A systematic evidence synthesis of disability and inclusive pedagogy in initial teacher training in English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

This systematic review considers recent evidence of the preparation of inclusive education implementation in the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education across different countries. The study comprised of a comprehensive search of multiple databases which are accessible for scholars with visual impairments working with an open-source screen reader application: British Education Index, Education Source, ERIC subscription, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection. The searches generated 508 studies from January 1 2002, to December 31 2022,. 73 duplicated studies were removed, leaving 435 records to be screened for inclusion. 430 of these were rejected for not meeting the selection criteria, leaving five studies for inclusion. One additional relevant study from author's personal collection of references was also included in the review. The review discovered that the issue of disability and inclusive pedagogy in initial EFL teacher education scholarship is extremely under-studied. Only four relevant studies were conducted in the Global North, two in the Middle East, and none in the Global South, where an expanding population of pupils learning English are located. The findings of this study provide insights and recommendations for policy and practices of initial EFL teacher education.