چکیده:
The nature of heterogeneity issues within the context of Iranian, English language learning contexts in high schools is one of the under-researched lines of inquiry. For this aim, a researcher-made, Likert-type questionnaire whose items were initially validated through a multi-stage, exploratory research design among 30 teachers was distributed among some 67, Iranian EFL teachers with different degrees of experience (less vs. more) to find the teachers’ concerns/challenges and their strategies to tackle them. The findings suggested that the concerns behind heterogeneous classes were not consistent regrading weak and strong students. In the second place, it became evident that the order of tendency towards adopting the four enunciated strategies was not the same in the two less and more experienced teachers. Possible interpretations regarding teacher outlook as mapped on ‘teacher experience’ to target heterogeneity issues were presented in the end.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Informed by the above-cited challenges, the authors in this study intended to screen the impact of homogeneity on some Iranian English language teachers with varied teaching experiences, to detect the associated issues involved in heterogeneous classes within public high schools and to see through teachers’ views over tackling these issues.
Background of the Study Heterogeneity Hitches in Language Classes In the existing literature, some of the problems of an English teacher in heterogeneous classes have long been perceived through correlational designs on some prominent issues such as learners’ different learning styles (Ellis, 1997; Faleiros, 2009; George, 2005; Prema, 2016; Reid, 1995), personality traits (Zhou, 2015), learning strategies (Chamot, 2016; Fuchs, 2017), intelligence (Zineb, 2013), language aptitudes (Lightbown & Spada, 2002), interest (Reyes & Rodriguez, 2005; Simanova, 2010), motivation (Chairat, 2015), Self-discipline (Rahimi, & Asadollahi, 2012; Valentic, 2005), background knowledge (Gordon, 2010; Perera, 2010; Tsao, 2003) among others.
Empirical Studies on EFL Strategies for Tackling Heterogeneity Issues Surveying the literature pointed to the fact that many different researchers had dealt with how teachers could deal with mixed ability classes including Bremner (2008), Cohen (1991), Perera (2010), Na (2007), Pool (2008), Slavin (1995) Simanova (2010), Tomlinson (2012, 2014) etc.
Data Collection Procedures In the first stage, after conducting an in-depth study in the existing literature and interview sessions with six English language teachers, some key ideas were upheld, which focused on some relevant issues and concerns on heterogeneous classes including students’ motivation, their performance in mixed-ability groups, students’ participation in interactive activities, their reaction to book contents, and teachers’ managerial skills in such contexts.