UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI FILOZOFSKA FAKULTETA
ODDELEK ZA ANGLISTIKO IN AMERIKANISTIKO ODDELEK ZA ROMANSKE JEZIKE IN KNJIŽEVNOSTI
PETRA PRELESNIK
Teaching Strategies for Managing a Heterogeneous Foreign Language Classroom
Estrategias docentes para la gestión de aulas heterogéneas en la enseñanza de lenguas
extranjeras
Strategije poučevanja, ki jih uporabljajo učitelji tujih jezikov za vodenje heterogenega razreda
Magistrsko delo
Mentorja:
izr. prof. dr. Marjana Šifrar Kalan red. prof. dr. Janez Skela
Študijski program:
Anglistika – D-PED Španščina – D-PED
Ljubljana, 2021
2
Abstract
Teaching Strategies for Managing a Heterogeneous Foreign Language Classroom
The master’s thesis explores the issue of heterogeneous foreign language classrooms in Slovene primary and secondary schools. The thesis points out the advantages and challenges of heterogeneous foreign language classrooms followed by an array of teaching strategies for alleviating the challenges. A Likert-type questionnaire was administered to 50 primary and 57 secondary school teachers, among whom 86 teachers teach English and 30 teachers teach Spanish as a foreign language. The purpose of the questionnaire was twofold – first, to examine the challenges foreign language teachers are faced with in a heterogeneous setting, second, to identify the strategies they use to overcome them. The results demonstrate that the challenges primary and secondary teachers face overlap only partially. Moreover, it was found that English and Spanish teachers predominately use the same teaching strategies.
However, teachers’ years of experience do make a difference as to what teaching strategies they use.
Key words: heterogeneous classroom, teaching strategies, primary school, secondary school, foreign language teaching
3 Resumen
Estrategias docentes para la gestión de aulas heterogéneas en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras
El objetivo principal del Trabajo Fin de Máster es investigar la cuestión de las aulas heterogéneas de las lenguas extranjeras en las escuelas primarias y secundarias en Eslovenia. El trabajo destaca las ventajas de las aulas heterogéneas y los desafíos a los que se enfrentan docentes de lenguas extranjeras en estas aulas. Se presentan varias estrategias docentes que pueden aliviar estos desafíos. Los cuestionarios tipo escala de Likert fueron divulgados a 50 docentes de escuela primaria y 57 docentes de secundaria, de los cuales 86 docentes enseñan inglés y 30 docentes enseñan español como lengua extranjera. Los resultados demuestran que los desafíos a los que se enfrentan los docentes de primaria y secundaria son solo parcialmente iguales.
Además, fue establecido que los docentes de inglés y los de español utilizan predominantemente las mismas estrategias docentes. Sin embargo, dependiendo de los años de experiencia, los docentes suelen utilizar diferentes estrategias docentes.
Palbras clave: aulas heterogéneas, estrategias docentes, escuela primaria, escuela secundaria, enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras
4 Izvleček
Strategije poučevanja, ki jih uporabljajo učitelji tujih jezikov za vodenje heterogenega razreda
Magistrsko delo raziskuje problematiko heterogenih razredov v slovenskih osnovnih in srednjih šolah. Delo najprej izpostavlja prednosti in izzive heterogenih razredov, čemur sledi predstavitev širokega nabora možnih strategij poučevanja za premagovanje izzivov v takšnem učnem okolju. Vprašalnik s petstopenjsko Likertovo lestvico je bil razdeljen 50 osnovnošolskim in 57 srednješolskih učiteljem, med katerimi 86 učiteljev poučuje angleščino, 30 učiteljev pa španščino kot tuji jezik. Namen vprašalnika je bil dvojen – prvič, proučiti, s katerimi izzivi se učitelji tujih jezikov srečujejo v heterogenem razredu, in drugič, ugotoviti, katere strategije učitelji uporabljajo za omilitev izzivov v tovrstnem učnem okolju. Rezultati kažejo, da so izzivi, s katerimi se soočajo osnovnošolski in srednješolski učitelji le delno enaki. Poleg tega je bilo ugotovljeno, da učitelji angleščine in španščine pretežno uporabljajo enake strategije poučevanja.
Glede na izkušnje poučevanja pa učitelji običajno uporabljajo različne strategije poučevanja.
Ključne besede: heterogeni razredi, strategije poučevanja, osnovna šola, srednja šola, poučevanje tujega jezika
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Table of Contents
1 Introduction ...8
2 Heterogeneous Classrooms ...9
3 Advantages of Heterogeneous Classrooms ... 10
4 Challenges of Heterogeneous Classrooms ... 12
5 Differentiation and Individualization... 14
6 Heterogeneous Classrooms in Slovenian Schools ... 17
6.1 Implementation of Foreign Languages in Slovenian Education System ... 18
6.1.1 First Foreign Language in Primary Schools ... 18
6.1.2 Second foreign language in Primary Schools ... 19
6.1.3 Foreign Languages in Secondary Schools ... 20
7 ‘‘Struggling’’ Learners ... 21
8 ‘’Successful’’ Learners ... 25
9 Getting to Know the Students ... 27
10 Teaching Strategies for Managing a Heterogeneous Foreign Language Classroom ... 28
10.1 Building on Learner’s Background Knowledge ... 28
10.2 Open-Ended Activities ... 30
10.3 Individualisation ... 31
10.4 Working Together ... 33
10.5 Multiple Intelligences ... 35
10.6 Materials ... 41
10.6.1 Adapting Materials ... 41
10.6.2 Differentiated Materials ... 42
10.7 Personalization... 44
10.8 Core and Branching Activities... 45
10.9 Communicative Activities ... 45
10.10 Activities for Early Finishers ... 47
10.10.1 Class Library ... 47
10.11 Developing Student Autonomy ... 47
10.12 Implementation of Information and Communications Technology ... 48
11 Empirical Part ... 50
11.1 Aims of the Research and Hypotheses ... 50
11.2 Methodology ... 51
11.2.1 The Questionnaire ... 51
11.2.2 The Participants ... 52
12 Results ... 52
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12.1 Demographic Data ... 53
12.2 The Challenges of Heterogeneous Classrooms ... 54
12.2.1 Students’ Knowledge ... 54
12.2.2 Students’ Motivation ... 56
12.2.3 Coursebooks and the Preparation of Teaching Materials ... 59
12.2.4 Classroom Management ... 62
12.2.5. Open-Ended Question 1 ... 63
