Approaches to teaching in the multi-level language classroom

ABSTRACT

What approaches are used in the multi-level language class and what influences a teacher's choice of approach? Multi-level language classes, the combining of two or more senior year levels into a single class, is a relatively recent phenomenon and one that is becoming increasingly common in New Zealand secondary schools as a consequence of a decline in student numbers. Drawing on survey and interview data, this article discusses the pedagogical approaches that are used by New Zealand language teachers in responding to this challenge and change to their role. The findings show that three very different approaches are used by teachers: 1) completely separate programmes for each year level, 2) common topics across year levels with differentiated materials, and 3) a ‘future-focussed’ programme drawing on self-directed technology assisted learning to free up teacher time to work individually with learners. A range of factors appear to influence choice of approach including teacher experience and knowledge of the curriculum, desire for the class to be ‘a group’, focus on communication, availability and inclination to use technology, and preparing students for end of year assessments. This study has practical implications for teacher professional development and initial teacher education programmes where mentoring and support for teachers in differentiated practices and resources is needed, particularly for early career teachers. While this study was conducted in a New Zealand secondary school context, it also has implications for broader language learning contexts where increased diversity of student cohorts is becoming increasingly common.

KEYWORDS:

• Differentiation
• interaction
• communicative language teaching
• language teachers
• mixed-ability
• multi-level

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Karen Ashton is a Senior Lecturer in language education at Massey University, New Zealand. She is an experienced languages educator and teacher trainer. Her research interests include language policy, language assessment, teacher training and professional development, and language learning pedagogy with a focus on differentiation, diverse learners and learning environments.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a Massey University Research Fund [RM18622].