| Under the current large class teaching conditions,teachers in English class usually set a single teaching objective and adopt the same reading materials based on the average reading level,ignoring students’ differences and failing to maximize their development in the zone of proximal development.This is not conducive to cultivating students’ core competence.On the contrary,differentiated instruction pays attention to students’ differences and reasonably adjusts teaching methods and content to accommodate students of different ability levels,thus ensuring progress for all students.This study takes Class 7 and Class 8 of a high school in Luoyang City,Henan Province as the research objects.Class 7 is the experimental class and Class 8 is the comparative class.The differentiated instruction method is applied in Class 7 while the traditional teaching method is applied in Class 8.This paper focuses on the implementation of differentiated instruction in senior high school English reading teaching,as well as the difficulties and problems encountered in the implementation process.Through the application of differentiated teaching objectives,teaching contents,homework and evaluation,students are trained in reading skills and strategies to improve their reading level,so that they can fully develop in the zone of proximal development.The study is based on the theory of multiple intelligences theory,zone of proximal development and taxonomy.Experimental research method,questionnaire and interview method were used to analyze the data collected from pre-tests,post-tests,questionnaires and interviews.The aim of this study is to explore the following three questions:(1)Is differentiated instruction applied in senior high school English teaching?If yes,how often?(2)What are the effects of differentiated reading activities in senior high school English instruction?(3)What are the factors impacting the effective implementation of differentiated instruction?Through the analysis of questionnaires,English reading test data and interview results,this study finds that: first,the differentiated instruction is rarely implemented in senior high school English reading teaching.48% of the students believe that the classroom teaching mode is single,while 82% of the students think that teachers cannot put forward multiple goals and requirements according to the students’ learning situation.Second,the use of differentiated reading instruction can not only improve students’ interest and confidence in reading,but also effectively improve their reading level.Before the experiment,only 32% of the students like English reading.But after the experiment,the number of students favoring English reading increased to 76%.In the paired sample t-test of the pre-test and post-test of the experimental class,the post-test scores are higher than the pre-test scores,and P<0.05,which indicates that the average test scores of students in the experimental class improved significantly after the implementation differentiated instruction.Third,the design and implement differentiated instruction remain difficult due to the large class size.In addition,the ability to grasp and integrate teaching materials is a key factor in designing differentiated instruction activities,which is undoubtedly a great challenge to English teachers’ competence. |
