The
core of the program is thus to teach according to individual student's
"interests, needs and abilities". Individualized program has
created awareness among teachers so that to treat every student as special
individual inside and outside the class. Aside from academic achievement,
teachers are becoming more ready to accept other capabilities as part
of students' specialties. These capabilities range from vocational skills
to talents in all aspects of live (arts, music, etc.).
Despite this positive change of attitudes among teachers, there are
still drawbacks towards the individualized program. One of the reasons
that causes drawbacks is the notion of designing individual lesson plan
for every student (Bolvin, 1991:189). Such notion has added burdens
as well as pressure to teachers' responsibilities. The situations become
more complicated in countries in which the population is high. The large
number of students in each class causes the designing of individual
lesson plan a burden to teachers.
Other than that, the generalized curriculum, which targets at assumed
groups of learners, has not set aside special instructions for individualized
program. Finnochiaro and Brumfit (1983) are of the view that generalization
of language planning is a must at the planning level. This has carried
much truth because curriculum planning is not the matter of planning
for an individual but for the whole nation. Since this is the scenario,
the discovery of individual differences depends largely on the teachers
in actual classroom practices. This is because educational practitioners
especially the teachers are the ones who interact most with the students.
This makes them the most suitable candidates in discovering students'
individual differences.
In lights of these problems, this paper proposes a model that can assist
teachers to carry out the individualized program in the classroom. This
model is called the Individual Developing Model. There are three
stages in his model, namely the Discovery Stage, Differentiation Stage
and Developing Stage.
The advantages
of using the Individual Developing Model are:
a) It helps teachers to work along the generalized curriculum and at
the same time not burdening teachers with individual lesson plan.
b) It explains how teachers can use information about students to help
students to self-discover their specialties.
c) It represents a methodology that explains the relativity of students'
self-discovery and teachers' dominancy (that is, it hypothesizes that
the development of students' self-discovery reduced teachers' dominancy
in teaching and learning).
Before we look at how the Individual Development Model works, we need
to examine the kind of students' information that teachers need as basic
input for the model. In the next section we outline some of the differences
that teachers can discover from each student.
2.0
Individual Differences
The differences of every student provide the necessary information for
a teacher. In our model, these differences form the bases from which
changes can take place. These changes include task instructions, groupings
and material selections. In this section, we outline four aspects of
individual differences - aptitudes, motivation, personalities and learning
styles and strategies.
Aptitudes
Caroll defines aptitude as the "capability of learning a task"
(1981, cited by Ellis, 1994:494). This capability is an additional advantage
in language learning but it does not guarantee one's achievement (Ellis,
1994). Nevertheless, to be able to discover learners' aptitude (or lack
of it) helps to explain their success (or lack of it) in language learning
(Williams and Burdens, 1997).
Examples of language aptitudes are memory for new vocabulary, the ability
to memorize new sounds and to understand how words function grammatically
(Lightbown and Spada, 1993:37). These capabilities are observable in
the classroom. Other than that, aptitudes in study skills, leadership
and organization skills can also materialize through working in groups,
joining school associations and organizing outdoor activities. In teaching
and learning, students' aptitudes provide hints of which teachers can
use in selecting activities to develop students' capabilities. One example
of activity is A-Word-A-Day which takes only a few minutes of the lesson.
This activity helps to develop students with aptitude in learning new
vocabulary and at the same time acts as an enrichment activity to the
rest of the students.
Motivation
Other than aptitude, students also show differences in their learning
motivation. Williams and Burden (1997:94) define motivation as "a
state of temporary or prolonged goal-oriented behavior which individuals
actively choose to engage in". This is to see motivation as being
long-termed and short-termed motivation. Another way of categorizing
motivation is too see it as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Deci
(1975:23, quoted by Brown, 1993:155) defines intrinsic motivation as
the learners' willingness "to engage in the activities for their
own sake". This kind of motivation will bring about "internally
rewarding consequences, namely feelings or competence and self determination".
Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, refers to behaviors encouraged
by external factors such as rewards, praises and encouragement. Maslow
(1970, cited by Brown 1993:156) places intrinsic motivation as being
long-termed and more "superior" than extrinsic motivation.
This is because intrinsic motivation is usually more lasting than extrinsic
motivation. In teaching and learning, to be able to generate motivation
is not the end of a teacher's task. Students need encouragement and
guidance to find and retain a long-termed motivation, which is usually
developed from students' interests and desires.
Aside from that, Gardner (1985) has also categorized motivation into
two main social dimensions - the integrative motivation and the instrumental
motivation. Integrative motivation is associated with the learners'
intention of blending with the cultures of the native-speakers. Comparatively,
instrumental motivation is related to the view that to be competence
in a language provides economical and practical advantages. These advantages
include better career prospects and chances of promotion.
