Universidad Catlica de la Santsima Concepcin

Facultad de Educacin
Pedagoga en Educacin Media en Ingls

Case study: Michael, Liceo B-22

Talcahuano

Astrid Guerra
English Teaching Experience III
Juan Castro
Brian Huenupe
Mara Lagos
Rocio Muoz
Concepcin, November 2015

Introduction
This case study is based on the analysis of a student who has language learning
difficulties as a consequence of the cerebral palsy that he suffers from. Michael is a
17 years old student who is currently enrolled in 10 th grade in Liceo B-22
Talcahuano. Michael has been excluded from the English class since the very
beginning, because he had been isolated from this course his entire educational
live. Thus, he does not have the appropriate level, or even more, he does not even
know the basic expressions in the English language. The decision of disallow him
from the course was made taking as a formal justification the diagnosis
establishing that Michael has problems of articulation at the moment of speak. On
the other hand, teachers that have taught him suggest that he must have cognitive
problems, even though he has not been diagnosed with this difficulty. In order to
understand how this condition works, a brief description will be provided. Bright
Tub Education (n/d) defines cerebral palsy as a brain disorder that leads to motor
function impairment. My ChildTM (n/d) states that cerebral palsy is produced by
brain injury or malformation. Moreover, the consequences of this disorder are
movement difficulties, posture problems, muscle atrophy and speech production.
Despite that this disorder does not have a cure, undergoing in a treatment is
necessary in order to improve childrens abilities. Cerebral Palsy Foundation (n/d)
indicates that although most of cerebral palsys patients do not have cognitive
damage, they may experience articulation problems. Consequently, informative
speeches and language therapy are mandatory in order to help them to practice
and improve their techniques to speak.
Method
Participants
Michael is a seventeen year old boy, who studies in the Liceo Comercial B-22
located in Talcahuano and this is his second year in highschool. The school is a
technical institution that trains students for the business area. Currently, he lives
with his parents and his little sister. His sister, who is nine years old, studies in the

primary school. Concerning his parents, his mother is a housewife and his father is
car mechanic.
Procedures
Regarding the method that was used, the information was collected through an
interview to the teacher of special education. The interview had open questions
and were made in order to obtain information about the family and school
background. Through the interview, the special educational teacher, who is in
charge of Michael, stated that he has not been diagnosed with any cognitive
problem. On the other hand, the teacher said, according to his mother, that Michael
is very introverted, quiet and he does not have friends in his neighborhood or at
school. His family always is supporting him, even though he has low grades in
highschool. Moreover, they hoped that he will enter university and he will have
success in every aspect of his life. On one hand, the interviewed established that
the other teachers pointed out that the student has cognitive problems that
interfere in his academic performance, because of the evaluations that they have
made before. Besides, they said that unfortunately the school is not well provided
with the necessary tools and means for finding a clear diagnosis about his
condition. Besides, they suggested that this diagnosis should be done by an
external specialist (a neurologist) that up now has not made any evaluation to the
student.
According to the teacher of special education, in relation to the academic
performance, it is important to point out that Michael is part of all the courses
taught in the school, even those courses related to commerce. However, Michael
does not participate in the English language course because he was put aside from
the very beginning he joined highschool. Consequently, Michael has a low level of
English in all the skills and he barely remember some aspects of the contents that
he had in primary school. On the other hand, Michael attend to the Spanish,
Mathematic, Business courses, in which he has normal evaluations at the same
level of all his classmates.

Finally, in relation to the support that this student receive in the school, Michael is
controlled and assisted by a speech therapist, a psychologist, a special educational
teacher and the regular teachers. Furthermore, his classmates are aware of the
problem that Michael has and they always collaborate mainly for helping him to
move because he needs help to do it.
Results
The following areas of concern were observed by Michaels teacher of Spanish
and the pre-service teacher of English.
As it was mentioned at the background section, Michael was excluded from
English lessons; however, he is included in all the other subjects in the school
program. Consequently, the observations were made in Spanish language course.
The idea is to be aware about the performance that the student has in language,
since this course is the equivalent to English for being both language courses. The
observations were made during one hour lesson and the results were the following.
During the first stage of the lesson the teacher taught the content during 10
minutes, related to types of narrators. In the presentation of the lesson, the teacher
asked students to consult about their doubts and some of them did it. In the case of
Michael, he paid attention to the teacher and he did the activities, as well as he
could. However, when he had doubts he did not ask to the teacher, probably
because he is afraid or ashamed of talking because of his language problems. The
first activity that the students had to develop, was to read some short texts in which
they had to identify the kind of narrator that each of them had. Students started to
work, but Michael did not do anything. Then, the teacher went to talk to him and
explained the instructions again. After this, he started to work without any
inconvenient. In the second activity, students had to work in groups and create a
short story using the narrators that the teacher provided. This stage was crucial
because Michael had to interact with his classmates. In relation to this, he did not
present any problem because, even though he had some problems to
communicate, his classmates understood him clearly. He spoke more than once
and his classmates were very respectful and encouraged him to participate. Finally,

the observer asked to Michel about his understanding regarding the content that
was covered during the lesson and he answered that he understood everything
that was taught during the class.
Discussion
Considering all the information collected, it is important to highlight some facts
involved in this case. First, all the people around Michael are aware of his abilities
and limitations. Second, it is a well-known fact that he is not able to communicate
properly. Third, regarding the treatment for this disorder, there is not a proper one,
because this condition is an irreversible process. Moreover, Michael must have
permanent support to help him to overcome school challenges. From our
perspective, a psycho-pedagogical specialist could help

Michael

in the

development of the Spanish language in order to master all the aspects of his
mother tongue. Consequently, a phonoaudiologist could work with Michael
regarding the speech problems with the correct pronunciation and articulation of
the words itself. Besides, a neurologist should give a diagnosis concerning
Michaels cognitive delay, if it is a slight, moderate or a severe one. Finally, the
teacher of special education, the rest of the teachers that are involved in his
education and the other educational staff should work together with specialists in
the education and health area that were named before in order to support Michael
in every aspect of his schools performance.

References:
Bright Hub Education. (2012). Education Techniques to
Cerebral Palsy in the

Classroom. Retrieved

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/special-edstrategies/43536-inclusive-teaching-

Help Children

with

from:
inclusion-

strategies-for-students-with-

cerebral-palsy/

Cerebral Palsy Foundation: Discovery for

Disability.

Treatments. Retrieved

from: http://yourcpf.org/treatments/

My child: The ultimate resource for

cerebral palsy.

everything

Retrieved from:

cerebral-palsy/types-and- forms/

cerebral

palsy. Types of

http://cerebralpalsy.org/about-