Resource centre - Ideas and techniques - Teaching Mixed Abilities
Most teachers at one time or another are faced with the challenge of a group of students of different levels. Sue Swift offers an approach for dealing with this situation.
One of the most difficult situations for the language teacher is a group which
includes students of different levels, of varying learning ability, or even
both. The class has to be organised so that no-one needs to feel they're wasting
time waiting for the others or alternatively, that they are "out of their depth"
in comparison to other members of the group. How do you design a lesson to meet
all the varying needs?
One way of coping with this situation is to abandon lockstep teaching (all of
the students working on the same activity at the same time) for at least part of
the lesson, so that the teacher can work intensively with one sub-group while
the others work independently. This, of course, means that you need to have
suitable materials for autonomous study on hand. These could be in any format,
but if you have computers available in the classroom, the easiest solution is to
use on-line materials.
It would be possible, of course, to make these materials the sole basis of the
lessons. Each student works through a course at his/her own level while the
teacher circulates, monitors and gives help , explanation and practice as
necessary. In groups where the students are of widely differing levels, this
could well be the best solution. But with others, where the difference is less
extreme, it's also possible to integrate the autonomous work into more
traditional full class lessons.
As an example, let's look at a mixed level EFL group including students from
upper-elementary to mid-intermediate levels. The next area to be covered in the
course they are following is the present perfect for past to present events -
for example, He's worked here for the last five months. For the upper-elementary
students this is a completely new structure, and they're going to need a
systematic presentation as well as a lot of controlled practice before they can
go on to freer activities using the structure. But for the mid-intermediate
students, the lesson is only revision and consolidation.
Here is a possible outline for the lesson :
Stage One : The first activity is a warm-up consolidating the
simple past, which all students have met before.
Stage Two : The class then splits into two groups. The
elementary and weaker intermediate students remain with the teacher for a
systematic presentation of the new structure, while the other, stronger students
work independently at the computer on a second simple past consolidation
activity -this might be a short listening or reading activity.
Stage Three : When the teacher has finished the presentation,
the class comes back together to do a receptive practice activity which asks
them to distinguish between the two verb forms. For example :
Look at the sentences and answer the questions below them.
a. I've lived in New York for three years.
Where does he live now?
a) In New York
b) We don't know
b. I studied English for two years.
Does she study English now?
a) Yes
b) No
c. She's worked for ICN for twelve years.
Where does she work now?
a) For ICN
b) We don't know
and so on. The aim of this activity is to check that all the students understand
the use of the form. If any of the higher level students in fact don't, the
teacher can ask the lower level students to explain. This both checks that the
students who heard the presentation really do understand, and also improves
motivation: one of the problems of a mixed ability group is that it is always
the same, weaker or lower level students who "don't know/can't do", leading to
the possibility of low self-esteem and demotivation towards the course. This
activity gives them the chance to be the ones who do know.
Stage Four : The class then divides into two groups again. The
stronger students return to the computer and work on activities which
consolidate the present perfect at their own level. These activities could be
grammar practice, a listening consolidation, or whatever the teacher thinks is
right for those students at that point. Meanwhile the lower level students stay
with the teacher to complete some controlled practice work.
Stage Five : The groups then change over. The stronger students
work with the teacher on some semi-controlled or freer practice, while the
others work independently at their own level - which may or may not mean
completing the same activities done by the stronger students at stage four.
Stage Six : Finally the group comes back into lockstep and
works on an activity organised in one of the following ways :
a) Students are grouped in mixed high/low level pairs with the stronger student
having a more challenging role
b) Again, students are paired high/low and complete an activity in which the
strong students help the weaker ones
c) Students are paired or grouped with others of the same ability - high/high,
low/low - and work on an activity at their own level.
The constant change in the lesson between lockstep and ability group work has
various advantages.
a) Perhaps the most important factor of lockstep work is that
it allows the students to develop a single group identity and co-operative
working atmosphere. However, this will only happen if the lockstep stages are
equally useful for everyone. The split group stages make certain that when the
students do work together, they are able to work on an activity at the correct
level of challenge for all members of the group. No-one is left feeling I know
this already but nor does anyone feel that the class is too challenging or too
fast.
b) The lesson format also has the practical advantage that you
don't need an enormous number of computers. Only half the class will be working
at the computers at any one time. If the students work in pairs, that means that
a group of twelve would need only three computers.
But why should you choose on-line materials rather than any other type of
materials - textbooks, for instance? There are two practical advantages:
a) Firstly, on-line materials are specifically designed for
independent study and are staged accordingly, while "ordinary" materials are
often intended for teacher-led classes and may not be easily adaptable for
students working alone.
b) And even when this is possible, creating a sequence of
activities taken from various sources, then adding instructions, answers,
explanations etc to make them suitable for independent use means a large amount
of preparation for the teacher and is extremely time consuming. A coherently
staged on-line course will already have done most of the work for you - the only
preparation you need to do is to familiarise yourself with the materials and
choose which activities you want each group to do at which point of the lesson.
ESL resources
Downloadable activities
What do you think of this article? Add a comment »
That is a really excellent
idea. However, it is limited to classes which have computers. Unfortunately, I
study in a class without a computer. Nowadays I am trying to teach my students
new vocabulary through the internet which they can use at their home or their
work. Most of them refuse to use it! But I insist on it. Sometimes you can not
guess students' reactions to new teaching ways. I like the idea it is very
creative. If I had a chance, I really would like to try it. Thank you.
I really like the idea of
improving the self-esteem of the so called "weak students". But, like Gutay, I
don't have computers in the classroom. Anyway, I'll try with some handouts. It
seems that it is not only a good idea for mixed but also to large groups.
The idea is really great
providing it bolsters up a student's self-recognition and esteem and doesn't
make someone look like they have a permanent nagging behaviour as far as
learning a language is concerned. However, remedial activities taken from many
sources and instead of splitting the groups very often in different settings; I
would go for reinforcing (pair work) a weaker student to work with the brilliant
one to boost their fluency and accuracy.
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