Teaching Multi-level Classes

1. What does a multi-level class look like?

 The students are operating at different competency
levels in the skills of listening, speaking, reading and
writing.

Variables that contribute to a multi-level classroom

1. Previous educational background
o Formal education
o Cultural expectations
 Some students come to the classroom with a formal
educational background this puts them in a different
spot than those who have little formal education
2. Roman Alphabet
o Learning a new set of characters can be challenging for
students
3. Motivation
o Why are the students coming to class?
o What are their reasons for learning English?
o What are there specific goals?
4. Learning Styles
o Visual
o Auditory
o Kinesthetic
5. Age
 o Younger students – Flexible and Adaptable
o Older students – Wisdom and Experience
6. Personal Situations
o Refugee?
o Personality?
o Why are they coming to class?
o Willing to participate?
o Shy or outgoing?
Pair work: Equal Ability
o Question completion
o Picture discussion
o Interviews

- This allows for the greatest of verbal interactions and

collaboration
- It makes the most use of your time
- Structure of these tasks: everyone has the same task but
different requirements
Pair work: Mixed Ability or crossability
- Means that the competency levels experienced by both
students are different.
o More demanding language learning skills are
placed on higher level students
Example: Dictation, Listening task, Photo story
Group Work: Equal Ability
- Same task however each group may have different
requirements for the task.
o The focus of the task is accuracy. (example:
same topic for reading but each group will have
a different reading according to the levels)
- Group readings
- moative writing
Group Work: Mixed Ability
o The focus of the task is fluency.
- Example: Discussions, Jigsaw readings

Whole Class Activities

- Focus on vocabulary and pronunciation and apply to
activities to level the students
Example of a pronunciation activity is:
o Minimal pair sounds – this is when theres only
one sound that will change in the word and the
students must differentiate between those two
sounds
o Communicative activities: - games, board games,
flashcards
o Class project – garage sale, newsletter
What question should the multi-level teacher not ask for
motivation?
- What are the students' favorite subject?

Which of the following is not a learning style?

- Natural

What strategy requires all members to be given a task where

their contribution is tangible and the focus of the task is
fluency?
- Group Work

What strategy allows for the greatest of verbal interaction and

collaboration?
What strategy is used when we put two students together that
have the same competencies?
- Pair work

Which of the following does not belong to the group?

- Classroom Observation
What is the main objective of the course/video?

What variable-that contributes to a multi-level classroom-is

described in the situation "some students are more
comfortable with a teacher-centered environment"?
- Cultural Expectations

Which of the following is not a variable that contributes to a

multi-level classroom?
- Learning Outcomes

What strategy makes the students feel like they are part of the
community?
- Whole class activity

TRUE
Classroom instruction can be accommodating to the different
styles of learning.
The class should begin and end with something that joins the
class together.
Learning a new set of characters may affect a student's ability
to participate optimally in the classroom.
It is a bit of a struggle for students who are auditory or
kinesthetic to be taught by a visual teacher.
More demanding language learning skills are placed on higher
level students.
Multigrade teaching allows you to tap into your creativity for
some exciting lesson plans.
Older students bring along wisdom and experience to the
classroom setting.

FALSE
Older students will often bring flexibility and are more
adaptable within the classroom.
The learner should endeavor to find out the students' preferred
learning style.
Learning a new set of characters is easy for students.