Inclusive Audiovisual Strategies in Language Teaching for Students With Specific/Special Needs at the University of Ferrara: Teachers’ Perspectives

Abstract

The acquisition of Languages for Special Purposes (LSPs) presents distinct pedagogical and cognitive challenges, especially in higher and university education. LSP instruction requires specialised strategies to address the discourse complexity, the need for domain-specific terminology, and learners’ diverse learning profiles. Recent studies emphasise the importance of targeted training for LSP educators and the integration of innovative, multimodal approaches that can adapt to the needs of students (Bocanegra-Valle and Lafford, 2025). This paper is part of the conceptual phase of the IN-CLA research project “Inclusive Didactics for English L2 through Audiovisual Technologies and Specialised Languages” at the University of Ferrara, which aims to investigate how inclusive and audiovisual strategies can support accessible acquisition of LSPs in L2. To address this aim, we qualitatively analysed asynchronous written interviews with language researchers/teachers working at the Humanities Department and a researcher from WonderLab, an agency involved in the BE.IN.UNIFE project that organises workshops for students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs). Responses were analysed through thematic analysis that identified recurrent themes concerning learners’ barriers, inclusive pedagogical practices and the design of multimodal resources for accessible LSP learning. Results suggest that authentic materials, scaffolding and audiovisual resources can support accessible LSP acquisition, while accessibility, authenticity, adaptability and interactivity emerged as central criteria for the development of inclusive multimodal materials.