MIXED ABILITY CLASSES

MIXED ABILITY CLASSES

Actually, all our students are individual. They have different names, different appearance, different age and gender, different background. They are different in their character, their interests and their likes and dislikes. Naturally, every our student processes and learns new information in different ways. It means that all of them have different learning styles out of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic ones. As we deal with the problem of mixed ability classes, we should realize how to learn and what methods of learning best fits our students. Understanding this can help maximize time you spend teaching by incorporating different techniques to meet the classes objectives.

We know that mixed ability classes are those made up of students of different levels of proficiency. It means that students may have different strengths, weaknesses and approaches to learning. They may respond differently to various teaching methods and classroom situations. According to Georgina Ma http://www.witslanguageschool.com/NewsRoom/ArticleView/tabid/180/ArticleId/58/Teaching-Tips-Mixed-Ability-Classes.aspx we can outline the next reasons for mixed ability classes:

·         Age or maturity 

·         Intelligence and multiple intelligences

·         Learning style

·         Language aptitude

·         Language levels 

·         Mother tongue

·         Learner autonomy

·         Motivation or attitude towards the subject

·         Cultural background

Basing on Richmond Publishing According to Ur (1991: 303), some of the challenges teachers of mixed ability classes may face include: 

·         Discipline - Teachers may find their mixed ability classes are chaotic or difficult to control. Discipline problems occur when learners feel frustrated, lose concentration, get bored, or behave in a disruptive manner. Some reasons why mixed ability classes may be more difficult to control may be because different learners may find the subject matter easier or more difficult to grasp, weaker learners may require more assistance from the teacher, or more advanced learners may dominate aspects of the lessons. 

·         Interest – Learners may differ in their learning styles, motivation and interests. Teachers of mixed ability classes may find it difficult to provide content and activities that are motivating and interesting to all learners in a class. 

·         Effective learning for all – In mixed ability classes it is difficult to provide effective learning for all learners. The content or activities in a lesson may be too easy for some and too difficult for others. 

·         Materials – Materials are usually rigidly aimed at a certain kind of learner and may not offer teachers options or flexibility. 

·         Individual awareness – Teachers may find it difficult to get to know and follow the progress of all learners in a class. In classes where there are many differences, teachers are not able to devote time and attention equally to all learners (Šimanová, 2010). 

·         Participation – In mixed ability classes, more advanced learners tend to participate more actively than weaker learners. Lack of participation or attention from the teacher, may further affect weaker learners proficiency in the subject. 

·         Correction – Teachers may feel overwhelmed by the marking load and may also not feel equipped to deal with the errors made by a student. For example a subject teacher may not feel comfortable correcting a learner’s language errors.