12.3 The Strategies for Dealing with the Challenges of the Heterogeneous Classrooms ... 66
12.3.1 Student Grouping ... 66
12.3.2 Adapting Activities ... 72
12.3.3 Additional Activities ... 77
12.3.4 Motivating Students ... 82
12.3.5 Open-Ended Question 2 ... 87
12.3.6 Open-Ended Question 3 ... 88
13 Conclusion ... 91
14 Summary in Spanish ... 93
14.1 Introducción ... 93
14.2 Aulas heterogéneas ... 93
14.3 Ventajas y desafíos de aulas heterogéneas ... 93
14.4 Estrategias docentes para la gestión de aulas heterogéneas ... 94
14.4.1 Aprovechar los conocimientos previos del alumno... 94
14.4.2 Actividades de final abierto ... 95
14.4.3. Individualización... 95
14.4.4 Collaboración ... 95
14.4.5 Inteligencias múltiples ... 95
14.4.6 Materiales ... 96
14.4.7 Personalización ... 96
14.4.8 Actividades básicas y adicionales ... 96
14.4.9 Actividades comunicativas ... 97
14.4.10 Desarrollar la autonomía del estudiante ... 97
14.4.11 Implementación de tecnología de la información y las comunicaciones ... 97
14.5 La parte empírica ... 98
14.5.1 Metodología ... 98
14.6 Resultados y conclusión ... 99
15 Bibliography ... 104
16 Appendix ... 109
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Figure 1: Languages Taught by the Teachers... 53
Figure 2: Type of School the Teachers Teach in ... 53
Figure 3: Teaching Experience ... 54
Figure 4: Primary School Teachers’ Responses: Students’ Knowledge ... 54
Figure 5: Secondary School Teachers’ Responses: Students’ Knowledge ... 55
Figure 6: Primary School Teachers’ Responses: Students’ Motivation ... 56
Figure 7: Secondary School Teachers’ Responses: Students’ Motivation ... 57
Figure 8: Primary School Teachers’ Responses: Coursebook and Teaching Materials ... 59
Figure 9: Secondary School Teachers’ Responses: Coursebook and Teaching Materials .... 60
Figure 10: Primary School Teachers’ Responses: Classroom Management ... 62
Figure 11: Secondary School Teachers’ Responses: Classroom Management ... 62
Figure 12: Primary School Teachers’ Responses: Student Grouping ... 66
Figure 13: Secondary School Teachers’ Responses: Student Grouping ... 67
Figure 14: English Teachers’ Responses: Student Grouping ... 68
Figure 15: Spanish Teachers’ Responses: Student Grouping ... 68
Figure 16: Responses Based on Years of Experience: 0–5 Years ... 69
Figure 17: Responses Based on Years of Experience: 5–20 Years ... 69
Figure 18: Responses Based on Years of Experience: Over 20 Years ... 70
Figure 19: Primary School Teachers’ Responses: Adapting Activities... 72
Figure 20: Secondary School Teachers’ Responses: Adapting Activities ... 72
Figure 21: English Teachers’ Responses: Adapting Activities ... 74
Figure 22: Spanish Teachers’ Responses: Adapting Materials ... 74
Figure 23: Responses Based on Years of Experience: 0–5 Years ... 75
Figure 24: Responses Based on Years of Experience: 5–20 Years ... 75
Figure 25: Responses Based on Years of Experience: Over 20 Years ... 76
Figure 26: Primary School Teachers’ Responses: Additional Activities ... 77
Figure 27: Secondary School Teachers’ Responses: Additional Activities ... 77
Figure 28: English Teachers’ Responses: Additional Activities ... 78
Figure 29: Spanish Teachers’ Responses: Additional Activities ... 79
Figure 30: Responses Based on Year of Experience: 0–5 Years ... 79
Figure 31: Responses Based on Years of Experience: 5–20 Years ... 80
Figure 32: Responses Based on Years of Experience: Over 20 Years ... 80
Figure 33: Primary School Teachers’ Responses: Motivating Students ... 82
Figure 34: Secondary School Teachers’ Responses: Motivating Students ... 82
Figure 35: English Teachers’ Responses: Motivating Students ... 84
Figure 36: Spanish Teachers’ Responses: Motivating Students ... 84
Figure 37: Responses Based on Year of Experience: 0–5 Years ... 85
Figure 38: Responses Based on Year of Experience: 5–20 Years ... 85
Figure 39: Responses Based on Years of Experience: Over 20 Years ... 86
8
1 Introduction
In many a classroom, the approach to teaching is rather unitary: the students read the same chapter, take the same notes, and answer the same comprehension questions afterward. However, the students in every classroom are a diverse lot. Not only do their interests differ immensely, but they express individual levels of academic readiness in different subjects and areas within the same subject. Thus, a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning is probably not the best option. By taking into account their students’ varying needs and interests, teachers can provide differentiated avenues for students to acquire lesson content, process new information, and develop their skills.
Only then, students can maximize their capacity as learners.
In the theoretical part of this master’s thesis, heterogeneous classrooms, as well as their advantages and challenges are discussed. What is more, we present the difference between differentiation and individualization and the situation of heterogeneous classes in Slovene schools where we focus on the implementation of first and second foreign languages in primary and secondary schools. We also propose how to go about teaching the struggling learners and the successful ones and how to get to know them better as individuals so that the instruction can be adapted to fit their needs. Furthermore, numerous strategies for managing a heterogeneous classroom are provided, such as taking advantage of students’ background knowledge, using open-ended activities, individualisation and personalization of tasks, student grouping, adapting the materials, implementing multiple intelligences, preparing additional activities for early finishers, developing students’ autonomy, as well as implementing ICT tools.
The empirical part presents data analysis of a questionnaire that was disseminated to primary and secondary school teachers that teach English and Spanish. The questionnaire investigates teachers’ attitudes toward challenges they face when managing a heterogeneous classroom and the strategies they use to alleviate them.
The gathered data is quantitative, apart from three open-ended questions where respondents could provide more thorough responses.
