Differentiating the Literacy Instruction with Academically Diverse EFL Learners in Elementary Heterogeneously-Grouped Classrooms

النوع : Thèse

With the growing diversity of students’ needs, interest and abilities in today’s schools, educators are being challenged by the fact they need to respond to students’ differences. Dedifferentiated instruction provides a solid ground for teachers who realize that students learn according to their different levels of readiness and abilities, and is therefore encouraged to be used in classrooms with heterogeneous groups of learners in order to meet their various needs. The purpose of this research study is to investigate the effects of the differentiation of literacy instruction through the use of reading and writing workshops and the words their way spelling program on the literacy performance and intrinsic motivation of academically diverse EFL learners in elementary heterogeneously-grouped classrooms. This mixed-method research study investigates whether there is a significant difference in students’ literacy performance and intrinsic motivation after the implementation of a differentiated literacy instruction throughout one semester. All data are collected from a sample of five homeroom teachers and 75 academically diverse EFL elementary learners from first to fifth grades who were randomly selected to participate in this study. During the pre-assessment and post-assessment periods, quantitative data related to students’ literacy performance are measured by their scores on the running records, 6+1 trait rubrics and spelling inventories while quantitative data related to their intrinsic motivation are measured by their scores on the initial and final self-reporting student questionnaires. Qualitative data are collected through the transcriptions of the five teachers’ interviews and the 15 elementary classroom observations. Descriptive and inferential statistics are reported in order to check whether there is a significant difference in EFL learners’ scores from pretests to posttests on their literacy assessments and from initial to final responses on their intrinsic motivation self-reporting student questionnaires. The data analysis revealed that, after the implementation of the differentiated instruction through the use of reading and writing workshops and the words their way spelling program as an intervention, a significant improvement in the literacy performance and intrinsic motivation of academically diverse elementary EFL learners was demonstrated. This study reveals noteworthy findings about the effects of the implementation of a differentiated literacy instruction on students’ literacy performance and intrinsic motivation and presents important information about the reading and writing workshops and the words their way spelling program, which are three instructional approaches for differentiating the literacy instruction.