Since the last issue of English Now we have received a lot of letters and questions in provincial workshops about dealing with mixed ability classes. This problem of a mixed ability class is common to all teachers in Vietnam, so Teaching Tips this issue looks at what you can do to deal with it.

1. Good classroom management will ensure that all learners are involved in the lesson. This means using pair and group work more than you might do at the moment.

2. Use open-ended activities. These are activities which are designed to let students respond to the task at their own level. For example, if you have a simple questionnaire for students to do in groups, get the stronger students to add some extra questions.

3. Grade tasks so that students work on the same basic activity, but with different tasks graded at different levels. For example, if you are giving a dictation, give strong students a blank piece of paper but weaker students a gap-fill of the text.

4. Strong students can be just as disruptive as weaker students. They often finish tasks early, but a well planned teacher should be able to use this time fruitfully. Get them to check other students’ work, or get them to help slower students to finish. It may be possible to give them an extension activity. For example, if they have finished reading the text from the book, get them to write definitions of some of the words in the text to test other early finishers, or for the teacher to use in a warmer in the next class.

5. If you find that stronger students dominate your lessons, you need to ensure that through good classroom management all students have the opportunity to participate. During whole-class stages, ensure the weaker students can participate by asking them easier questions.

6. For some teachers the problem is that the weaker students sometimes don’t even seem to try. Motivation is crucial and providing tasks that are achievable encourages students to try. Recognising effort and progress is also important as well as praise and encouragement. Get to know your students and their abilities by monitoring during tasks. You will then be able to see even the smallest signs of progress that you might miss if you stay at the front of the class.

Giving out tips in Thai Nguyen
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