Education Sciences: Special Education for People with Oral and Written Language Difficulties – THEMATIC UNITS

EAG50: Special Education

Unit Code: EAG 50

ECTS Credits: 20

Unit Type: Compulsory

Semester in which it is offered:First (1st)

Language of instruction:Greek

Module Outline

General Description of the unit: The aim of the unit is to understand the basic concepts, principles and models of Special Education, in the framework defined by the relevant legislation and educational practice. Emphasis is placed on contemporary approaches to Special Education and Special Education.

Specific objectives of the unit for students: 1) to understand basic issues related to Special Education and Education, 2) to know the characteristics of the categories of special needs and 3) to become familiar with the procedures of detection and assessment of special needs and the ways of dealing with them in the school context.

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students are expected to:

• have acquired an introductory knowledge of the categories of people with special educational needs and/or disabilities
• have become familiar with educational assessment issues
• have become familiar with issues of screening and with the relevant screening tools
• have become familiar with diagnostic issues and the relevant diagnostic/weighted tools
• are familiar with and able to design instructional interventions
• are familiar with curricula and teaching models relevant to special education
• are aware of issues related to Responsive Teaching and Intervention as well as Design for All and Adaptations

Unit Subjects:

• Basic concepts for Special Education and Education
• Assessment of people with special educational needs
• Educational interventions for people with special educational needs

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 30 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 70 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Prerequisites:There are no prerequisites for this unit

 

EAG 51: Linguistic Development

Unit Code: EAG51

ECTS credits: 10

Unit Type: Compulsory

Semester in which it is offered:First (1st)

Language of instruction:Greek

Module Outline

General Description of the unit: The aim of this unit is to familiarize students with the characteristics and unit of typical language development in monolingual and bilingual or multilingual children in order to better understand the characteristics of non-typical language development.

Specific objectives of the unit for students: 1) to become familiar with the basic stages of child language development at all levels of language analysis and 2) to understand the central theoretical and methodological issues in relation to the study of language development in monolingual, bilingual and multilingual children.

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students are expected to:

• know the central theoretical and methodological issues related to the acquisition of the mother tongue
• know the milestones of language development at the various levels of language analysis: phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic
• have an understanding of the importance of cross-linguistic differences in language development
• have become familiar with the main methodological tools used in the study of children’s language
• are familiar with the characteristics of the bilingual or multilingual child and his/her language development, with emphasis on the similarities and differences with that of the monolingual child
• be familiar with the theoretical and methodological issues related to the child’s handling of more than one language and in the light of interlanguage differences.

Unit Subjects:

• Theoretical approaches and methodological issues in language development
• Overview of formal language development
• Language development in bilingual/multilingual populations

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 30 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 70 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Prerequisites:There are no prerequisites for this unit

 

EAG 52: Language Processing

Unit Code: EAG 52

ECTS credits: 10

Unit Type: Compulsory

Semester in which it is offered: Second (2nd)

Language of instruction:Greek

Module Outline

General description of the unit: The main objective of this unit is to familiarize students with the function of the two major cognitive processes in language processing, namely comprehension and production of spoken and written language. This will allow students to delve deeper into the type and nature of problems that may arise in these two areas.

Specific objectives of the unit for students: 1) to understand the complex relationship between cognition, language and communication in the context of which the understanding and production of spoken and written language and the role of the cognitive parameters involved such as memory, attention and executive functions are studied and 2) to become familiar with the central theoretical and methodological issues in relation to the study of language processing.

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students are expected to:

• have an understanding of the multidimensional relationships between language and cognition and communication
• have an understanding of the main methodological tools used in psycholinguistic research on language processing
• have an understanding of the functioning of the two main processes involved in language processing, namely production and comprehension, both at the level of spoken and written language
• have an understanding of the role of key cognitive parameters such as memory, attention and executive functions in language processing, both at the level of individual words and at the level of sentences and whole texts.

Unit Subjects:

• Language, cognition and communication
• Comprehension and production of spoken and written language
• Cognitive parameters of language processing: the role of memory, attention and executive functions

Unit Grade Weighting

The study material, the examination material, the number of activities, the number of words in the activities and in the Written Assignment(s) are determined in a proportional way by the ECTS that each subject has (see the structure of the programme). Subjects with 20 ECTS have 8-10 compulsory activities with a word count limit of 300 words (±15%) while subjects with 10 ECTS have 4-5 compulsory activities with a word count limit of 200 words (±15%). The Written Assignment (W.A.) has a length of 3,000 words (±15%) for 20 ECTS subjects and 2,000 words (±15%) for 10 ECTS subjects. The format of the W.A. may vary. In any case, specific specifications for its preparation are given by the coordinator of each unit.

Prerequisites: Successful completion of unit EAG51.

 

EAG 53: Problems of oral and written language: Theoretical approaches

Unit Code: EAG 53

ECTS Credits: 20

Unit Type: Compulsory

Semester in which it is offered: Second (2nd)

Language of instruction:Greek

Module Outline

General Description of the unit: This unit aims to provide an in-depth understanding of issues related to problems/disorders in both oral and written language, the theoretical models and approaches that refer to the causes and the evolutionary unit of the aforementioned problems per age phase.

Specific objectives of the unit for students: 1) be able to define problems and their characteristics, both in oral and written language and 2) be aware of the different scientific approaches and their impact on shaping the field.

