Chapter 1 Classroom management: Teaching mixed-ability classes

• 
  Maturity and age (Do you have a class in which the students are not just age nine, but ages 17 to 36?)
  
• 
  Multiple intelligences
  
• 
  Learning styles (Do you have a class in which some students have auditory learning styles, others have visual learning styles and the remainder of students of kinaesthetic learning styles?)
  
• 
  Language levels and aptitudes
  
• 
  Native language (Do you have a class where all the students speak Mandarin Chinese at home, or do you have a class in which the students speak Cantonese, Italian, German and Russian at home?)
  
• 
  Learner autonomy
  
• 
  Reason for learning English
  
• 
  Cultural background
  

Common Teacher Problems in These Classrooms.There are numerous problems and challenges that EFL teachers will and can face when teaching mixed-ability classes. From the Wits Language School, these are some typical problems: In addition to these problems above, there are also other challenges that EFL teachers face. One of these is discipline, and this ties in closely with classroom management. This challenge usually occurs when the students in the class feel frustrated; the stronger (or advanced students) may feel that they are not being challenged enough and are not learning as much as they can, while the weaker (or – more politically correct term – less advanced) students feel that the tasks and learning materials are0 too difficult or the teacher does not assist them enough.

Secondly, student participation is another worry. In a mixed-ability class, the teacher will find that the stronger students generally participate more than the less advanced students. This may be due to the shy nature of the less advanced students or because they are very aware that they are not the top students in the class and are scared of getting the answer wrong. Lack of participation can also lead to the less advanced students performing even less (or worse) in class. Ideally, you want all students to participate equally in class; however, this is almost never the case.
The third challenge stems from individual awareness in that the EFL teacher may not be able to follow and track the progress of all the students as closely, and further to this, the teacher might not be able to devote the time and attention needed to less advanced students. In a mixed-ability class, the teacher might find that they spend too much time on the stronger students; an effort should be made to spend more time assisting the less advanced students.