Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Background: Ecuador is rich in multilingual and multicultural diversity. Thus, local educational authorities have established Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a means of attending to every student’s needs. Objective: The objective of this study is to describe teachers’ perspectives on UDL, specifically in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes. Methods: Within a descriptive qualitative research design, data were collected through reflective essays. Participants (N = 10) were in-service teachers, including one who had a visual impairment. They applied a UDL-informed lesson plan in their respective educational contexts. Findings: Three main themes were identified: the impact of UDL in the classroom, the use of multimodal strategies and resources, and reflections on the process. Findings indicated that despite initial feelings of being overwhelmed by the demands of lesson planning, participants found the implementation rewarding, expressed a strong willingness to replicate the process to continue improving, and observed progress in their students. Conclusion: Overall, the conclusions favored the application of UDL for both learners and teachers. For learners, benefits included a positive impact on their engagement and participation; additionally, the strategies proved helpful across all language proficiency levels. For teachers, UDL fostered deeper reflection on their practices and encouraged continuous instructional improvement. This study can be of interest to pre-service and in-service teachers, coordinators, directors, and government officials.
Institutions: Universidad Casa Grande, Universidad Nacional de Loja
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225633697