A pragmatic solution to differentiation in the English

language classroom

For a copy of this presentation please contact:arnoldworld@gmail.com

Presenter

Wendy Arnold

• MA in Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL – York)• PCEd (HK)• Freelance teacher, trainer, writer, researcher• IATEFL’s YLT SIG committee• Specialist in reading for young learner literacy• 15 years experience teaching Chinese young learners• Trained teachers in Asia, Africa and Europe

Overview

Part i) Data on the longitudinal studyPart ii) Understanding why the right reading

level is importantPart iii) Quick assessment to check ‘right’

reading levelPart iv) Applying reading strategies

3

Rationale for study

A ‘one-size fits all’ does not appear to meet the needs of all the learners in one class. BUT what are the ranges of abilities in:

a)One classb)One yeargroup

What materials could close the gap between a coursebook and individual needs?

Part i) Background to longitudinal study

• 6 years study in Hong Kong • Pilot for 9/10 year olds for one year• 2004 continued study for 9-12 year olds• 2005 continued study for 8-12 year olds• 2006 continued for study 7-12 year olds• Used published 30 level reading scheme• Placement for reading level = 1:1 assessment with

teacher based on comprehension of text and reading aloud

Micro level Individual assessment - up close

Primary 1

Term 2

Primary 2

Term 1

Primary 2

Term 2

Primary 3

Term 1

Primary 3

Term 2

Primary 4

Term 1

Primary 4

Term 2

Primary 5

Term 1

Primary 5

Term 2

Primary 6

Term 1

Primary 6

Term 2

Jul 2006-Jul 2009P4-6(3 yrs)

1 3 5 10 14 17

17 24 27 27 29 30Jul 2007-Jul 2011P3-6(4 yrs)

1 3 4 6

23 26 28 30

Jul 2007-Jan 2012P2-6(5 yrs)

1 1 2 6

20 23 24 26

formative summative

Macro level - Profile of a Primary 1 class +1 year of English language teaching – no reading

scheme (scheduled to do 5 years)2008-9 CONTINUAL BENCHMARK (+0 TERMS/0 YEARS PM reading) COHORT NO. 6

Jul '08 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30total pupils

ave level

P1A 2 3 2 3 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25  

P1B 0 4 5 4 5 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24  

P1C 1 0 1 4 5 2 2 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24  

P1D 3 3 1 4 3 4 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24  

total 6 10 9 15 17 12 8 2 2 3 2 3 0 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 97  

ave levels 6 20 27 60 85 72 48 16 18 30 22 36 0 56 0 16 17 0 0 20 0 0 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 572 5.9

Average level 5.9

Macro level - Profile of a Primary 2 class +2 years of English language teaching – +1 year

reading scheme (scheduled to do 4 years)

2007-8 CONTINUAL BENCHMARK (+2 TERMS/1 YEARS PM reading) COHORT NO. 5B

Jul '08 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30total pupils ave level

P2A 0 0 1 1 3 3 1 5 1 3 3 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 30 

P2B 0 0 1 2 2 1 2 6 2 4 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 

P2C 3 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 

P2D 0 0 2 1 2 2 3 5 3 2 1 2 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 28 

total 3 2 5 5 8 8 8 17 7 10 8 6 3 7 1 1 3 1 0 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 111 

ave levels 3 4 15 20 40 48 56 136 63 100 88 72 39 98 15 16 51 18 0 40 21 0 23 24 25 0 0 0 0 0 1015 9.2

Average level 9.2

Macro level - Profile of a Primary 3 class +3 years of English language teaching – +1 year

reading scheme (scheduled to do 4 years)2007-8 CONTINUAL BENCHMARK (+2 TERMS/1 YEARS PM reading) COHORT NO. 5A

Jul '08 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1516

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

total pupils

ave level

P3A 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 5 0 3 4 1 3 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 31  

P3B 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 4 3 4 0 2 2 1 0 2 1 3 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 31  

P3C 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 2 1 0 3 2 2 0 2 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 2 1 1 1 1 28  

P3D 0 0 0 4 1 2 2 0 0 1 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 24  

total 0 0 1 6 2 2 6 4 1 8 6 11 1 11 11 5 4 6 5 5 3 1 3 0 3 4 1 2 1 1 114  

ave levels 0 0 324

10

12

42

32 9 80 66

132 13

154 165

80

68

108 95

100 63 22 69 0 75

104 27 56 29 30 1668 14.6

Average level 14.6

Macro level - Profile of a Primary 4 class +4 years of English language teaching – +2 years

reading scheme (scheduled to do 4 years)

2007-8 CONTINUAL BENCHMARK (+4TERMS/2 YEARS PM reading) COHORT NO. 4B

Jul '08 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

total pupils

ave level

P4A 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 0 4 1 3 1 0 1 2 0 1 0 1 1 30  