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2 Heterogeneous Classrooms
Throughout the years there have been many different terms used for the same concept. Whether authors talk about heterogeneous classes, mixed-ability classes, differentiated classes or, multi-level classes they all have the same notion in mind: a class that consists of individuals who differ in achievement, participation, language abilities, and personal characteristics. Prodromou (1992: 7) shares the opinion of most authors, namely that every learner is an individual with their own needs, interests, personal characteristics, experience, and beliefs. Moreover, teachers should consider learners' previous experience, feelings, knowledge, style of learning, etc., and not ''treat the learner as empty-headed'', because that might hinder their learning. Ur (2012: 272–74) states that every classroom is a heterogeneous classroom if we keep in mind that learners differ from each other in many ways, such as age (maturity), gender, knowledge (of English, other languages, or general knowledge), abilities (multiple intelligences, cognitive ability – some students are better learners, they acquire knowledge more quickly), background experience (cultural and linguistic background, learning experience and culture of learning), and personal characteristics (personality, learning style, interests, attitude, and motivation). In every classroom, there is an array of students who differ in important ways. When it comes to learning a foreign language, they might not learn at the same pace: some might acquire certain aspects of it faster than others, some might not be good at learning vocabulary but excel in grammar, some might have problems when it comes to communicating but no problems at all when they express themselves through writing. Anijovich et al.
(2004: 25) describe a heterogeneous classroom as a space in which all students, whether they are less or more successful when it comes to learning, can progress and achieve lesson objectives. However, for this to happen they all need to be given challenging, powerful, and stimulating assignments, tailored to their different needs, that encourage them to develop their individual capacities.
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3 Advantages of Heterogeneous Classrooms
There are several positive aspects when it comes to teaching heterogeneous groups.
Ur (2012: 275–276) enumerates a few of them, for instance, that the students have different background knowledge and thus have a lot to offer when it comes to class interactions. Students’ interests and opinions differ greatly among individuals, more than in homogeneous groups. If the learners come from different cultures, they can develop intercultural communicative competence within the class. Another point the author makes is that in a heterogeneous setting, there is more cooperative learning – the teacher is not the only source of knowledge. This cultivates a pleasant atmosphere in the classroom which enables learning. Teachers benefit from heterogeneous classes too, as ‘these classes can be seen as very much more challenging and interesting to teach, and provide greater opportunity for creativity, innovation and general professional development on the part of the teacher’ (ibid.: 276). According to the research (Nolimal, 2007, in Krek, 2011: 148–149) on the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of differentiation, the organization of lessons in heterogeneous groups is more convenient for schools, as the groups of students are smaller, the atmosphere in the classroom is pleasant because the students know each other well and are prepared to help each other. Students do not feel stigmatized in any way. Also, teachers have a better overview of the knowledge of all the students.
Numerous benefits of heterogeneous grouping which focus on cooperation and the dialogue learning model have also been identified in a research project INCLUD-ED (Konzorcij projekta Included, 2010: 50–52): In a heterogeneous classroom cooperative learning often takes place, which has a positive impact on learning success of both high and low achieving students as it requires students to reach the group’s objective and it holds individuals accountable for their learning. Such a setting positively influences students’ self-esteem. The research does not support the claim that successful students are held back in a heterogeneous classroom, on the contrary, they gain from it as much as average students and unsuccessful ones. As already mentioned, students become an important resource of knowledge in the classroom.
Thus, students do not only receive support and feedback from their teacher, but also their peers, which produces meaningful inter-group interactions, and a feeling of positive interdependence. Moreover, it is important to note that ‘‘when the classroom
11 and the resources are appropriately organised, students with disabilities do better academically and develop a better self-concept in the regular classroom than in segregated classrooms. The inclusion of students with disabilities has no negative effects on their peers’ performance and provides new learning opportunities for all’’
(ibid.). Not only is the heterogeneous grouping favourable for students' learning achievement, but it also produces other beneficial effects, such as the development of social skills, solidarity, acceptance of diversity, etc. Besides raising students' self- confidence, heterogeneous groups encourage healthy, respectful relationships among peers, which is of great importance in groups with learners from different socio-cultural backgrounds. It also contributes to the inclusion of students with disabilities, allowing them to learn alongside and receive support from their non-disabled peers.
Collaboration with fellow peers stimulates students' motivation and helps them assume responsibility for their own and their classmates' learning (ibid.).
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4 Challenges of Heterogeneous Classrooms
Undoubtedly heterogeneous classes present problems for foreign language teachers.
Many challenges arise when dealing with such a group of students. If teachers are not familiar with different strategies with which these can be alleviated, they have a tough time managing such a group. Usually, their approach is 'teaching to the middle' – they pick exercises that satisfy the average student, but might be boring for the advanced students, or too difficult for the less advanced ones. In this case, not all of them are learning, which presents a serious problem for the teacher. Ur (2012: 274) claims that the problem often lies in the coursebooks, which are usually aimed at a particular level and cannot cater for a heterogeneous group. The teacher has to come up with ideas on how to adapt them to fit the needs of their students. The main drawback of adapting or finding new material is the amount of time the teacher has to spend on creating new activities. Another challenge the author lists is active participation: most often only the successful and confident learners participate in the classroom, raising their hands, volunteering answers. Other students remain quiet for most of the lesson or when called upon, they utter a short sentence in response. It may happen, that some students do not understand the instructions for the activity in the target language, or they might be afraid to participate because they think their level is lower than their peers’ is. Having all this in mind, there is a possibility that learners get bored during the lesson. Whether they are not interested in the topic the class is dealing with or the level of the exercise is too challenging, or not challenging enough for them, so they do not want to complete it. In either case, a serious problem arises – students are not learning.
As a result, disciplinary issues occur, such as disruptive talking, sleeping in class, not wanting to speak in the target language, etc. Such problems might be caused by less advanced learners who are not following what the rest of the class is doing due to a lack of understanding of the instruction for the activity, or lack of linguistic knowledge to participate with the rest of the class. The advanced students might also start misbehaving when waiting for their peers to catch up (ibid.: 275).
In the research, carried out in 2011 (Nolimal, 2007, in Krek, 2011: 148–149), it is pointed out that the main disadvantage of such grouping is that his form is extremely demanding for teachers due to the need for constant internal differentiation.
