Abstract
The paper describes the experience of the author as an ESOL teacher in LLNP program (Language, Literacy and Numeracy Program) at MTC Training Solutions in Australia. LLNP is a program funded by the Australian government and Department of Education, Science and Training of Australia to assist newly-arrived immigrants with low level of English proficiency to adjust to Australian society or to find employment. MTC Training Solutions is a company offering English language training programs under this scheme. In these classes, most of the learners are funded to learn English over the period of 800 hours during the period of 2 years, divided into 5 blocks of 160 hours each. The text books required for this training program are Certificates of Spoken and Written English I, II and III (CSWE I, II and III). At the end of each 160-block, four assessment tests are required to show that the two macro-skills of each leaner have been increased. These assessment tests have to comply with the criteria set by National Reporting System of Australia. In these English classes, learners come from different corners of the world with different ethnic, socio-cultural and educational backgrounds. More than half of them are from Asian background (Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Indonesian Chinese), the remaining are mostly Lebanese, Sudanese, Turkish and Moroccan.

There is a huge discrepancy in the language proficiency levels of the learners. As new learners are admitted to the class at the beginning of every month, there are always learners at very different proficiency levels in the same class. The discrepancy is also broadened by the fact that each learner has two different macro-skills that need to be improved in each 160-hour block. Firstly, this paper aims to describe the types of problems that the learners tend to have in these multi-level classes regardless of the difference in their nationalities. The paper then explores how the trainers in these classrooms handle their lessons to attract the attention of the learners. Then it will suggest some strategies to successfully ‘teach’ these learners, given the fact that they all have different language skills that need to be improved.

Introduction
In the 2001 census, 2,843,851 (of 19,436,000) Australians are reported speaking a language other than English at home. 76.9% of Australians are Australian born and 23.1% are foreign born. Asian Australians were 7.96% of the Australian population in 2001 and occupy 17.59% of population in Sydney. Besides, nearly half of Sydney’s population is either immigrants or children of immigrants. In this context, cultural difference in society as well as in English class is unavoidable. As a consequence, it is crucial for ESL teacher to use the appropriate strategies to teach English to adult learners coming from different background.
In this paper, I will describe the general picture of a multi-level ESL class in Australia and relate them to CSWE, the program used to teach these classes. I will then suggest the 6 different strategies for the ESL teachers to cope with a multi-level class in which students come from different backgrounds.

What is a multi-level ESL class?
Multi level classroom is an umbrella term to cover a multitude of situations. In a multi-level ESL class, there are following types of learners:
a) learners with no literacy skills in their home countries;
b) learners who preferred writing to speaking or vice versa;
c) learners with different writing systems;
d) learners with very different motivations and educational and cultural background.

So, what is the picture of a student in a multi-level class?
In a multi-level class, learners can be good at different skills. That is to say, one student may be very good at speaking skill but may not know anything about math. Besides, some learners are not streamlined and the result is the existence of learners with different levels of proficiency in one class.
Apart from the fact that learners begin the class with different levels of proficiency, they also progress in different paces of learning. Because they come from different backgrounds and countries, they often have different learning strategies, learning behaviours, learning aims and expectation. Because of these features, the quality of teaching and learning in a multi-level ESL class can be affected by many factors, such as a) pace of learning; b) gender issues; c) culture issues; d) learning styles; e) learning disabilities 

Advantages and disadvantages of a multi-level ESL class
Although it looks like a multi-level class is not a very desirable, these classes still display some advantages such as:

1. Students can use their skill to help each other.
2. Teachers can learn to provide more teaching activities and improve their teaching skills.
3. Competition among students is minimised. Students in these ESL classes often accept that each student is at a different place in his/her learning.
4. Students learn to be responsible for their own learning strategy and learning behaviours.

In reality, these multi-level ESL classes display more disadvantages than advantages, which are very challenging to ESL teachers. These disadvantages are:

1. Students of lower level may feel threatened, left out and frustrated.
2. Students of higher level feel bored and discouraged.
3. Teachers have to do more work for class management and teaching material preparation. The result is the planning is often time-consuming and the classroom management is exhausting.
4. It is difficult to use one source of teaching materials.
5. There is less time for each group of students.

Language, literacy and numeracy program (LLNP) classes
LLNP program is a program funded by Australian government for newly-arrived immigrants or citizens who had problems finding jobs because of their lack of English proficiency. In this program, adult learners from different countries are funded to learn English over the period of 800 hours during 2 years, divided into 5 blocks of 160 hours. At the end of each 160-hour block, learners are expected to pass 4 assessment tests to show the increase in two macro-skills. The assessment tests have to comply with the criteria set by National Reporting System of Australia.
In this program, because new students are admitted to class every month, there are always learners at different levels in the class although they have been assessed and streamlined into one level. In the same class, every student has different macro-skills that need to be increased.