Personalities
The third type of differences is personalities. According to Ely's model
of language proficiency development (Ely, 1986, cited by Skehan, 1989:108),
"language class sociability" and "language class risk-taking"
are among the personality traits that contribute to classroom participation
(which then leads to language proficiency). Language class sociability
refers to "gregariousness, people orientation and fear of isolation"
whereas risk-taking is impulsivity or having "the need for excitement
and change" (Eysenck, 1965, quoted by Skehan, 1989:100). These
two types of personalities belong to the extroversion category. Ellis
(1994) has hypothesized that this type of learners is more likely to
perform better in interpersonal skills. In the language classroom, they
tend to respond better to activities which demand more spontaneous speaking
skills.
Introversion, on the contrary, refers to personality trait that prefers
secured tasks and "avoids excitement" (Eysenck and Chan, 1982:154,
quoted by Ellis, 1994:520). These 'secured tasks' include traditional
grammar practice and choral reading. Ellis' hypothesis (1994) is that
the introverted learners are more likely to succeed academically in
language learning.
Despite these hypotheses (regarding the characteristics of the different
personality types), we suggest teachers to depend upon their own evaluation
in observing learners' behaviors.
Learning
Styles and Strategies
Lastly, students also differ from their learning styles and strategies.
Brown (1994:104) defines style as "a term that refers to consistent
and rather enduring tendencies or preference within an individual".
Each learner practises certain learning styles consciously or unconsciously.
Among a group of learners, some learn better with pictures and diagrams
(visual learners) and some absorb knowledge faster by participation
(kinesthetic learners). Knowing the differences in learning styles,
teachers can adjust their explanation when monitoring learning in small
groups.
Learners' learning styles affect their learning strategies. Brown (1994:104)
sees learner strategies as the "special methods of approaching
a problem or task" and every strategy as a "battle plan"
that deals with a particular problem. For instance, mind-mapping (representation
of ideas in diagram) is one of the memory strategies in Oxford's taxonomy
which is preferred by visual learners (Oxford, 1990). On the other hand,
reading aloud is more suitable for auditory learners (those who learn
better by hearing or listening). Understanding students' learning strategies
helps teachers in choosing suitable activities for different learners.
3.0
The Individual Developing Model
The Individual Developing Model is a teaching and learning model that
aims to develop students' differences through real classroom tasks.
This model contains three stages:
a) Discovery
Stage
b) Differentiation Stage
c) Developing Stage
This
model uses students' differences as the basic input of knowledge for
teachers. The discovery of differences occurs at the Discovery Stage
(Stage 1). At this stage, teachers' dominancy is at the strongest. This
is because students are yet to find out their capabilities and learning
goals. Therefore, teachers hold the responsibility in helping students
to find out their specialties.
At the Differentiation Stage (Stage 2), teachers devise lessons to suit
students' interests, personality and capabilities. At this stage too,
teachers continue to recognize the differences in each student. More
inputs about students can be obtained while carrying out activities
in the class. While teachers are in the process of discovering students'
differences, students get to know more about themselves too. This model
suggests that the increase of students' self-discovery causes reduction
in teachers' dominancy. This is because students are becoming clearer
of their interests, capabilities and learning motivation. Thus, they
can make decision on matters such as topics to focus on, division of
time for learning and organization of activities.
At the highest level (Developing Stage), teachers are working towards
learners' training. At this stage, students are aware of their wants
and needs. They gradually learn to make decision towards what to choose
for their goals. This is the stage in which teachers' dominancy is at
the minimum. The development from Stage 1 to 3 varies between individuals.
Some students attain self-discovery faster than the others. Hence, the
Developing Stage aims to instill a self-directed learning attitude into
the students so that they can continue to self-discover even after they
have proceeded to another level of life.
In the next section, we will look how this model applies to classroom
teaching.
4.0
Applications in the Classroom
Stage
1: Discovery Stage
At the discovery stage, teachers first find out about students' individual
differences. We suggest five methods for this stage.
Observation
Observation is the simplest way to find out about students' personality
and learning strategies. Through students' interaction with one another,
the way they speak, the topics they discuss and their responses towards
others' comments, teachers can predict students' personality types.
For example, an extrovert tends to be more sociable than an introvert.
An introvert usually displays shyness, quietness and attentiveness in
class.
Other than
that, learning strategies can be observed through students' note-taking,
revising techniques and memorizing skills. For instance, one who must
read aloud in the memorization stage tends to be an auditory learner.