13 Several disadvantages and limitations of managing a heterogeneous classroom have been identified in the research on internal differentiation and individualization (Klarič et al. 2018: 12), specifically that the teachers must discover and know well all the students’ differences and needs and consider them when preparing lesson plans, which requires a lot of commitment and engagement from the teachers and is strenuous when one teacher teaches multiple classes. It is difficult to take individual interests and needs into account during every lesson, it often happens that the teachers can only partially achieve that. If the differences in knowledge among students are very large, internal learning differentiation does not suffice – teachers have to find and use other ways of working (flexible learning differentiation, individualized learning assistance, etc.). Managing a heterogeneous classroom requires highly qualified teachers: they must master the learning content, have the ability to analyze it, and adapt the learning objectives to individual students. The teacher must be sufficiently creative and flexible in the use, combination, and modification of teaching methods – great didactic skills are indispensable. Moreover, understanding students’ individual needs and considering their diversity presupposes a lot of knowledge in the field of developmental psychology. Last but not least, for managing such a classroom, the room has to be big enough, there must be enough didactic/teaching materials, and teaching aids that facilitate teaching and learning (ibid.).
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5 Differentiation and Individualization
Strmčnik (1993, in Krek, 2011: 140) distinguishes between differentiation and individualization. The author defines differentiation as an organizational measure with which a school divides individual students into occasional or permanent, homogeneous, or heterogeneous learning groups in order to adapt the teaching and learning as much as possible. He says it is crucial that individuals are put into study groups democratically and humanely. Similarly, Kramar (2009, in Svetič, 2014: 4) describes the concept of differentiation as a procedural organizational feature of teaching, where students are divided into special groups and the teaching is adapted to fit the learners’ special needs. Likewise, Heacox (2002: 3) points out that differentiating lessons means changing the learning pace, level of difficulty, and way of teaching, by adapting the lessons to the individual needs of students, their learning styles, and interests.It takes into account the most successful ways of learning and allows students to demonstrate the acquired knowledge by emphasizing their strong areas and interests. According to the author (ibid.: 3), these are the objectives of differentiated instruction:
• development of challenging and engaging tasks for each learner;
• development of instructional activities that build on key topics and concepts, important processes and skills;
• adaptation of the content, instruction, and promotion of various forms and methods of instruction;
• response to students’ readiness, instructional needs, interests, and learning preferences;
• preparation of a learning environment that will enable students to work in varied instructional formats;
• reconciliation of curriculum requirements and goals and abilities of each student;
• development of a stimulating learner-centered environment equipped with helpful and supportive teachers.
Strmčnik (1993, in Krek, 2011: 140) defines individualization as a didactic principle that requires the teacher to discover, respect, and develop individual differences between students and adapt the lessons to student’s individual educational learning needs to
15 enable them to work as independently as possible. According to the author, differentiation is an organizational measure to facilitate the implementation of individualization as a didactic principle (ibid.). The author distinguishes between three forms of differentiation:
• Internal differentiation
• Flexible differentiation
• External differentiation
As reported by Strmčnik (ibid.) internal differentiation is characterized by maintaining heterogeneous classes and departments. Teachers take into account students’
individual abilities, needs and desires by varying learning objectives and content as well as by including individualized learning aids and other special remedial approaches. The emphasis is put on less advanced and advanced students.
When it comes to flexible differentiation, students are divided in both heterogeneous and homogeneous study groups in the following subjects: Slovene, mathematics, and English. In heterogeneous groups, the lessons focus on acquiring basic knowledge of the learning content, whereas in the homogeneous learning groups the students are taught at various levels of difficulty, where the weaker students focus their attention on acquiring elementary knowledge, and in the other two study groups students broaden their knowledge (ibid.).
External differentiation is characterized by the fact that students are divided into homogeneous study groups according to their abilities, pace of progress, and interests, which are constantly separated on two or more levels of difficulty. Separation of students can be complete (‘streaming’ – carried out in all subjects), or partial (‘setting’
– carried out only in some subjects) (ibid.). Such grouping allows creation of more adapted lessons which lead to optimal learning and as result, learners receive higher quality of knowledge (Poljak, 1990, in Kalin and Valenčič-Zuljan, 2013: 74). On the other hand, Klajdarič (2004: 118) reported that students who used to collaborate before the implementation of external differentiation fell silent in such grouping: students in the first group were afraid of failing, students in the second group were disappointed that they were not placed in the first group, and students in the third group felt inferior to their peers and experienced stigmatization. They might develop a negative self- image and a sense of inferiority.
16 Kramar (2004: 11–12) proposes to differentiate and individualize:
• learning objectives: The complexity of the objectives must be adapted to the characteristics and abilities of the students;
• learning content: Students can achieve the same goals with different learning contents;
• use of didactic resources: Providing didactic resources that are key to successful differentiation;
• pace of learning;
• methods of teaching.
Furthermore, the author (ibid.: 13) states that the differentiation of the educational process needs to be carefully planned, as such a process is more demanding in all respects. Before each planning and preparation, a thorough didactic analysis of the basic components of the educational process, students, circumstances, and direct didactic conditions in which the education will take place is necessary.In the planning and preparation of differentiated lessons, it is very important to get to know the students, all their characteristics and needs.
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6 Heterogeneous Classrooms in Slovenian Schools
In Slovenian primary schools, the teachers implement internal differentiation (according to students’ abilities) with students from 1st to 9th grade. The teaching of students in fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grade is organised as basic instruction and instruction in small study groups for certain subjects – Slovene (and Italian or Hungarian where applicable), Mathematics, and English (or German) – for a maximum of one-fourth of the lessons allotted to these subjects. Basic instruction is executed at a single level, whereas flexible differentiation is carried out in small homogeneous study groups at three different levels of difficulty. Such class organization is optional for the teachers. Later, in 8th and 9th grade, the lessons of previously mentioned subjects can be organized in four different ways:
• by dividing pupils of the same class into heterogeneous study groups (classes are conducted in small groups of a maximum of 15 students),
• by teaching two teachers in a class at the same time in all or individual lessons,
• as level teaching in homogeneous learning groups at three levels of difficulty, which are defined by the objectives or standards of knowledge in the curricula (external differentiation),
• as a combination of the forms of differentiation referred to in the preceding indents of this paragraph.
(Rules on the implementation of differentiation at classes in elementary schools)
Each year, the principal produces a proposal on the implementation of forms of differentiation that will be carried out next school year in the second and third educational period. Before making the final decision on the form of differentiation, the school council discusses the proposal with the teacher’s council and the parents’
council.
After consultation of the class teacher, the counselling service, and professional assets, the students of each class are divided into study groups.
• Homogeneous learning groups are formed in accordance with ‘student’s assessment of the subject, participation and achievement in the field of knowledge competitions, extracurricular activities, and the student’s
18 achievement in the national knowledge test. After taking counsel from their teachers and counselling service, the students choose which study group they want to attend (three different levels).
