This first article deals with the following strategies.

Discussion and needs analysis

Student self-awareness
Work groupings
All classes are mixed ability to one extent or another.
Extreme cases, when you have near native level speakers
with beginners, can be very challenging for the teacher.

In these cases its important to remember that all students will get
something out of the class, but not necessarily the same things, and
not necessarily what you aim to teach them! For example, the
beginners may begin to get a grasp of your classroom language
whilst the stronger students may begin to be able to put a new tense
into use.

Adapting materials for mixed ability classes can take different forms.
One way to adapt materials is to rewrite reading texts and grade the
language accordingly for different levels. In an ideal world
where a teacher has all the time in the world to prepare their
classes this may be the perfect solution. However, the reality is
that this sort of adaptation is extremely time consuming and not
many teachers can actually go to this length to adapt materials
 for mixed level groups. Another problem that can arise with this
sort of adaptation is that it can be awkward to give out different
texts to different students. Theres a danger that they will
instantly realise that they have been labelled as a weak or
strong student and, in the case of the weaker students, this will
no doubt effect their motivation.

I would like to offer some ideas of how you can support your weaker
students and offer extension activities for your stronger students
whilst using the same materials as the starting point for the class.
This way the preparation time involved for the teacher isnt drastically
higher, and the group can still work together for most of the class.

These ideas are taken from a workshop I attended last year on mixed
ability classes. Thanks to my colleagues at the Young Learners
Centre in Barcelona and especially to Lucy Mardel who led the
workshop.
Extension activities for stronger students Support for weaker stud

Pre-teach difficult vocab

it written on the board f
Ask early finishers to write new vocab up on the refer to. Use visuals if p
board with definitions.
If there are gaps, give s
Readin Rewrite a part of the text in a different tense / answers in a jumbled o
g person. extras.
Draw attention to the tit
Write their personal opinion / a short summary of and set the scene befor
the text. Write questions about the text. mind is on track for the
Break the text into chun
option of only reading s

Give out the tape script and nominate a

vocabulary master to look up tricky words or Pre-teach vocabulary, u
expressions in a dictionary to then explain to the prompts when appropri
Listeni
group. Give students time to d
ng
Focus on the accents or intonation of the before feeding back to
speakers and get students to copy chunks.
Give students the tape
 If its a true/false activity, follow on by asking listening.
why/why not?)
If its a gap fill, supply th
few extras.

Correct the draft togeth

Give creative tasks that students can do at their students copy up in nea
own level.
Reduce the word limit.
Indicate mistakes using correction code to give
students a chance to self-correct. (Sp = spelling, Encourage use of dictio
Writing Gr = grammar etc.) books.

Increase the word limit. Give and example piec

model before they begi
Indicate where they could use more interesting
ways of saying something. Pair or group weaker st
stronger students.

Give students time to re

gather their ideas befor
discussion.

Ask students to justify / defend their opinions. Pair weak and strong to
Ban easy words like nice to push their vocab to a
higher level. Let students make note
speaking activity begins
Speaki
Get students to record themselves and self- thinking time.
ng
correct.
Grade students on the
Pair students of higher level together so they rather than their ability.
really go for it.
With a whole class min
survey or a find someb
practise the questions a
beforehand.
 Give weaker students m
thinking time before cal
answer questions.

Tips for good classroom management with mixed ability groups

Grouping
It may seem contradictory to suggest that you group stronger
students together and also suggest that you group weak with
strong. However, depending on the task and the class
dynamics I think there are usually opportunities for both types
of grouping. Its a good idea to experiment with mixing up the
strong and weak students whilst also giving time for stronger
students to work together so they work to their full potential.
Giving Instructions
Giving clear instructions is vital for weaker students to be able to
follow the class. Use hand gestures as well as words to explain
the tasks and use stronger students to check back the
instructions and even explain the task in their own language if
necessary.
Error correction
Stronger students can probably stand more correction. Dont over
correct weak students as it will affect their confidence.
Encourage students to correct one another and demand a
higher level of accuracy from the stronger students.
Setting goals
Setting goals for each class or for the whole term will help to focus
the students. The goals can be different for each student,
depending on their level, but realising the goals will give the
same sense of achievement to all.
Further Reading:
Discussion and needs analysis
It is easy for students to get frustrated in a class of mixed ability.
Stronger students may feel held back, weaker students may feel
pressured. The teacher may feel stressed. The best solution to this is to
have an open-class discussion about the classroom situation - to ensure
the best for everyone it is better to acknowledge the situation and for
everyone to agree how to deal with it. It is probably best to stage and
structure the discussion.
Needs Analysis
Use a needs analysis to prompt the students to reflect upon their
learning style, learning strategies, language needs, learning enjoyment,
motivation, language strengths and weaknesses. Questions that might
be included are...
What kinds of class activities do you enjoy / benefit from?
Which language skill do you most wish to develop?
Do you prefer working individually or with a partner?
Would you rather sit and listen to the teacher all lesson or participate
in group work?