Certificate in spoken and written English
The Certificates I-IV in Spoken and Written English provide a framework for learners of English in Australia to develop the language and literacy skills required to:

1. undertake further education and training
2. seek and maintain employment
3. participate in the community

The Certificates differ from traditional language curricula in that language is not represented merely as syntactic forms; rather it is seen as a resource for making meaning.
Using language involves choosing from systems of text structure, grammar, vocabulary, phonology and graphology. Learning language therefore involves learning to choose from these systems in ways that enable language users to communicate effectively in a variety of context.
The Certificates I-IV in Spoken and Written English aims to provide a common language for describing the characteristics of learners and course provision. They are accredited, nationally registered and meet the principles of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). They use criterion-referenced assessment to assess learner achievement.
The Certificates I-IV in Spoken and Written English integrate spoken and written language through the study of whole texts. They are based on a theory of language which systematically relates language to the contexts in which it is used. They describe progression in language learning in terms of interacting with increasingly demanding contexts of language use.
This program supports explicit and systematic teaching practice and they can be delivered via face-to-face tuition and by distance and e-learning modes.

National reporting system NYA Level 1 to Level 4
At the present there are 4 Levels that are taught at MTC Training Solutions.
§    NYA are the level for non-native speakers who cannot read, write, speak or understand English. These students often do not receive much schooling in their home country.
§    Level 1 learners can read, write, speak and comprehend a bit of English and can use dictionaries.
§    Level 2 learners can speak, read explicitly and think to find their answers in reading comprehension activities.
§    Level 3 learners can read between the lines to find the answer and speak more confidently as they have more vocabulary

Six strategies to engage students’ attention and improve teaching quality in multi-level ESL classes
Due to the lack of motivation from the students, these ESL classes are often considered as not very desirable for second language teaching. However, given the fact that these classes still exist and there are some learners who really attend the class to learn, some following strategies are suggested to improve the classroom situation and engage the students’ attention in the best possible way.

Strategy 1: Bring on an exercise or project that engage students in the way that can help them to develop their own skills.
In these classes, to engage the students’ attention, it is more effective to use projects or games than using grammatical lessons. Because the adult learners are often intimidated by papers full of English words and grammatical rules, they tend to take off their guards when presented with a ‘hands-on’ project to do or a problem to solve. These projects can be in the following forms:
1. A guessing game in which learners have to guess the meaning of a word from given clues.
2. An activity in which learners have to buy or sell, negotiate or bargain, etc.
3. An activity in which learners have to find or locate visual information in their surrounding environment or classroom

Strategy 2: Each student must be appropriately challenged.
As adult learners are easily discouraged, they should not be given tasks which are too difficult or too easy compared to their current level. For students of lower levels, a too challenging task may make them feel threatened, left out and frustrated. For students of higher level, they may feel bored and discouraged if faced with a very simple and easy task. Thus it is essential that teachers should be prepared to include activities that meet learners’ expectations (Wrigley & Guth, 1992). Different groups of students in the same class should be appropriately challenged so they can be engaged in the lessons. All students are given the same basic task (as will be demonstrated in the following lesson plans), but at different levels according to their abilities.

Strategy 3: Create tasks with different levels of difficulties for different groups of learners of different proficiency levels
Teachers can differentiate tasks by three categories: a) the language levels, b) the complexity of tasks or c) the amount of support provided. From the same teaching material, the teachers can design different tasks of different levels of difficulties for different groups. Teachers can mix and match groups and pair learners provided that each students must feel comfortable in their own groups and do not feel threatened when they are asked to exchange or seek help from groups of higher level of competency.
Through the group activities, a good relationship among the students and between the students and the teacher can be established.                  

Strategy 4: Do not give the learners the pressure to be correct and to be the best learners of the class.
As adults, the learners are very sensitive. If feel being forced or face-threatened, they tend to withdraw and refuse to participate in the task. It is very important that learners do not feel the pressure to perform correctly. As long as they enjoy the learning experience and participate enthusiastically in the task, the activity is considered successful.

Strategy 5: Focusing on topics rather than language skills.
In these ESL classes, most students often resist the idea of learning specific language skill. They find it quite hard to ‘digest’ and memorise grammatical or any language rules, as a result, teachers should direct them to a certain topic in daily lives, rather than focusing on language skills. These topics could be found in self-access materials which allow learners to take initiatives to choose exercises suitable to their levels (Bell, 1991, Berry & William, 1992). When the pressure to perform correctly is taken away, the learners can engage themselves easier to the task.  

Strategy 6: Each group should be given a certain amount of time to finish an activity from the same project/ text/ teaching material. Students from different groups will take turn to provide their answers to the class. That is to say, the same task will be given to all the students; however,each group will be given a different task that is appropriate to their level.

The following session of the paper will suggest some lesson plans in which the above-mentioned six strategies can be applied to facilitate the teacher in a multi-level ESL class.

LESSON PLAN 1
Reading an information text

Pre-reading activities:
Level 1 group:
§    Think of a place you will ask for help when you need to apply for a job
Level 2 group:
§    Name 2 companies that can help you with job vacancy information and job search skills in Sydney (or in Australia)
Level 3 group:
§    From the cover page of this brochure, what do you think could be the different services that Job Network offers?