• Heterogeneous learning groups are set up in agreement with ‘the principles of an integrated approach, development orientation, professional autonomy, topicality, interdisciplinarity and professional cooperation’ (ibid.). Student’s school marks, gender, socio-cultural background, religion, ethnicity, or nationality are not taken into account when forming such study groups (ibid.).
6.1 Implementation of Foreign Languages in Slovenian Education System
6.1.1 First Foreign Language in Primary Schools
Children are starting to acquire foreign languages at an early age in Slovenia. This offers students a better chance of becoming successful speakers of several foreign languages. Multilingualism is one of the principles of modern society and the foundation of tolerance between nations. Slovenian children have the opportunity to start learning the first foreign language as early as kindergarten. In such cases, the first foreign language is usually English. The kindergarten offers foreign language lessons as additional classes conducted by suitably qualified professionals. Such lessons are payable, which may present an extra burden for parents – some families cannot afford them at all (Krek, 2011: 87–88). Children can continue learning it when they start attending primary school, as it is required that all schools offer the first foreign language as an optional subject in the 1st grade for two hours per week. Students choose it voluntarily. The first foreign language is compulsory for all students from 2nd grade onwards. In 2nd and 3rd grade, it consists of 2 hours per week. As a rule, the first foreign language is English, but it can also be German in areas where this language is of special importance and where it is determined by the competent ministry on the proposal of local communities (ibid.:
127). Taking this into account, the differences in knowledge among students in the 2nd year are visible already, as for some of them this is the first year of learning a foreign language, and for others the second or even the third year. It must be borne in mind that some children attend foreign language courses outside of school as
19 well, which further increases the gap between students' knowledge of English.
Thus, the curriculum for the first foreign language must ensure and enable a high degree of individualisation.
6.1.2 Second foreign language in Primary Schools
To ensure linguistic diversity Slovenian primary schools offer a wide range of foreign languages, including the most widely used working languages of the EU (English, French, German), neighbouring languages(German, Italian, Croatian, and Hungarian), official languages of the United Nations (Russian, Spanish, Chinese), Latin, and other languages for which valid syllabi exist. (Even though the systemic possibility of learning all these languages exists some languages are not taught: there is no interest in them and the school does not offer them.) (Straus, 2018: 14).
Primary schools offer a second foreign language as an optative subject from the 4th grade onwards for two hours per week. Students can choose it voluntarily, but if they do, they must attend it until the end of the school year.
As a part of compulsory electives courses, students in 7th, 8th and 9th grade may choose a second or third foreign language course. It is taught for two hours per week (or three, if the student’s parents agree). The syllabi are written on two levels of difficulty, depending on students' prior knowledge. If students pick such a course, they usually attend it in all three grades. (Krek, 2011: 135–136).
The current primary school curriculum, therefore, offers quite a few opportunities to learn foreign languages. Ideally, a ninth-grader can speak two foreign languages at a quite high level at the end of primary school, and the third one at a lower level, given that he has the opportunity to learn the first foreign language continuously for all nine years (reaching A2/B1 level), the second foreign language for six continuous years (achieving A2 level), and a third foreign language for three years (achieving A1/A2 level) (Straus, 2018: 16).
20 6.1.3 Foreign Languages in Secondary Schools
Entering secondary school, a high percentage of students continue learning their first foreign language, which is a compulsory subject of all secondary school programs except lower vocational education programs. In all grammar schools and certain secondary vocational schools, a second foreign language is a compulsory subject.
Besides first and second foreign language courses, the grammar school program offers an opportunity to learn a third foreign language as a part of elective subjects from the 2nd year onwards. Students can choose from eight different languages:
English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Latin, and Greek (Straus, 2018: 16).
The general Matura, an exam students take in order to complete secondary education, consists of exams on three subjects (Slovene, foreign language, and mathematics) on a basic or higher level. There are two optional subjects that students choose for themselves (psychology, geography, foreign language, etc.). Students have the possibility to test their knowledge in two foreign languages. In the first foreign language at a higher level, students at the Matura should achieve B2 level, and in the second foreign language B1 level. The National Examinations Centre issues a certificate with a European level of foreign language proficiency to students who achieve B2 level.
(ibid.: 17)
As is evident from the aforementioned information, the students’ level of their first foreign language differs upon entering secondary schools. With some students reaching B1 level at the end of primary school, and others remaining at lower levels, this can be a serious problem for foreign language teachers and students. Given the fact that some students do not opt for learning a second foreign language in primary school when transitioning to secondary schools, they start acquiring it from the beginning, whereas some of their peers had already reached A1/A2 level in primary school. Since secondary schools generally do not offer advanced and less advanced students two parallel programs for learning foreign languages (and if they do, students usually do not opt for the advanced course due to the fact that they want to choose the
‘’easier’’ option), teachers in secondary schools are presented with a challenging task:
ensuring that all students of different proficiency levels are learning during the lessons.