4B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 3 0 5 4 3 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 26  

P4C 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 2 1 2 1 0 3 2 2 1 2 1 2 0 2 0 1 1 28  

P4D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 2 0 3 2 4 2 2 1 0 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 28  

total 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 4 1 1 6 3 6 6 7 11 2 14 8 8 2 6 2 6 2 5 0 2 5 112  

ave levels 0 2 0 4 5 0 7 836 10 11 72 39 84 90

112

187 36

266

160

168 44 138 48

150 52

135 0 58

150

2072 18.5

Average level 18.5

Macro level - Profile of a Primary 5 class +5 years of English language teaching – +2 years

reading scheme (scheduled to do 3 years)

2006-7 CONTINUAL BENCHMARK (+4 TERMS/2 YEARS PM reading) COHORT NO. 3

Jul '07 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

total pupils

ave level

P5A 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 5 1 1 0 3 1 4 0 1 4 4 31  

P5B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 4 3 4 1 2 2 5 2 2 30  

P5C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 3 2 1 1 2 1 4 2 0 1 1 1 0 4 4 31  

P5D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 1 2 0 3 5 1 1 1 1 3 1 2 5 32  

total 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 4 1 4 4 6 3 8 5 14 6 8 4 8 6 7 12 15 124  

ave levels 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 10 22 12 26 56 15 64 68108 57

160

105 308

138

192

100

208

162

196

348

450 2812 23.1

Average level 23.1

Macro level - Profile of a Primary 6 class +6 year of English language teaching – +3 years reading

scheme (end of 3 years)

2006-7 P6 SUMMATIVE BENCHMARK (+6 TERMS/3YEARS PM reading) COHORT NO. 2

Jul '07 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

total pupils

ave level

P6A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 2 0 2 2 3 3 6 2 0 2 3 4 32  

P6B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 4 4 3 1 0 1 2 3 0 9 34  

P6C 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 4 1 2 2 3 2 5 29  

P6D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 3 1 1 2 4 2 3 2 0 3 7 34  

total 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 4 5 3 5 8 8 8 12 9 8 6 8 8 25 129  

ave levels 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 10 11 12 13 28 15 48 68 90 57100

168 176

184

288

225

208

162

224

232

750 3075 23.4

Average level 23.4

Micro level - Tracking 2003-4 cohort no. 1 from formative to summative by levels

COHORT NO. 1 2002-6 progression and year average

0

20

40

60

80

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

levels

no

. of

YL

2005-6

2004-5

2003-4

2002-3

LEVELS

FORMATIVE

End Primary 3

Ave level 8.5

End Primary 4

Ave level 13.5

End Primary 5

Ave level 18.2

SUMMATIVE

End Primary 6

Ave level 23.7

Macro level -tracking yearbands

cohortno. pupil

Ave level + 0 term

Ave level +2 term

Ave level +4 term

Ave level +5 term

Ave level +6 term

Ave level total +

2002-3 (1) 140 8.5 13.5 (+5)

18.2 (+4.7)  

23.7 (+5.5 )

15.2 (6 terms)

2003-4 (2) 140 7.2

12.3 (+5.1)

18.1 (+5.8)

21 (+2.9)

23.4 (+5.3)

16.2 (6 terms)

2004-5 (3) 121 11.6

17.4 (+5.8)

23.1 (+5.3)  

27 (+6.7 )

15.4 (6 terms)

2005-6 (4A) 121 8.2

17.1 (+8.9)

20.4 (+4.2)

22 (+1.6) swine flu

14.7 (5 terms)

Key: cohorts 1-4A = started aged 9/10 years

You can track, compare and predict

• Individual child’s progress (can indicate learning problem)

• Class progress (sometimes indicates problem with teaching style)

• Yeargroup progress• Compare yeargroup to yeargroup• Predict summative levels based on previous

performance• Build results back into teaching and learning

Assessment procedure for reading level

Formative assessment age 7-8 years = 1 year/170 hours of ELT

Silent reading of testing text

Answering questions accompanying text

Reading text out loud

if questions cannot be answered, lower level texts are tried

if text cannot be read, lower level texts are tried

Starting level

Procedure for classroom management of the reading scheme used in Hong Kong

ALL GROUPS (2 teachers are timetabled at the same time)

Plenary with

Specific input on reading strategy

YL selectingcorrect level of

text

Silent Reading

Buddy Reading

1:1 Teacher Conferencing

AndFacilitating

Comprehension Task (optional

not every lesson)

Part ii) What is reading?

