Differentiated learning during English classes

This article discusses the idea of the development of the theory and practice of differentiation of the learning process. Various plans for the introduction of differentiation in the learning process and work on differential technology in foreign language lessons are considered.

Key words: differentiated learning, personality, reforms in education, spirit of love for the Motherland, the goals.

В данной статье рассматриваются вопросы идеи развития теории и практики дифференциации процесса обучения. Рассмотрены различные планы по внедрению дифференциации в процесс обучения и работа по дифференциальной технологии на уроках иностранного языка.

Ключевые слова: дифференцированное обучение, личность, реформы в образовании, дух любви к Родине, цели.

In an effective classroom, students should not only know what they are doing, they should also know why and how.

Harry Wong

Educating youth is educating our nation [1]. The research work is dedicated to the widely studied branch of our educational system — learning foreign languages. On December 10, 2012 the first President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a decree «On measures to further improve foreign language learning system» [2]. Minister of Public Education Sherzod Shermatov, outlined issues of concern and outlined plans to redress the situation in education system.

The formation of communicative competence in teaching a foreign language is the primary task of a modern teacher, since a foreign language, like a native, is a means of communication between speech partners. With 3 hours allocated in the program of educational schools at 5–9 and 2 hours at 10–11 grades, it is very difficult to teach students how to speak a foreign language as a means of communication. It is well known that the class enrollment is heterogeneous. There are students with different mental abilities, different natural data, different interests, so one of the pressing problems of teaching foreign languages ​​at school is a differentiated approach to learning. The main difficulty of the teacher is to find the optimal combination of individual, group and frontal forms of work in the classroom. The task accompanying this is no less easy: determining the individual characteristics of the student’s personality and organizing on this basis a teacher’s activity aimed at developing the mental abilities of each student.

The indisputable fact is the varying degree of preparedness of schoolchildren. In order to correctly understand the causes of the uneven progress of students in the class, it is necessary to identify the reasons for the lag of each and understand them. These reasons are different: one missed the lessons due to illness, the other was inconsiderate in class, the third did not understand the teacher's explanations.

Often the differentiation in teaching a foreign language is not based on the individual characteristics of the student’s personality, but only on the individual problems in his knowledge. One should not dismiss the most important thing — the ability of schoolchildren to learn a foreign language is not the same: one is easy to give, the other is difficult. It should be noted that the educational material at different levels of education can be learned by students of the same class in different ways: some easily learn vocabulary due to well-developed mechanical memory, others have more developed auditory perception, therefore they successfully cope with tasks on listening. In addition, all children have a different way of thinking. Studying the interests and inclinations of schoolchildren, their educational opportunities, as well as an analysis of the prospects for the development of these opportunities should serve as a starting point in a differentiated approach to learning a foreign language.

Differentiation in teaching is closely connected with the individualization of the trainees. Unfortunately, not always all students learn the program material fully, no matter how the teacher tries to convey it to students. It is impossible, I believe, to get a return on our efforts, without carefully planning every lesson and even every stage. For a positive solution to this problem, it is extremely important, it is just necessary to take into account the personal qualities of each student and focus on personal individualization in teaching a foreign language. Ignoring personal individualization, detaching speech actions from real feelings, thoughts, interests, i.e. from the practical attitude of the individual to reality, we force students to consider language only as a kind of formalized system, and not an instrument of communication.

Personal individualization in education considers:

1. The context of the student;
2. The life experience of the student;
3. Sphere of interests, desires, tendencies;
4. Own worldview;
5. Emotional-sensual sphere;
6. The status of the individual in the team (the student's popularity among his comrades, mutual sympathy for finding speech partners, the appointment of a leader in speech groups).

The mentioned components of the personal substructure of individuality serves as a source for using the methods of personalized individualization of learning, in particular, a foreign language. Individualization cannot be considered as a one-time tool used at any stage of mastering the material and applied to any group of students (strong, medium or weak). It should permeate the whole process of learning foreign language speaking. It should serve the student, the development of his abilities to foreign language speech activity.

We believe that for a vivid manifestation of the personality of each student in the possession of speech skills, the design methodology of teaching is very productive. So, while studying the topic “We are preparing for a trip to England” in grades 6–8, we together with the guys discussed how to better and more interestingly organize work on it, do something unusual, go beyond the textbook, involve every student in active participation., motivating everyone to wish to speak on this or that issue.

Naturally, the optimal solution was the speaking, where such questions were proposed for discussion:

1. choose a travel destination;
2. select the type of transport;
3. buying souvenirs;
4. shopping;
5. packing luggage.

To facilitate the conversation, weak students used handouts — speech clichés. All students were involved in the process, but the main roles, of course, were performed by students with high and medium levels of training, and the so-called weak ones gave evaluative remarks and built mini-messages on issues that seemed to them more interesting and feasible for speaking. Thus, we managed to take into account the individual characteristics of each student and to differentiate the tasks of each group.

When working with text on this topic, we also individualized tasks. Students with a high level of training offered texts from newspapers and magazines under the headings «This is interesting», «Do you know that».....

We can not assume that the weak should work less. Their abilities develop, and success comes in action.

After all, the main objectives of a differentiated approach in teaching a foreign language are the satisfaction of cognitive needs and strong and weak students, taking into account their individual preparedness, the individual qualities of each.

The use of differentiation of tasks allows for the maximum assimilation of knowledge by students with different levels of knowledge.

Differentiated education of children of each individual typological group allows to achieve a higher level of development of attention, perception, memory and thinking of schoolchildren. This increases the activity of the child in the classroom, his interest in the subject, the desire for independent work.

References:

1. Олимов Х. Ю., Насирдинов О. А. The role of Information technology in teaching English // Молодой ученый. — 2016. — № 12. — С. 904–905. — URL https://moluch.ru/archive/116/31725/ (дата обращения: 11.12.2018).
2. The Decree 1875 «On measures to further improvement of foreign language learning system» December 10, 2012.
3. Brimijoin, K. (2002). Expertise in differentiation: A preservice and inservice teacher make their way. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
4. McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. (2004). The Understanding by Design professional development workbook. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.