1. Who are the learners? Ways that learners (and classes) differ
What the teacher can do to work with such differences
Chapter 4

2. # of Ss male/female ratio age seating have books, arrangement material
Basic facts to
learn at a class
first glance
seating
arrangement
have books,
material
actively
doing
something?
reaction to
teacher’s
presence
silent?
talking?

3. Possible Factors for Changes in Class Mood (from one teacher to the next)
Teacher’s attitude (teacher often finds what he/she expects to find)
Students’ response to teacher’s attitude
(if Ss find T unhelpful , no amount of games will sparkle the class)

4. Learners may have different….P
Motivation
Ability to remember things B
eliefs, political views, prejudices
eliefs about what a teacher can or should do
oredome thresholds
ersonalities, ways of relating to and working with other people
revious learning experiences
references for content to work on and for classroom methodology D
egrees of focus, distraction
ifficulties or physical disabilities R
easons for needing English
eactions to things, moods, habits
Intelligences
Jobs, home lives, health L
earning styles
evels in various language systems and skills
kills, aptitudes & abilities
ensory preferences
peeds of working & learning S

5. MOTIVATION
Strong external reasons why they want to study (pass an exam, get promotion, please their parents…)
Rewards within the studying itself (the fun of learning, a personal challenge)
The strength of Ss’ motivation will be a factor in determining:
how seriously they approach the work
how much time they set aside for it
how hard they push themselves

6. MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES (MI)
Intelligence is usually thought of as being a single, inborn capacity. But the theory of (MI), as first proposed by Howard Gardner, views intelligence as being multi-dimensional.
Verbal/linguistic
Logical/mathematical
Visual/spatial
Bodily/kinesthetic
5. Musical/rhythmic
6. Interpersonal (contact with other people)
7. Intrapersonal (understanding oneself)
The last two share characteristics of what has also been called emotional intelligence

7. SENSORY PREFERENCES The mind is predisposed to process experience in different ways
Some people respond best
when they can touch and feel tangible, physical objects
(KINAESTHETIC)
to hearing things
(AUDITORY)
to seeing things
(VISUAL)
When planning classes, T may naturally bias lesson ideas towards his/her own sensory preferences, forgetting that there is a range of working modes appealing to visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners

8. Working with Individual Differences
I can’t really take all these individual differences into account. The important thing is to “teach the class”.

9. I can adapt class lessons to respond to many individual needs and differences within the group.

10. I teach very little to the class as a whole – but my class has lots of individual tasks and small group work. I think the classroom is always a set of private lessons – as many as there are individuals.

11. Teach the Class or Teach the Individuals
Teaching the whole class
Balancing whole class work with attention to individual differences
Working primarily with individuals' needs – privately and in small groups

12. Common Level Structures in Schools
classes organized according to students' age
classes organized according to language level

13. Language levels – Schools divide learners into classes, using coursebooks labeled for those levels (Advanced, Post-Intermediate, Upper Intermediate, Intermediate, Pre-Intermediate, Elementary, Beginner)
Level systems from the Council of Europe - (C2 –Mastery,C1-Operational proficiency, B2 –Vantage, B1-Threshold, A2 – Waystage, A1 – Breakthrough)
Levels around exams students take: KET, PET...

14. What level is the class? Conclusions about level:
Every learner has an individual range of levels
Every class is a mixed-level class

15. Ways to Find out about Learners’ Needs
Needs analysis is the different ways of finding out (e.g., using questionnaires, interviews, etc,) what students need (or want) to study on a language course.

16. Often a Needs analysis includes not only information about why learners might need language in the future, but also information about:
where learners are starting from: their present language level, current problems, etc.
what learners would like to learn (which may be different from what they need)
how they want to study it (people have very different preferences about how they learn things)

17. Balancing Course Plans and Needs

18. Getting Feedback from Learners

19. Why do many teachers avoid feedback?

20. Why might learners not give useful honest feedback?

21. Learner Training means…..
……“Raise student awareness about how they are learning and, as a result, help them to find more effective ways of working, so that they can continue working efficiently and usefully, even when away from their teacher and the classroom”. – Work on teaching learning as well as teaching English”.
Learner training includes:
work on study skills ,e.g. use of dictionaries, reference
material, workbooks, notebooks, filed material
student examination of the process of learning and reflection
on what is happening, e.g. of teaching strategies you use (and
the reasons why you use them).

22. Designed as a companion for “Learning Teaching” Methodology I by C
Designed as a companion for “Learning Teaching” Methodology I by C. Moscoso - Office of Academic Research - ICPNA