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7 ‘‘Struggling’’ Learners
Prodromou (1992: 1) dedicates the first chapter of his book Mixed Ability Classes trying to eliminate the stereotype of the ‘bad’ language learner. It is almost impossible to talk about heterogeneous classes without having in mind that in it, there are ‘good’ and
‘bad’ learners, and those in between. We usually associate words, such as poor, low achiever, less able, less competent, weak, difficult, bad, slow, etc. with bad learners, and their opposites to good learners. These adjectives emphasise their weaknesses, which makes it difficult for the teacher to acknowledge their strengths – it is wrongful to categorise students in such a way. The author provides some teachers’ views on the bad learners: some say that they just do not want to learn at all, that they are indifferent, that they are unable to communicate due to a lack of knowledge, and that they feel disappointed in themselves and do not want to participate (ibid.: 3–4). In his research on teaching in heterogeneous classes, Millrood (2002: 131) asked various teachers to make a list of key features of their unsuccessful learners. According to them, unsuccessful ‘’learners have poor communicative skills (both receptive and productive), low language competence (ungrammatical structures, limited vocabulary, mispronunciation), and knowledge-processing problems (low memory, and poor meaning comprehension).’’ Hubbard et al. (1983: 294) describe less able learners as students who are ‘’afraid of using the foreign language’’. Their greatest deficiency is poor productive speaking – they speak only when being called on – and writing skills – they rarely experiment with the language; they only write what had already been taught, or merely translate from the grammatical system of their mother tongue into the target language. They do not feel comfortable with the inductive approach, as they need an explicit explanation of the rules being taught – and even then, the learner will not internalize the rules and constructively use them. When speaking, such students usually end up using their mother tongue, if they come about a grammatical structure that they are not comfortable with, or their speech is full of errors. There are multiple reasons why learners are not doing well in the class. Besides not being motivated to learn foreign languages, not being interested in acquiring them, and thinking that they are unable to learn them (because they have problems with other subjects as well), Ur (2012: 281) provides other reasons, such as lower cognitive ability than the rest of the group, various learning disabilities (for example, dyslexia, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)), a clinical condition that hinders their senses (hearing
22 impairment, visual impairment, developmental dyspraxia, etc.), personal problems with family or friends, and social conflicts. It depends largely on the teacher to find out the reason why a student is disturbing the lesson or behaving in an abnormal way: if a child is unable to hear well, they need to sit closer to the front. If a student suffers from psychological or physical problems, teachers might need help from the school counsellor or the student's parents to help them. The author also provides some guidelines (ibid.: 282) as to how to go about teaching under-achieving students, who are likely to hold other students in the group back: setting reachable, realistic goals (the teacher must demand that the learners accomplish them), providing differentiated tasks so that the students are able to do them and learn from them (they should not be too easy), boosting the learners' self-esteem by giving praise when they succeed – the compliments must be earned, otherwise their value is lost. In addition to these guidelines, Mraz (2005: 6) gives proposed solutions to the problem in her thesis. As well as short-term goals and constant encouragement, a positive classroom atmosphere and the looking-for-knowledge-not-ignorance method are helpful when dealing with this type of learner. Creating a pleasant atmosphere by including games, jokes, quizzes, songs, etc. in the lesson might make the students relaxed and ready to learn. They will feel comfortable with the teacher and their peers. Secondly, focusing only on areas the learners are bad at, might impede the acquisition of language – the learner loses their interest and motivation and stops trying altogether. Consequently, disciplinary problems occur. All things considered, focusing on student’s strengths rather than dwelling on their weaknesses yields better overall performance in their academic life, higher self-esteem, and motivation to learn.
In her book on differentiating instruction in regular classrooms, Heacox (2002: 106) explicates how to reach and teach students with various learning disabilities (dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, etc.) that hamper students’ ability to listen, think, speak, write, and spell. When teaching such learners teachers need to adapt their methods and materials to increase success in learning. For example, learners with hearing impairment have trouble understanding people clearly, understanding speech, and interpreting various sounds. It is harder for them to analyse (and produce) speech. It is not always easy for the teacher to identify learners with this impairment. Luckner and Carter (2001) list some of the signs teachers should pay attention to:
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‘’delayed language or literacy skills, both written and oral, some ability (usually partial to read lips), less worldly knowledge than usual because of lack of involvement with oral dialogue and/or delayed literacy, occasionally, the tendency to social isolation because of awkwardness in communication.''
Luckner and Carter (2001, in Seifert and Sutton 2009: 102) Teachers should think about various ways how to give instructions for different activities: it should not always be done just orally – it is best if teachers offer an illustrative explanation, if possible. These students should also sit closer to the front, and the teacher must talk loud enough so that they are able to hear it (Heacox, 2002: 106). When it comes to learners with dyslexia – the specific learning disability in reading – Heacox (ibid.) believes teachers ought to adapt the text (the font should be larger). Also, if the learner’s reading level is lower than the rest of their peers, it is the teacher’s job to find and provide a text that is appropriate for their level or, if discussing the same text with the whole classroom, it is best to give them differentiated post- reading activities to make sure that learners understand what they had read. Secondly, the author explains how to teach students with behavioural problems, which may occur due to certain medical conditions (e.g., ADHD), or other factors, for example, social problems (family problems, poverty, bullying, etc.). As this potentially leads to disruptive behaviour, it can interfere with the functioning of the entire classroom and challenge even the teachers with exceptional management skills. Thus, teachers need to create differentiated activities, adapted to their skills, interests, and special learning needs. The author goes on to emphasise the importance of structured activities. The instructions should be written in a bulleted list so that the students follow each step thoroughly. It is easier for them to control their learning if the activities are structured logically. Long tasks then do not seem so long, as they are divided into smaller, more digestible chunks. It is also important to provide a comfortable environment in the classroom as this is one of the reasons that trigger inappropriate behaviour (Heineman et al. 2005, in Seifert and Sutton 2009: 99). The temperature should not be too warm or too cold, the chairs should be comfortable, and all learners should sit in a position where they are able to see and hear well. Other reasons include psychological factors (illness, fatigue, hunger), unclear instructions by the teacher, activities that are too long or too complex, or not helping students when they seek for it.
24 In this short list, Heacox (2002: 108) recapitulates strategies for teaching students who are struggling:
• If possible, let students work on a test in a pair or a group,
• Give instructions in a variety of ways: orally, visually, etc.,
• Give step-by-step instructions,
• Provide different sources of new input (text, audio, video, CDs, websites, etc.),
• Assign a ‘’friend’’ that helps such learners with understanding instructions,
• Provide pre-recorded instructions, so that the student can listen to them multiple times,
• Give students time to stand up and move around the classroom, if needed,
• Provide a quiet place in a classroom for students who want to learn alone,
• For students with visual impairment provide oral instructions, as well as the written ones,
• For students with hearing impairment provide written instructions, pictures, checklists, charts, etc.,
• Arrange the classroom in a comfortable way – all students should benefit from the sitting arrangement.
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8 ‘’Successful’’ Learners
It is commonly known that some people are better at learning languages than others.
Different learners in the same classroom, taught by the same teacher, and using the same textbook learn at different pace, some are more successful than others.
According to Carroll-Sapon’s (Rubin, 1987: 42) language aptitude test, there are four linguistic parameters set as criteria to predict if students are going to be successful language learners:
• Phonetic coding: Students easily remember pronunciations of words, and mimic speech sounds.
• Grammatical sensitivity: Students understand grammatical forms of foreign language in various contexts.
• Rote memory for foreign language material: Ability to learn a large array of words in a short time by heart.
• Inductive language learning ability: Students are able ‘to infer linguistic forms, rules, and patterns from new linguistic content itself with a minimum m of supervision or guidance’.
