How  to  Deal  with  a  Mixed-­‐Ability  Class?    

Marina Rabadán-Gómez 8th July 2011

How  to  deal  with  a  mixed-­‐ability  class?    O Definition: What is a mixed-ability class? O Background: How to program, teach, and

assess students in a mixed-ability class? O Our case: Implementation of the theory

and examples O References and further reading

 Definition  of  mixed-­‐ability  class  

  DEALING WITH FRUSTRATION

Images from Microsoft Clip Art

Definition  of  a  mixed-­‐ability  class    Bremner  (2008:  1-­‐2)

“McKeown (2004) believes that many teachers see a mixed ability class as consisting of a group of average and able children with a subset of children who have learning problems”.

“Ireson & Hallam (2001) suggest teachers need to recognise that a class is mixed ability because children have different strengths and weaknesses and develop at different rates”.

Definition  of  a  mixed-­‐ability  class    Bremner  (2008:  1-­‐2)

“A mixed ability class does not just consist of a range of abilities but also a range of learning styles and preferences. All pupils will show strengths at different times depending on the topic being studied and the learning style being used. […] All classes even those that have been set are mixed ability to a certain degree”.

How  to  program,  teach,  and  assess  students  in  a  mixed-­‐ability  class?  General tips concerning mixed-abilities classes:

ü  Students ü  Planning ü  Materials ü  Participation ü  Assessment

Ø  individual profiles Ø  flexibility Ø  adaptation Ø  inclusive but directed Ø  realistic

Adapted from: Rose (1997), Millrood (2002), Smith and Sutherland (2003), Salli-Copur

(2005), Bremner (2008), Harakchiyska (2008), British Council (2011)

 Our  case:  Implementation  of  the  theory  and  examples    ü Students as individuals in a group ü  Flexible planning ü  Adaptation of materials ü  Encourage but control participation ü  Set expectations according to students

abilities

 Students  as  individuals  in  a  group                                  

 O  Getting-to-know-you activities O Learning Styles (Honey and Mumford, 1986)

O Needs analysis – in students’ pack 1.  Linguistic biography 2.  Language level tests and questionnaires 3.  Reasons to learn the language 4.  Expected goals and aims

Needs  analysis  tools    

O All address four key areas of information: 1.  Languages spoken 2.  Language level 3.  Learning style 4.  Objectives and motivation

European Languages Portfolio Little, D. and Simpson, B (2003)

 Flexible  planning  

 O  Class discussion: give them the option to

negotiate what to learn, what type of activities to use and how to organize the classwork.

O  Write and sign a learning contract - Skills for Learning

 Adaptation  of  materials    

 O Graded tasks

Ø Scaffolding “supportive frameworks for the learning tasks that we set our students” (Senior, 2011)

O Open-ended tasks

O X-Stream

 Encourage  but  control    

participation            

O Giving clear and precise instructions

O  Grouping: S – W / S – S / W – W : depending on the type of activity and the goal

O  Use role plays and simulations where it is made very clear for students when and how they should participate

Set  your  expectations  according  to  the  students  abilities  

O Students to set their goals O  Error correction- correct all students

according to their level, do not interrupt them when they talk and be more demanding with stronger students.

O Continuous assessment – to emphasize

students’ achievements through the year

Summary    O Teaching Approach

O Communicative and inclusive approach O Stress what the student CAN do – involve non linguistic skills O Include students in planning – use a learning agreement

O Teaching and Learning Delivery Methods O Diagnostic assessment O Adapt activities O Grouping techniques O Giving clear instructions O Error correction

O Assessment O Setting appropriate goals O Continuous and recorded assessment to stress students’

progress

                   Example  of  adapted  task  B1-­‐        

GROUP TASK

STRONGER

STUDENTS WEAKER STUDENTS

Corpas, 2006

Further  considerations    O Mixed-Ability considered and studied primarily:

O  in ELT O  in primary and secondary education (KS1 to KS3)

O  We are left with the need to consider: O  other MFL learning and teaching environments O  Further and Higher Education

Thank you

     And  remember  that  “every  language  class  is  a  mixed  ability  class”          Student

Demographic and cultural

Cognitive and metacognitive

age educational level

personality mother tongue

gender world knowledge

interests cultural background intelligence confidence

motivation learning style

language learning ability

language knowledge

knowledge of other languages

attitude towards language

learning experience Adapted from Ur (1996: 304)

References  O British Council (2011) Adapting Materials for Mixed-Ability Classes.

[Internet] Available from: http://www.englishonline.org.cn/en/teachers/workshops/mixed-abilities/articles/strategies-three# [Accessed 1st July 2011]

O Bremner, S. (2008) Some thoughts on teaching a mixed ability class. Scottish Languages Review Issue 18, Autumn 2008, pp.1-10. [Internet] Scottish CILT. Available from: http://www.strath.ac.uk/media/faculties/hass/scilt/slr/issues/18/18_bremner.pdf [Accessed 4th July 2011]

O Harakchiyska, T.K. (2008) The Challenges of Working with Mixed Ability Classes. Scientific works of University of Rousse – Vol. 47, Series 5.3 [Internet] Available from: http://conf.ru.acad.bg/bg/docs/cp/5.3/5.3-14.pdf [Accessed 1st July 2011]

O Honey, P. & Mumford, A. (1986) The Manual of Learning Styles. Maidenhead, Peter Honey.

O Little D. and Simpson B. (2003) European Language Portfolio: The intercultural component And Learning how to learn [Internet] Council of Europe. Available from: http://www.coe.int/t/DG4/Portfolio/documents/Templates.pdf [Accessed 1st July 2011]

References  O Millrood,R. (2002)Teaching Heterogeneous Classes. ELT Journal, Vol.

56 No. 2, April 2002, pp. 128-136(9) Oxford University Press. O Rose, J. (1997) Mixed Ability - an 'inclusive' classroom. English

Teaching Professional, Issue 3. O Salli-Copur, D. (2005) Copying with the Problems of Mixed Ability

Classes. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XI, No. 8. [Internet] Available from: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Salli-Copur-MixedAbility.html [Accessed 1st July 2011]

O Senior, R. (2011) Scaffolding. English Teaching Professional, Issue 72. O Smith, C.M.M. and Sutherland, M. J. (2003) Setting or mixed ability?

Teachers’ views of the organisation of pupils for learning. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs Vol.3, n.3. The University of Glasgow, Scotland.

O Ur, P. (1996) A course in language teaching: practice and theory. Cambridge University Press.

Materials    O Corpas, J. et Al. (2006) Aula Internacional 3. Barcelona: Difusión O Castón, R. et Al. (2006) Aula Internacional 3. Libro del profesor.

Barcelona: Difusión O Garmendia, A. et Al. (2006) Aula Internacional DVD. Barcelona:

Difusión

Further  Reading  O Bowler, B. and Parminter, S. (2000) Mixed-level tasks. English

Teaching Professional, Issue 15 O Bowler, B. and Parminter, S. (1997) Mixed-level teaching: tiered

tasks & bias tasks. English Teaching Professional, Issue 5 O Ireson, J. and Hallam, S. (2001). Ability Grouping in Education.

London: Paul Chapman Publishing. O Prodromou, L. (1992) Mixed Ability Classes. London: Macmillan