Students compare their answers in pairs or small groups. You should

collect the information and prepare a statistical representation of the
key questions and answers. This will help to develop the sense of shared
community in the class.
Explain and discuss
Explain the mixed-level situation to the students and give a list of
possible approaches to the teaching and learning. In pairs, the students
rank the approaches/ideas according to their suitability for the
situation.
Following feedback, you should highlight the strategies you plan to use.
A student contract
Developing with the students, or perhaps writing it yourself, a contract
of behaviour for activities is a useful device. 'I will help and support my
activity partner.' 'I will participate in group work.'
Tell them what you are going to do
If you think your students are not mature enough to carry out this kind
of reflection, explain the situation to the class and tell them what
strategies you will be using. If students know what to expect, you can
hope that they will cooperate.
All of the above work could be done in the mother tongue, although I
feel it is best done primarily in the target language (as it draws attention
to the fact that this is a learning language issue.)

Student self-awareness
Encourage students to develop an awareness of their own language
abilities and learning needs. What are their strengths and weaknesses,
and how can they focus on these? How can they measure their own
progress
This may take the form of a learner's diary, regular self-assessment,
keeping records of mistakes, keeping a record of things learnt.
Work groupings
Varying the way students work in the class will help meet the variety of
levels in the class.
Pair work
You can pair strong with strong, weak with weak, or strong with weak.
Perhaps in a very controlled activity, the strong with weak will work
well. In a freer activity, perhaps strong with strong will be of benefit.
Variety in the pairings is the key here - and you should also be sensitive
to the general relationships between different students, and learn to
note who works well with whom.
Group work
These groups could be of mixed levels or similar ones. The hope is that
in a smaller group, the weaker student will feel more able to contribute.
Also, if the group is working with a set of information, divide the
information between the students, forcing them to work together.
You may consider dividing your class into groups by level for the whole
lesson, enabling you to give a different level or number of tasks to each
group. Discussion of this strategy with the class should help prevent
stigmatisation.

Whole class - mingles

This is a favoured strategy of mine. A mingle activity involves students
talking or interacting with many different members of the class in a
short period of time in order to achieve a task. This means that any one
student will work with students at different levels - experiencing
stronger and weaker levels of communication. This supports the weaker
students and provides opportunities for the stronger ones.
A classic activity is a 'Find someone who...'
In this activity the student has to survey the class to find people
who(for example)
have got something - Do you have a CD player? Or
have done something - Have you eaten fish and chips? Or
like something - Do you like tennis?

If a student answers yes to a question, then the other student should

ask for more information. If a student answers no, then the other
should find a new person to ask, and may come back to the first
student with another question later on.

The potential for this is endless. It is a great way to provide practice of

a particular language structure/area (10 questions all using the
past simple) and provides controlled practice as well as the
opportunity for further freer discussion. It also creates a lively
classroom dynamic.

Mingles can take many forms - students may have to find the person
who has a matching word to theirs, or the second half of a split
sentence. The students may all have the same or different
questions, or a mixture. The key is the general principle of an
information gap or communicative need.

Overall, variety in the types of working groups, and an open discussion

of the class situation will help to deal with some of the difficulties that
are present in mixed ability classes. The aim of these strategies is to
create a positive working environment, which is all part of ensuring
better learning.

This second article deals with the following strategies.

Range of tasks
Extra work / Homework
Student nomination
Error correction
Conclusion
Range of tasks
This involves creating or providing different tasks for different levels.
For example, the number of comprehension questions for a text. You
might have two sets of questions, A and B. Perhaps all students have to
complete set A, the stronger ones also have to complete set B. Or, they
even have an extra reading text.

This obviously increases the amount of lesson preparation. However, it

is possible to think of fairly simple extra tasks. For example, during a
reading lesson, the stronger students have to do detailed dictionary
work on vocabulary in the text. It takes very little time to select words
for the students to research. With the stronger students spending 10
minutes working with dictionaries, you have time to monitor and help
the weaker ones with the text. Then you can go through the shared
comprehension tasks as a class, and perhaps the stronger students can
make a presentation about the words they have researched.