Of course, a single way to successful language learning, unfortunately, does not exist, but there are several characteristics of successful language learners described by several authors. For example, Rubin (ibid. 46) provides an extensive list of strategies such learners use in second-language acquisition:
• Guessing: ‘’The good guesser uses all the clues which the setting offers him and thus can narrow down what the meaning and intent of the communication might be'' (ibid.), which is similar to what we do in our native language discourse. To be able to guess well the language learner needs to understand the social relationship between the speakers, the setting and mood they are in, and (but not exclusively) the knowledge of grammatical structures and vocabulary.
• Drive to communicate: The learner is strongly motivated to convey their intended message. To do that, they use all the knowledge that they have.
Moreover, they use different communicative strategies, such as
26 paraphrasing, gestures, coining new words, and asking for clarification (ibid.).
• Not afraid of making mistakes: Good language learners do not mind committing mistakes in front of others if the communicative goal is reached.
Also, they learn from their own and their peers’ mistakes (ibid.: 47)
• Attention to accuracy: Although the good language learner focuses mostly on fluency, and getting the meaning of the message across, they are continually on the lookout for the rules of the language (usage of vocabulary, grammatical forms, etc.). ‘’He attends to the form in a particular way, constantly analyzing, categorizing, synthesizing’’ (ibid.).
• Practice: The learner tends to practice both accuracy (focusing on pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary) and fluency (looking for settings in which they can use the language: watching films in the targets language, speaking with natives, participating in the classroom, etc.) (ibid.).
• Observant: Good learners discern their speech and that of others – during the lesson they are processing and storing information (ibid.).
• Attention to meaning: Good learners understand that ‘’that in any social interaction, there is room for the interpretation of the speaker's intention. He knows that many cues to the message are to be found in observing the nature of the interaction. There are a whole host of social dimensions which the good language learner uses to help in his understanding of the message and to enable him to frame an appropriate response'' (ibid.: 48).
Ur (2012: 281) describes successful students as 'high-fliers', who finish the tasks correctly without problems. She claims that they might feel bored or even frustrated when working along with students with lower proficiency levels or working on material that is too easy for them.
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9 Getting to Know the Students
Without knowing their students, the teacher cannot cater to their students' needs and interests. Therefore, it is imperative to learn about them as much as possible and taking account of this information when designing lessons and implementing different effective strategies for managing a heterogeneous class. Getting to know the students does not only help teachers to establish good rapport with them but also to ‘make choices in topics, materials, activities and to determine the overall objectives for the course’ (Woodward, 2001: 45). Various strategies will contribute to a greater understanding of the learners, such as questionnaires, ice-breaking activities, pre- course counselling, record-keeping, group discussions, a diagnostic/achievement test, interviewing students to find out their expectations, etc. (Ainslie, 1994: 11; Nolasco, 1988: 17–18; Woodward, 2001: 16–45). Besides knowing the student's name, sex, age, mother tongue, and nationality, knowing what other languages they speak (to find out if they are familiar with language learning), what their target language level is, how confident they feel about their capabilities (some will want more challenging tasks, others not so much), and what their interests are (then the teacher can pick content which will support and further expand their interest) (Woodward, 2001: 19–20) is beneficial when deciding which teaching strategies to use when preparing relevant and appropriate activities for a heterogeneous class. Nolasco (1988: 17–18) reminds us that if the course cannot be modified, it is of no use to spend a lot of time on carrying out diagnostic and achievement tests because the learner's strengths and drawbacks will soon come to light during the beginning of the course. Another method to getting to know the students is by chatting with them, whether in or out of the classroom. At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher might ask a student if he had a nice weekend, and a natural conversation might take place. The main goal is to create a pleasant learning environment, so the teacher should never ask questions of a personal nature so as to not embarrass the student (ibid.: 14).
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10 Teaching Strategies for Managing a Heterogeneous Foreign Language Classroom
Struggling learners, successful learners, and those in between need to accomplish the learning goals of the lesson – for some this is easier than for others. While some students carry out a task without problems, some do not even understand the instructions for it. In the previous chapters, we explained the characteristics of certain types of students and offered some suggestions for teaching them. In this chapter, multiple teaching strategies that teachers can use to overcome the challenges of heterogeneous classes are presented and described in detail. Anijovich and Mora (2010: 23) define teaching strategies as a set of decisions that teachers make in order to promote students’ learning. Teachers take into account what, how, and why they want their students to learn. A teacher who deepens their knowledge of didactics and has a broader repertoire of strategies and resources has a better chance of being creative and making appropriate decisions about which teaching strategies to use in each type of class and for each type of student.
The following strategies are taken from several books on managing a heterogeneous classroom written by different authors, namely:
• Ainslie (1994): Mixed-ability Teaching: Meeting Learners’ Needs;
• Cohen and Lotan (2014): Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom;
• Hess (2001): Large Multilevel classes;
• Nolasco and Arthur (1988): Large classes;
• Prodromou (1992): Mixed Ability classes;
• Ur (2012): A Course in English Language Teaching.
10.1 Building on Learner’s Background Knowledge
Some students have difficulty expressing themselves in a foreign language. It is far more difficult to speak in a foreign language than in our mother tongue, especially when the topic is not close to us, for example, the culture of the target language. Of course, the students must learn about that as well. However, teachers should keep in mind that
29 their students are not empty-headed and that they have a lot of valuable background knowledge and a wide range of cultural experience which they can use to build on what they already know. ''The students' language and culture provide a vast reservoir of material for the teacher, and a source of confidence for the learner’’ (Prodromou, 1992: 49). If a teacher can create a positive learning environment where students feel confident and relaxed, learning can take place. In heterogeneous classes, it is recommendable to use this strategy as it is easier for the struggling learners to talk about what they already know, and more interesting for the successful learners, because the topic is familiar to them and they would like to learn more about the subject. Prodromou (ibid.: 50) enumerates various topics which learners might find interesting: science and technology facts, social problems, political problems, the culture of other countries, literature, local culture, personal experience of students, life and institutions of target language countries, films love and friendship, the future, sport, travel, television, beliefs, pop music, holidays, education, etc. At the beginning of the course, the teacher might ask students which topics they would like to talk about. For example, doing different activities (questionnaires, quizzes, lists, charts, etc.) that include general knowledge involves not only those students, who are good at the target language but also the weaker ones – they are all smart, just in different ways. What is more, the author said that if the students are given the option to choose the topic of the lesson, they become more motivated and want to participate throughout the lesson.
