Promoting Inclusive Practice: Video CVs as a Teaching & Learning Tool in the Language Classroom

This paper considers the benefits and results of the introduction of a video CV
assessment into an intermediate, mixed-ability undergraduate Spanish-language class. This task was designed both to modernize an existing written
task and to provide students with dyslexia and other language-processing
difficulties with the opportunity to best display their capabilities in the second
language (L2).
Dyslexia is a Specific Learning Difference (SpLD) whose characteristics can
vary in form and severity, but which particularly affect language-processing.
Dyslexic individuals often display a “paradoxical co-existence of special
abilities and disabilities” (West, 1991, p.32): Abilities which include verbal
acuity, visuospatial faculties, flexible problem-solving and creative skills
which can all be used to advantage when designing activities to help students
achieve success in learning a second language. A multisensory approach is
now widely recognised as benefiting dyslexic individuals while other suggested
adjustments include: oral recordings rather than written performance;
multimedia presentations; and the incorporation of tasks that activate
kinaesthetic-tactile components of learning, all elements mobilized within the
video CV task.
The video CVs produced by students were multisensory and creative while
effectively mobilisiing the L2, showing the benefits of inclusive practice for all
students, helping to create a diverse and engaging learning experience.
Keywords: Dyslexia; language-processing; multisensory; kinaesthetic;
assessment; inclusive practice