Extra work / homework

It is straightforward to give different students different homework -
unless it is part of a standardised assessment procedure. Give weaker
students homework which really does consolidate the class work, and
give the stronger students work that will widen their knowledge or put
it to the test a little more. When teaching mixed ability classes, the
weaker students will be missing things during the lesson, or failing to
understand. Use homework to address this. The stronger students may
feel held back during the class, so homework can now really push them
(if they are so inclined!)
Writing tasks are great for homework, as a productive skill that can be
performed individually. You can expect more from the stronger
students, and use it as a way to identify their weaknesses, which may
not be so apparent during the class.

Student nomination
This is a simple classroom management technique that really helps in
the mixed ability class.
When asking for answers to questions, ask particular students, rather
than asking the class in a open fashion e.g. 'What's the answer to
number 9?' is an open question, whereas 'What's the answer to number
nine, Maria?' is a nominated question. If you ask open questions, the
same old strong students will provide the answers. This creates a poor
dynamic to the class, for many reasons.
When nominating...
Ask the question before you give the name of the student. That way,
everyone has to listen
Consider how easy it is for the student to answer. If a weak student
will struggle, perhaps ask a stronger student. If a weak student
should be capable, then ask them.
Avoid making students seem foolish, and yet also avoid patronising
them by only asking super simple questions
Nominate with variety. Be careful to avoid nominating the same
selection of students. In a large class, I keep a note of the students
I have asked over a lesson, just to make sure I haven't developed a
pattern.

Error correction
In a mixed level class you can have different expectations of the
language the different students produce. Sometimes, it can push
stronger students if you correct them heavily - although you should be
sensitive about this. And for weaker students, be more selective in your
error correction.

To conclude
The key strategies for teaching mixed level classes are probably
developing a positive and collaborative working atmosphere and
providing a variety of work suitable for different levels. It probably
doesn't work to stick your head in the sand and pretend the class is all
of one homogenous level, a situation which doesn't exist anywhere.
Gareth Rees, teacher/teacher trainer, London Metropolitan University,
UK

difficulties
In addition to exploiting Discover English 1 course resources to the
full, remember to:
get to know your class as fast as you can. Quickly establish
which students need more help and in which area. You
could use one of the Discover English progress tests A
or B as an initial diagnostic test
establish if a given student really is very weak or if there is
another issue at play, e.g. does he/she suffer from an
attention deficit condition or another problem such as
dyslexia? Ask colleagues and maximise any opportunity
you have for parent contact. If necessary, alert your
school
give all students a sense of achievement, e.g. ask weak
students easier questions and stretch strong students
with more challenging ones. Try not to make it obvious
though!
use the star system in the Discover English Workbook.The
grammar exercises are graded from one star
(everybody can do this exercise) to three stars (a more
challenging exercise for the stronger students)
move on to freer practice activities with strong classes
more quickly than with weak classes
allow the students to work at their own pace when doing
practice exercises or activities if your class is very
mixed ability. Make sure all students always have
something achievable to do
take care with pairings. You can pair strong with strong,
weak with weak, or strong with weak. Strong and weak
students may work well togetherin very controlled
activities, but in a freer activity, strong with strong may
work better. If your classroom situation allows, it is a
good idea to vary pairings from the beginning. Allocate
tasks in group activities so the strong students dont
always dominate. Weak students often work better in
smaller groups
allocate different homework tasks for students with
learning difficulties, e.g. a simple copying task or a
consolidation worksheet work through exercises with
 the whole class if its a weak class consider giving a
weak class Test A to do at home and Test B to do in
class
cater for the students different learning styles and
preferences by using a variety of activity types in each
lesson. This will help even very weak students to feel
they do something well. Here are some examples
Kinaesthetic learnerslearn through movement. Some appropriate
activities are: clapping rhythmically, acting out, pointing, miming,
and moving into and out of groups. For example in unit 3, having
been introduced to animal vocabulary, students are asked to mime
an animal for their partner to guess.
Visual learnerslearn through activities involving colour, pictures,
diagrams, and drawings. Regular wall displays or perhaps an
English corner are especially effective ways of motivating our
visual learners.
Auditory learners learn by listening to music, having discussions,
doing listening exercises, and even silence, e.g. say: Close your
eyes for one minute and think about your favourite things.