Applying differentiated instruction in the teaching of College English of vocational colleges

Ⅰ.Introduction

Differentiated instruction is one of the most common ways of teaching from the teachers perspective. The various learning needs should be applied with various teaching methods and contents. The enrollment of higher vocational colleges in China has been made a great reform since the year 2017. It can be inferred that the English proficiency and learning needs of College English for higher vocational college students will have significant differences. This study will focus on the research questions as following：

Is it feasible to implement differentiated instruction in teaching of College English in higher vocational colleges？

What do teachers need to prepare when using differentiated instructions in College English teaching of higher vocational colleges？

Ⅱ.Literature review

1.Definition of differentiated instruction. Differentiation involves the curriculum and teaching practices based on the individual cognition and sociocultural understanding of each child are customized by the teachers， meanwhile， team cohesion will be maintained （Louden et al.， 2005）. Differentiated instruction refers to a mixed teaching method used in one classroom for students with different learning needs， which is a combination of various strategies devised by teachers based on the each student. It is a process to combine the transformation of learning attitude， the improvement of learning aptitude， and the promotion of academic altitude. Tomlinson （2014） demonstrated that the target of differentiated instruction is to build up fair opportunities of learning for all students in the way of using of separate groups of teaching and learning within the context of intellectually challenging materials which requires a lot of reflection and planning.

2. Implementation of differentiated instruction in College English. Differentiated instruction teaching should be a combination of whole class teaching， group teaching and individual teaching. Flexible grouping is the core of differentiated instruction teaching. The division of teaching groups should be made on the basis of students learning needs， advantages and preferences with appropriate learning activities for students. In the context of differentiated instruction， students showed a positive attitude and behaved actively. Learning in the form of grouping gives students opportunity to discuss with friends and ask questions when they encounter difficulties. Grouping flexibly keeps students from getting bored since exclusive grouping is avoided. With regard to the answers of questionnaire， 90% of students like the study in groups. Most of the students agreed that when they have some problems about learning， they can seek help immediately in group learning and solve the problems with a better understanding. Learning becomes easier and they can collaborate and socialize at the same time. According to the questionnaire， 70% of students prefer the teachers to appoint the group members in each group （Hapsari， Darhim and Dahlan， 2018）.

Ⅲ.Discussion

Differences of College English classes are commonly reflected in different English proficiency， interests of learning English， English learning motivation and background knowledge in English learning. For example， for students whose English proficiency are lower than other students， teacher can choose a story of simple picture books to teach some English vocabulary and sentences; teacher can ask them to do a simple presentation of introducing their hobbies， teachers will demonstrate then the students imitate; teacher can teach simple English songs to stimulate students interests in English learning; for students whose English proficiency are higher than other students， learning needs are the improvement of academic levels of English， teacher can choose the teaching content focus on skills of practicing for English certificates， analysis of the parts of some difficult English sentences， vocabulary and grammatical rules and terms.

Differentiated instruction in teaching College English is mainly contains six conceptions （Table 1）. Analysis of the students English proficiency and learning motivations is a crucial step， teachers will formulate teaching targets and plan teaching activities. To solve the problem of differentiation， English skills and knowledge should be taught to different groups of students carefully. Formative assessment is necessary for teachers to adjust teaching activities for differentiation instruction.

Teachers should put emphasis on the following points when performing differentiated instructions in teaching College English of higher vocational colleges. The first and foremost， it is necessary to analyze the students current situations and investigate the students motivations and willingness of learning College English in detail. Dividing students in the College English course by academic analysis into different groups is the critical step， like level A group， level B group or mixed level group. Teachers should develop different syllabuses， including detailed teaching languages， teaching materials or contents， teaching activities and methods， teaching procedures， teaching environments and teaching assessments. Teachers should focus to each tiny step of teaching in classroom， predict the feedback and reaction of psychological issues from students and behaviors that may occur， and avoid problems such as damaging students learning enthusiasms. Meanwhile， for the students， developing a good sense of differentiation and understanding the purpose of differentiation will help them actively cooperate with the teachers instruction. As one of the stakeholders of education， school should support teachers of differentiated instruction， and give a great deal of teaching autonomy to them.

Ⅳ. Conclusion

There is an old saying of Confucius in China， students should be taught in accordance with their aptitudes， which means a teacher should modify the teaching methods to meet the learning needs of every student， the teaching need to adapt to learning under certain circumstances. Differentiated instruction used in teaching of College English classes of higher vocational colleges will be contributed to students of different learning needs in English. Referring to the strategies of differentiated instruction based on individual teaching experience， which are stated in section 3， students who do not have an interest in English may become interested in English; students who need to learn from English letters may memorize simple English words and dare to speak English; students who want to get English certificates may get more opportunities to improve their English to a higher level. Due to practical constraints， this study cannot provide a comprehensive review of the details of observation of the teaching procedure of College English class， a further study with more focus on differentiated instruction in teaching College English class of higher vocational colleges is therefore suggested. It is hoped that this research will contribute to a deeper understanding of differentiated instruction in teaching of College English in higher vocational colleges， the teachers can use differentiated instruction to teach， the students can have the confidence in speaking out English. The use of differentiated instruction in College English teaching in higher vocational colleges will be effective for teachers to implement in classroom and focus on the students learning needs from a psychological perspective， it can encourage students to build self-confidence in learning of College English， and reduce learning frustration of English， the teaching can be better organized to improve the academic English level of of students with individual differences.

References：

[1]Hapsari， T.， Darhim， & Dahlan， J. A. （2018）. Understanding and responding the students in learning mathematics through the differentiated instruction. Journal of  Physics： Conference Series， 1013， 12136. doi：10.1088/1742-6596/1013/1/012136.

[2]Louden， W.， Rohl， M.， Barratt-Pugh， C.， Brown， C.， Cairney， T.， Elderfield， J， Rowe， K. （2005）. Literacy teaching practice： Differentiation. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy， the， 28（3）， 225-231.

[3]Tomlinson， C. A. （2014）. The differentiated classroom ： Responding to the needs of all learners， 2nd edition. Alexandria： Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

【作者簡介】刘宁，广州城建职业学院。