Analysis of prospective teachers’ opinions on linguistic communication competence: A comparative view

Abstract

In recent decades we have witnessed the progressive implementation of a culture of inclusion making it is essential to provide teachers with training in generic and specific competencies, being the reinforcement of attitudes and views regarding attention to diversity that will be fundamental to ensure the effective implementation of this educational model. Although the study of teachers’ views regarding inclusive education has been the subject of much research, we did not find an extensive wide repertoire concerning the opinions of university students on educative attention to specific educational support needs centred in the field of competence in linguistic communication. Thus, with this study we aimed to analyse the opinions of trainee teachers on the development of this key competence in primary education and their training at university. For this, 2 university realities in different international contexts were compared through a mixed descriptive categorical analysis. The main conclusions are that, although there is a consensus about the importance of developing linguistic communication competence, there are considerable differences between the 2 contexts in terms of attention to diversity, teacher education and training, and the provision of resources for its promotion in the classroom.