Changes of teaching goals in native language teaching for pupils with visual impairments in the Czech lands

Abstract

Over the course of two centuries (since 1807), the Czech lands have seen fundamental changes in the paradigm of special L1 didactics for pupils with vision impairments (hereinafter the VI). The individual didactic transformations often found theoretical backgrounds in special education approaches simultaneously designed across Europe (especially in Austria, England, former Yugoslavia, Italy, Hungary, Russia, etc.) and accentuated respect for the special teaching requirements of pupils with VI. The embrace of specific European approaches usually depended on the general (especially political and social) context of the period, which also had an impact on the aims and tasks of special language teaching. The paper defines the historically shaped aims of L1 teaching for pupils with VI and contextualizes them in order to understand the current aims.