An Action Research On The Application Of Differentiated Teaching In English Class In The International Primary School

Students in the same class are at different English levels.Based on this difference,differentiated teaching can be carried out to meet different students’ characteristics and needs.There were some researches done in this field to explore the effects of differentiated teaching in English class.However,there have rarely been researches done in an international primary school in China.Therefore,what effects of differentiated teaching may have in an English class in an international primary school is worth discussion.The purpose of this study is to apply differentiated teaching in a second grade class of an international primary school and investigate the effects of this approach on students’ English levels.Previous studies abroad and at home have shown that differentiated teaching has a positive effect on students’ English study.Based on the previous studies,three questions focus in this thesis.(1)What are the effects of differentiated teaching on international primary school students’ English levels?(2)What help can differentiated teaching provide to narrow the gap between the beginning and advanced students’ English levels?(3)What are the effects of differentiated teaching on students’ attitudes towards English class?The research part of this study was conducted in an international school in Shenyang.The subject of this study was 25 students in one second-grade class.Data for this study were collected through observations,questionnaires,tests,and reflective journals.Two rounds of action research were enforced during this research,and eachround lasted for six weeks with these following steps: identifying the problem,making the action plan,implementing the action plan,and reflection and evaluation.The results revealed that differentiated teaching had a positive effect on the students’ English levels.First,all students have made improvements on their English levels based on the results of the tests taken in two rounds of the action research: students’ English levels improved through the tests,students’ spelling ability improved,and students were able to read more complicated English passages.Second,the gaps between the beginning students and advanced students did not narrow.Since every student has made progress and there was no evidence showing that the beginning students made more progress than the advanced students.Third,students were more engaged in English class.They answered more questions and were more willing to join class activities and to complete classwork.