Learning Outcomes:Upon completion of this unit, students are expected to:

• know and describe the wide range of developmental disorders and the problems they create in the development and progression of oral and written language
• know the categories, causes and clinical characteristics of oral language problems
• know the categories and describe the causes and symptoms of problems of written language in the context of specific learning difficulties

Unit Subjects:

• Introduction to the developmental type of oral and written language problems
• Theoretical framework of oral language problems
• Theoretical framework of developmental type problems in writing

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 30 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 70 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Prerequisites: Successful completion of units EAG50 and EAG51.

 

EAG 60: Research Design in Special Education

Unit Code: EAG 60

ECTS credits: 10

Unit Type: Compulsory

Semester in which it is offered:Third (3rd)

Language of instruction:Greek

Module Outline

General description of the unit: General Description of the unit: The main purpose of this unit is to introduce and familiarize students with the basic principles, procedures and issues of research design in special education. In addition, the aim of the unit is to familiarize students with the standards of scientific reading and writing and to cultivate critical thinking.

Specific objectives of the unit for students: 1) to become competent in reading, using and producing research results in Special Education and 2) to acquire the knowledge and skills required to develop a research project in Special Education.

Learning Outcomes:Upon completion of this unit, students are expected to:

• know the dominant research trends in special education
• know the stages of conducting research
• search, retrieve, organise, synthesise and critically interpret literature data
• recognise the need to establish and adopt a theoretical framework for the design of research
• be familiar with basic research designs (qualitative designs, quantitative designs, mixed methods designs) applicable to special education
• formulate a research objective and research questions or hypotheses based on a theoretical reflection and literature review
• know and handle basic sampling methods and techniques in the context of quantitative and qualitative designs
• develop and evaluate basic tools for collecting empirical material in the context of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods designs
• recognise the ethical and moral issues involved in the collection of quantitative and qualitative data and indicate appropriate ways of dealing with them
• formulate and write a research design for small-scale empirical research in special education

Unit Subjects:

• Research designs (qualitative designs, quantitative designs, mixed designs)
• Applications – examples of research designs in special education.

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 30 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 70 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Prerequisites:Successful completion of unit EAG50.

 

EAG 61: Educational interventions for oral and written language problems

Unit Code:EAG 61

ECTS Credits: 20

Unit Type: Compulsory

Semester in which it is offered:Third (3rd)

Language of instruction:Greek

Module Outline

General Description of the unit: This unit aims to develop skills in designing intervention programmes for oral and written language problems in monolingual and bilingual/multilingual populations.

Specific objectives of the unit for students: 1) gain an in-depth knowledge of issues related to educational interventions for oral and written language problems, type of specific learning difficulties, for both monolingual, bilingual and multilingual populations; and 2) become competent to analyse, synthesise and evaluate these educational interventions in terms of initial assessment, planning, major decision making, implementation and final evaluation.

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students are expected to:

• describe and design the content of intervention programmes for monolingual and bilingual/multilingual speakers with oral language problems
• describe and design the content of intervention programmes for monolingual and bilingual/multilingual speakers with writing difficulties in the context of specific learning difficulties
• implement intervention programmes for monolingual and bilingual/multilingual speakers with oral and written language problems
• describe the teaching of the first language to speakers with oral and written language problems
• describe the teaching of a second/foreign language to speakers with oral and written language problems

Unit Subjects:

• Educational interventions for people with oral language problems
• Educational interventions for people with written language problems
• First and second/foreign language teaching for people with oral and written language problems

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 30 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 70 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Prerequisites: Successful completion of all the first two semesters’ courses (EAG50, EAG51, EAG52, EAG53).

 

EAG 62: Practical Training Unit

Unit Code: EAG 62

ECTS Credits: 30

Unit Type: Compulsory

Semester in which it is offered: Fourth (4th)

Language of instruction:Greek

Module Outline

General description of the unit: The Practical Training (PT) consists of students’ attendance of thematic weeks within the educational platform, visits to public assessment and support structures for people with oral and written language disorders, design of educational interventions, feedback, implementation of educational interventions and writing of a final written assignment. During the training, emphasis is placed on observing and documenting assessment and treatment processes, followed by independent provision of corresponding services. An important part of the training is related to the development of appropriate materials for the assessment and support processes.

In particular, the training follows the following stages:

• Monitoring of courses on the educational platform (on assessment and educational intervention
• Attendance at assessment and support structures for people with oral and written language problems (observation of assessment and educational intervention procedures for people/children with oral and written language problems)
• Design of educational intervention (with supervision)
• Supervised educational intervention for persons/children with oral and written language problems (in the above structures)
• Supervised independent assessment and intervention for people/children with oral and written language problems (in the above structures)
• Feedback and writing of a final project

Specific objectives of the unit for students:1) to be introduced to the providers of assessment and support for oral and written language disorders/difficulties 2) to know the range and type of services they provide and 3) to be able to provide independent assessment and intervention services for people with oral and written language problems.

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students are expected to:

• are familiar with assessment and support structures for people with oral and written language problems
• have taken part, as observers, in assessment and intervention procedures (therapy sessions) for people with speech and language problems in structures where these services are provided
• be able to participate in assessment procedures and to design appropriate educational activities and interventions to address these disorders/difficulties
• be able to develop appropriate materials for these activities
• be able to evaluate procedures and self-assess their participation in them
• be able to provide independent assessment and intervention services for people with oral and written language problems

Evaluation: Completion of final written assignment.

Prerequisites: Successful completion of all Th.Units from the previous three semesters.