Using Chinese idioms to teach adolescents with intellectual disabilities self-determination skills

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a curriculum that combines Chinese idioms and self-determination components, and evaluate its effectiveness in enhancing the self-determination of students with intellectual disabilities. Participants were 85 students with an intellectual disability in 10th to 12th grade, selected from 2 vocational high schools located in northern Taiwan and randomly assigned to either a control group or an intervention group that received Chinese-Idiom Self-Determination Curriculum (CISDC) instruction. To assess student progress I used Arc's Self-Determination Scale and the Self-Determination Scale for Taiwanese Students, and the participants' teachers and parents completed the Self-Determination Assessment Scale-Teacher/Parent Form. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of covariance, and repeated measures analysis of variance. Results show that the diverse teaching methods and content of the CISDC could help to compensate for the cognitive impairment of high school students with an intellectual disability, enabling them to learn self-determination skills by discussing, exploring, and reflecting in the process of reading Chinese idiom stories.