He also lists some useful activities, for instance, making students aware of differences between their own country and the target country by creating a list in which the students fill the column that represents their culture (ibid.: 57). Another example is that the class enumerates various advantages and disadvantages of living abroad, and the teacher writes them on the board. Then students choose some of them and make a list of likes and dislikes in their notebooks. As a follow-up, they can compare the results with their partner or write a short summary of the suggestions they had picked. ‘’By making the activity hypothetical (would), this exercise allows everyone to take part’’ (ibid.: 56).
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10.2 Open-Ended Activities
In heterogeneous classes open-ended tasks work better than closed-ended because they can be accomplished at different levels: there are multiple correct responses.
When engaging in open-ended tasks, the successful students might use more complex structures and vocabulary to finish the task, or vice versa (Nolasco and Arthur, 1988: 119). Such exercises require ''minimal preparation by the teacher while aiming to achieve the maximum involvement of learners at all levels within the class'' (Prodromou, 1992: 73). The benefit of such exercises is that students work on them at their own pace and their level within the framework of the same lesson. When faced with a close-ended task (a task with only one correct answer), the weak learners are usually left out, due to being too afraid of making mistakes – there is no in-between, the answer is either correct or incorrect. The teacher must meet the needs of all the students – those who want to participate and give complex answers, those who answer with monosyllabic words, and those in between – and this is easily accomplished with this type of exercise. For instance, there is an array of correct answers to the question
‘’What happens when Janet gets up?’’. Possible answers might be: a) ‘’She has breakfast.’’, b) ‘’She goes to the kitchen and makes breakfast.’’, and c) ‘’After she gets up, she makes breakfast and then goes for a run in the park.’’ (ibid.: 75). Prodromou (ibid.) suggests that teachers teaching a heterogeneous class should make open- ended exercises their second nature. Ur (2012: 279) agrees and adds that such exercises increase the time that students are speaking because they can express their own opinion and share their experiences. Also, the less successful students use complex responses from their peers as models and reproduce them in the future.
Moreover, if the textbook has too many close-ended exercises they should be adapted.
Prodromou (1992: 80) lists different types of such exercises, for instance, yes/no questions, 'wh-' questions, multiple-choice, gap-filling, dictation, drills, etc. He offers some instructions for adapting the previously mentioned activities: when it comes to multiple-choice questions the teacher can write one on the board (so that the students do not see the answers) and asks the learners to guess the correct answer – all correct answers are accepted, even if they are not the same as the one provided in the textbook. It is also possible to adapt true/false questions that form part of reading comprehension. If a scale from 1–5 is added to the questions, it creates room for the discrepancy (the answers can be partly right or wrong) and the students feel more
31 comfortable. Also, when checking the answers, this can be a good conversation starter, as learners can explain their choice. (ibid.: 79). Similarly, Ur (2012: 279) provides additional examples, for instance, deleting the cues in a gap fill – in this way learners can fill the gaps with their own (grammatically correct) answers – or instead of students matching the halves of the sentences, the teacher can delete one column and the student make up their halves.
Even better than adapting close-ended exercises is to choose more natural open- ended ones, which benefit all kinds of students in the class. Prodromou (1992: 80) lists a few of these exercises, e. g. prediction, matching, re-ordering, use of charts, labelling diagrams, and describing. For example, when it comes to prediction every student can participate because all the answers are valid – some better than others, but all correct.
What is more, learners can make a prediction about various prompts: pictures, texts, headlines, topics, sentences, different words, etc. Also, the answers draw on their background knowledge and experience, as explained in the previous section. It is easiest for the less advanced students to make predictions about visual prompts – they do not need to understand any words or phrases, they can focus their attention on production. Talking about the prompt, the more advanced students can come up with a more complex vocabulary or grammatical structure. It is important to choose stimulating visual prompts that are of interest to the learner; if the prompts are boring, students will not want to engage in the activity (ibid.: 81).
10.3 Individualisation
Another strategy teachers can employ in a heterogeneous class is individualisation.
Students benefit from individualisation in different ways: they are able to work at their own speed, the activities they engage with congruent with their desires and interests, they learn to work independently (without constant support from their teacher), learn in a way that is tailored to their needs. Besides, individualisation plays an important role when it comes to solving problems in a heterogeneous class because it contributes to students’ a) involvement in the class (they are actively engaged in every part of the lesson), b) responsibility (carrying out individualised activities, students develop responsibility for their learning – they have to achieve their individual goal of the activity), c) motivation (many learners would rather work on an activity which is tailored for them) (Nolasco and Arthur, 1988: 109). The authors (ibid.) propose numerous ways
32 of implementing individualised exercises: the exercises students are working on might differ according to their level, needs, and interests; the students can work on a certain aspect of the same exercise; teachers can adapt the task so that it can be carried out at different levels. Ur (2012: 277) puts forward another way to enable students to work at their own pace and level: setting the time for a certain task. If the instructions are that the students have to work on a task for 5 minutes, and not that they have to do the whole exercise, it gives them the possibility to do as much as they possibly can in the allotted time: some will do more examples, and some less, but they will all be learning at their own pace. Also, when it comes to checking the answers of an exercise with numbered items, teachers can provide choice and flexibility by encouraging the learners to choose the examples themselves – in this way, the weaker students will not be afraid to participate, because they can choose easier items.
10.3.1 Dictation
Many different authors (Hess (2001: 138–9), Woodward (2001: 215), Prodromou (1992: 78)) agree that dictation is a useful technique in a heterogeneous class that can be adapted to serve all types of students. Besides using interesting texts (that students can put forward), Prodromou (1992: 78) suggests that the teacher reads the text only once, while learners try to write in their notebooks as much as possible. Then, they should work in a small heterogeneous group (that consists of 'weak' learners, 'strong' learners, and those in-between) to check their work by working together. It is important that they do not swap their notebooks – they should read the text, spell the words, etc.
Woodward (2001: 215) and Hess (2001: 138), on the other hand, suggest that teachers should prepare different types of handouts for students at different levels:
• Advanced level: a blank page – students have to write the whole text.
• Less-advanced level: big chunks of the text are left out.
• Less difficult level: only small sections of the text are left out.
• The least difficult level: students have to circle the correct word (a cloze test).
The teacher can either distribute the handouts to make sure that the learners get the handout that corresponds to their level or the learners can choose the handout themselves – they pick the level they want. In this case, over time the teacher must encourage them to move to higher levels. The authors propose a different checking