‘Reading is much more than the decoding of black marks upon a page; it is a quest for meaning and one which requires the reader to be an active participant’ (Cox 1991)

The reader needs to:1)Crack the code or decipher the print (decode)2)Reading is about making sense which ‘powers

young children’s learning’ (understand meaning)3)Reading brings together text to be decoded and

understood and a reader has to engage actively with both these processes (Kelly 2008)

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Reading strategiesThree cue systems (Kelly 2008)1) Semantic （语义学） = reader draws on meaning

from the text itself but also from their own background knowledge and from other texts

2) Syntactic （句法） = readers draws upon what they know of language and grammar (spoken and written) in order to PREDICT what is coming next eg. A child who comes across ‘ice creams melt in the sun’ is not likely to say ‘ice creams meet in the sun’

3) Graphophonic ( 字形与字音） = readers use what they know about the sound-symbol correspondences, visual knowledge of letter combinations and sight vocabulary e.g. m - e – l – t

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Part iii) Quick assessment to find right reading level

1. You need about 95-100 words of text which you think is at a suitable level for your learner

2. The learner reads the text and looks at the pictures which accompany it

3. This text is level 5 (level 1 = easiest, level 30 = most difficult)

YOU HAVE A GO!

21

Mouse said,‘Little Teddy! Little Teddy! Where are you going?’

22

‘I am going to the shops,’ said Little Teddy.‘Can I come too?’ said Mouse.‘Can I come to the shops?’

23

‘Mouse! Mouse!’ shouted Little Teddy.‘Look down!Look at the big puddle!’

24

Mouse went into the puddle.‘Oh! Oh!’ he said.

25

‘Where am I?’ said Mouse.‘Where am I?‘You are in a big puddle’ said Little Teddy.

26

Mouse said, ‘Look at me!’‘Come on, Mouse,’ said Little Teddy.‘Up you come.’

27

Little Teddy and Mouse went home.

28

‘Thank you, Little Teddy,; said Mouse.

Making meaning – semantics （语义学）

THINK-PAIRRead these questions and tell your partner the

answers

1. Where was Little Teddy going?2. Who fell in the puddle?3. Why do you think Mouse went home with

Little Teddy?

THINK-PAIR-SHARE

What kind of questions are these?

Which is the easiest to answer?Why?Which is the most difficult?Why?Which makes you think?Why?

Making meaning

1. Listen to the questions and the answers2. Focus on the meaning, has this learner

understood the text?

THINK-PAIR-SHARE

What do you think about the use of Chinese?

Remember this is about understanding meaning!

Decoding or reading out loud = graphophonics （字形与字音）

4. Listen carefully and on a piece of paper tick all the correct words you hear and put a circle around the incorrect ones (you could write the word and circle the part that is incorrect)

Eg. I am going to the shops.5. Count up the number of errors

Count the number of errors and divide by the number of words. This gives you a ratio which is used for %

accuracy.

34

We think that between 92-94% accuracy leads to learning.

THINK-PAIR-SHARE

What do you think reading out loud tells the teacher?

Is this READING?SPEAKING?SOMETHING ELSE?

THINK

What age group do you think would enjoy this text?

Finding text which is low reading ability but high interest is a challenge!

We want learners to be able to understand text but this means it has to be at the ‘right’ reading level for them, as well as interesting!

Part iv) Applying reading strategies

THINKRead the text silently.Do you understand what it is about?

THINK-PAIRCan you explain it to a partner?

Although some glial cells have voltage-gated ion channels in their membranes, glial cells generally do not produce action potentials and their role in the nervous system has long been a puzzle. One suggestion has been that glial cells help to regulate the concentration of K+ and the pH in the extracellular fluid of the nervous system.

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Part A)

Part B)

Glial cell membranes are highly permeable to K+ and adjacent glial cells are often electrically coupled by junctions that allow K+ to flow between them. This flux permits glial cells to take up and redistribute extracellular K+, which otherwise could build up to high concentrations in narrow extracellular spaces following activity in neurons.

39

THINK

What language skills are you

using?40

PAIR

Work with a partner.

Take it in turns.

Read the text out to each other.

Reading out loud - SHARE

What does the text mean?How does it feel to read?Can you understand what you

are reading?What are you missing?

42

THINK

What language skills are you

using?43

Now read this text to yourself

Glial cells are found in the brain.There are five types of glial cells.They are not nerve cells.Neurons transmit nerve messages.Glial cells are in direct contact withneurons and often surround them.

44

Look at the picture

45

Glial cells

Aiding comprehensible inputTHINK-PAIR-SHARE

Now what can you explain aboutglial cells?Where can you find them?What do glial cells do?What helped you understand

better?

46

THINK-SHARE

What language skills are you

using?47

The purpose of reading is to make sense.

If you can’t do this, then you are not reading the right level!

48

REFLECT

What have you learnt today?What can you do to make sure that your

learners individual needs are being met?What can you do to make the coursebook more

meaningful to your learners?ANYTHING ELSE?

MANY THANKS