the society as much as or even more than others can.
In teaching, especially to the students with cognitive impairments, it is extremely essential to demonstrate things clearly and at times repeatedly for them to understand and remember easily. To present structures, teachers should give model examples first to help them inculcate in their minds what Teachers want to transmit. In addition, Teachers should tell short funny stories so that the students can relax and enhance their motivation in learning. Also, Teachers should smile often to create a cheerful atmosphere in class. When they make progress, praise immediately or I mean having timely stimulation, let them believe in themselves since the strong belief can help people do magic things. After all, Teachers working with disabled students must have a devoted heart, respectful and positive attitudes towards their students.
2.3 Further Practice: In this part, the students will get the chance to know more about the intensive care of the world as well as Vietnam for the disabled.
2.3.1 The first research : TRINH DUC HAO - the Vice Leader of the special help group will present what the group have collected with the topic “Is there any day for the Disabled in the world?” in front of the class and the rest listen to him attentively.
Promoted by the United Nations, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (originally called “International Day of Disabled Persons’) has been celebrated on December 3rd since 1992. The aim is to further raise awareness of disability issues and to call for world-wide support for the rights and well-being of disabled people. Although this day has a different theme each year, its general theme is equal opportunities and full integration of people of disabilities in society.
Here are some recent themes:
2010: Keeping the promise: Mainstreaming disability in the Millennium Development Goals towards 2015 and beyond
2011: Together for a better world for all: Including persons with disabilities in development
2012: Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all
2013: Break barriers, open doors: for an inclusive society and development for all
2014: Sustainable development: the promise of technology
2015: Inclusion matters: access and empowerment for people of all abilities
2016: Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want
2017: Transformation towards sustainable and resilient society for all
According to WHO (World Health Organisation), at least one-tenth (1/10) of the world’s population live with a disability. Many disabled people still face challenges, discrimination, poverty and limited access to education, employment and health care. That is why it is important that people with disabilities receive the right support to perform the best they can.
The way we think about disability has also changed, Disabled people are citizens like everyone else and have the same rights.
	2.3.2 The second research : DANG MINH DUC-a member of the special help group will present what the group have collected with the topic “Some important policies of Vietnam Government for the disabled” in front of the class and the rest listen to him atte