How to work with mixed-ability classes?

Hey, teachers! 👋

We often work with groups of students whose levels of English, ages, learning speeds as well as experiences of learning the language and purposes are quite different. And every teacher faces a number of difficulties related to this kind of class: strong students complete tasks quickly while the rest are just starting to do them; the strong begin to get annoyed or disturbed; strong students answer questions quickly, leaving no time for the weaker to even think, and so on. This list can be longer.

What shall be done in such a class?

Naturally, we have to encourage and support our students regardless of how quickly they learn. At the same time, we can divide them into pairs so that they could support and motivate each other. Also, it is important to give learners not only time to perform a certain task, but also the amount of work.

For example:

А) you have five minutes, make as many sentences as possible about your favourite book;

B) make up seven sentences about your favourite book.

In a class where students have slightly different levels of English, only the second option is suitable, as it does not limit the strong students, but also allows the weaker to show that they know. At the same time, everyone works, and everyone is at their own level.

DOs та DON'Ts

Always have a couple of extra tasks for those who completed the tasks earlier.
Take into account the different learning styles of students, their strengths and weaknesses. For example, some students need to see (how to do) a task in order to complete it.
Do not use students' native language. Otherwise, they will be asking you to translate the task / sentence / word for a long time.
Do not write separate lesson plans for different students, you can easily adapt your class and homework.
Use open-ended questions so as not to limit students' answers. Open-ended questions have many answers, while closed-ended ones have only one possible answer.

An example of a closed task: I watched / had TV yesterday.

An example of an open task: I _____________ yesterday.

Reading tips

There are three options that can be used in a mixed-ability classroom:

Adapt the text which is offered to students (differentiating the input). For example, replace some words with less complicated synonyms for weaker students or make the text more difficult for stronger students.
Change the tasks that students perform after reading the text (differentiating the process). For example, strong students write complete answers to questions, weaker ones can do True / False, or multiple-choice tasks.
Change the outcome (differentiating the outcome). Here it is very appropriate to use open-ended questions, where each student can show their knowledge and is not limited to sentence size or number of words. It is important to set time limits for the task, but do not limit the amount of work.

Listening tips

Listening tips are very similar to reading tips, except for adapting the audio recording. But it is possible to adapt the process and the outcomes. For example, lower-level students answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and stronger students have to answer ‘why’.

How else can you help with reading and listening assignments?

discuss listening / reading answers (guessing, ask to predict);
provide answers to the weaker;
visual aids;
write more than one word in response for stronger students;
use distractors for stronger students.

It’s crucial to analyse students' needs for selecting the tasks properly: what tasks do they like? What skills do you need to develop the most? Is it better for them to work in pairs or alone? Teachers have to understand which teaching style is suitable for students, taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of each of them. In this way, you demonstrate your support, and the students feel that the teacher is interested.

Although it’s not easy to work with mixed-ability classes, we become more experienced and creative with them and teach our students to be patient and tolerant, which is so important. Incidentally, we also explore this global topic on the TKT Preparation Course.

For example, TKT Module 3 Preparation Course is all about managing the teaching and learning process. This course focuses on knowing what happens in the classroom in terms of the language used by the teacher or students, the roles the teacher can play and how the teacher can manage and use events and interactions in the classroom.