19 Learer ferences (2): teaching hetrogeneous (med) lasses HEE£B Teaching high and low achievers High achievers Some students are ‘high-fliers’: they complete tasks easily and to a high level, and are in danger of feeling bored and frustrated when working on material which is below their level ot with other students who are less proficient. These may be native speakers of English, or simply talented students with plenty of exposure to English outside the class. Often the two last strategies suggested in Section 19.3 above (open-ending and compulsory plus optional) can help to keep such students ‘on-task and learning. However, you might find that you need occasionally to give them extra, or alternative, work to do, such as projects or extensive reading of books of their choice The high achievers, however, are normally very much less problematic than the low achievers, to whom most of this section will be devoted. Low achievers If students are not doing very well in your class, this could be for a number of reasons. * They have learnt badly before joining your class and are unable to catch up in spite of their best efforts, ‘© They are unmotivated: see no point in learning English and refuse to invest effort in it, + They have done badly in most subjects up to now and are convinced that they cannot do well in English: a problem of self-image. + They are below the rest of the group in cognitive ability and simply find it difficult to learn as fast as the others. + They suffer from a clinical condition that limits their functioning in some way: they are sight- or hearing-impaired, or find it difficult to control and coordinate physical movement. + They have a specific learning disability, such as reading disabilities of various kinds, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), + They have personal emotional problems based on their home background or social conflicts. Most of us are not qualified to diagnose specific disabilities. Nevertheless, if you see that a member of the class is not doing very well, is disturbing the lesson a lot or otherwise behaving abnormally, you need to try to find out why. Ifa child is hearing-impaired, for example, you need to know that he or she needs to sit near the front, and you need to speak very clearly, facing him or her. You may need expert advice on how exactly to relate to students with specific psychological or physical problems. Consult the classroom teacher if you are in a school, or the parents, or any previous teachers of the individual student, or the school counsellor. Under-achieving students who are likely to hold back other students if working in the same class are sometimes taught in separate groups. Teaching such groups is very challenging: not only are the individual students having difficulties, but ‘Nourse in English Language acing 28119 earer ferences (2): teaching heteropmeaus (med clases also the group itself is very heterogeneous. The tips below can help, and you may be able to apply some of them to under-achieving students who are studying in a general class Practical tips 1. Find time to relate to students individually. This includes checking and commenting on their written work regularly, and having occasional chats outside the lesson. These are important for any class, but particularly for one of this kind. Moreover, here they are more feasible, because these classes tend to be quite small in size, Students need to know you are aware of them as individuals, care about them and are monitoring their progress. 2. Make sure the tasks are success-oriented. Adapt coursebook tasks and texts, or add your own, that are clearly doable by the students. This may mean providing differentiated tasks and tests (see Compulsory plus optional in Section 19.3 above), but the principle is to make sure that the students can, with a bit of effort, succeed. Having done that, you will be justified in making demands, as described in the next tip, 3, Make demands. Keep your expectations high. One of the main problems with under-achieving students is that they have often simply accepted that they are failures and don’t expect anything else. So an important teaching goal is to convince them that they can succeed. You will quickly learn what they are capable of. Demand that they perform according to the highest level they can, Don't just say ‘oh, it doesn't matter, don’t worry about it’ when they fail to doa task. When designing tasks and tests, set a standard for success that is appropriate for the students, as described in the previous tip, and then insist that they achieve it. 4. Give praise where it is deserved. It is of course important to boost the students’ confidence by praising them often, but make sure this is not indiscriminate. Over-frequent, unearned compliments soon lose their value and are ignored by students. Only give a compliment when the students have actually succeeded as a result of effort, and when both they and you know that the praise is deserved. 5. Use a coursebook. You may think that it is better to write or select specific materials for such groups rather than using a coursebook. However, the students may interpret this as discrimination: ‘Other classes get coursebooks, why don’t we? The teacher obviously doesn’t think we're up to it.’ The use of a coursebook conveys the message that you expect the students to complete a programme and syllabus and make systematic progress. You can always supplement the coursebook with extra materials or skip bits of it as necessary. 282A Course ia Engi Language Teaching