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) “Ireson & Hallam
believes that many (2001) suggest
teachers see a mixed teachers need to
ability class as recognise that a class
consisting of a group of is mixed ability
average and able because children have
children with a subset different strengths and
of children who have weaknesses and
learning problems”. 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 Ø  individual profiles
ü  Planning Ø  flexibility
ü  Materials Ø  adaptation
ü  Participation Ø  inclusive but directed
ü  Assessment 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

O N GER WEAKER Corpas, 2006

ST R
UD ENT S STUDENTS
ST
 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”    
age educational level
  personality mother tongue
  Demographic
and cultural gender world knowledge

  interests cultural background

intelligence confidence
Student motivation learning style
language learning ability
Cognitive and language knowledge
metacognitive
knowledge of other languages
attitude towards language

Adapted from Ur (1996: 304) learning experience

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