Upon recognizing students' differences, teachers can make short notes
about them. For classes in which seating positions are fixed, teachers
can use the below method in marking students' differences:
Diagram
2: Records of Students' Differences
The recording
of students' individual differences is important because these inputs
provide clues for lesson planning at the second stage.
Questionnaires
The second method that we suggest is using questionnaires. The use of
questionnaires helps "to get language learners to self-report their
attitudes or personal characteristics" (Larsen-Freeman and Long,
1991:35). Questionnaires can also be used to find out students' learning
motivation. The below shows an example of the question asked in finding
out students' learning motivation:
Rate the
following answers from 1 to 5 (1- most important reason and 5 - least
important reason):
1. Why do you want to learn English?
* To find better job in the future.
* To be able to communicate with foreigners.
* To want to study in overseas.
* To want to score well in examinations.
* ___________ ask(s) me to learn English. (Please state who)
The data
gathered from questionnaires can be tabulated for references of teachers.
In identifying individual differences, teachers may not want to use
anonymous identity in the questionnaires. Unless the questions require
personal comments from students regarding a certain issue (of which
students are afraid to speak out of), anonymous identity can be avoided.
Assessments
Though traditional, assessment is a way to find out about students'
readiness in learning a language. Assessment helps to identify students'
strengths and weaknesses in a particular area. In some cases, students'
aptitudes (especially the capability in constructing grammatical structures)
are made apparent in assessment. Nevertheless, aptitudes such as talents
in arts and music may not be immediately identified in language classroom.
These aptitudes often materialize while carrying out activities inside
or outside the class.
Information
Feedback
Information feedback is in a way similar to questionnaires. However,
they differ in that information feedback can appear in the form of expressing
thoughts and expressing opinions. This method can be used to identify
students' personality as well as their capability to reason. For instance,
teachers can ask students for their opinions after viewing a videotape
show on family violence. Through observation of students' emotions such
as anger, aggression or fears, teachers learn more about students' personality.
Teachers can also find out about students' maturity of thoughts through
information feedback. This method can also be used at the Differentiation
Stage to continue to discover about students' differences.
Psychology
Tests
Other than that, psychology test such as personality tests can provide
guidelines for teachers to identify personality types. However, teachers
have to bear in mind that psychology tests are not always accurate and
teachers should not rely too much on the tests' results.
Stage
2: Differentiation Stage
As shown in Diagram 1, students' self-discovery does not end after Stage
1. It progresses and is in continuous development from Stage 1 to 3.
Therefore, teachers can discover more about students' differences while
carrying out activities in Stage 2. Teachers' knowledge of the students
are renewed and refreshed every time new differences are found. In this
section, we look at how the information obtained in Stage 1 helps differentiation
of students' needs at Stage 2.
Gradation
of Tasks
Once teachers have found out about students' differences, teachers can
devise activities according to students' needs. The first differentiation
method that teachers can use is gradation of tasks.
Gradation of tasks refers to the use of tasks graded from categories
such as easy, average to difficult, depending on the language proficiency
of the students. The use of graded tasks benefits not only the lower
achievers but also those with special capabilities.
Below is an example of graded tasks to teach the vocabulary terms 'generation',
'generation gap', 'pop' and 'traditional'. The terms and their meanings
are taken from Unit Four 'Three Generations' of the Taiwanese textbook
Senior High School English Book 1. (1999). Tai Nan: Nan-I. Pages 53
to 66:
The easier
task differs from the more complicated task in terms of the cues given
for each term, the length of time for completion and the cognitive demands
of each task. To be able to teach according to students' needs is the
aim of Stage 2. The use of graded tasks allows students to learn at
different paces. The use of more challenging tasks for the advanced
students can avoid the feelings of boredom and demotivation in learning.
Varieties
of Teaching Aids
The second differentiation method makes use of variable teaching aids.
Teaching aid is an important part of pedagogy. The choice of teaching
aid affects students in the learning process. For example, the use of
a Web diagram such as the following helps visual learners to summarize
the vocabulary learnt under a particular topic.
Diagram
3: An Example of a Web Diagram
(The
vocabulary terms above are taken from Unit Four 'Three Generations'
of the Taiwanese textbook Senior High School English Book 1. (1999).
Tai Nan: Nan-I. Pages 53 to 66.)
In order
to attend to students with different learning style and strategies,
teachers can vary class activities by using different teaching aids.
For auditory learners, the use of radio programs in English classes
accelerates teaching and learning. In schools that are equipped with
computer laboratories, radio programs can be replaced by CD-ROM. There
are many types of teaching CD-ROM on the market that can assist students
to practice speaking and listening skills.
Other suggestions of teaching aids (and the types of students they cater
for) are listed in the table below:
The suggestions
above are not exhaustive and neither they are absolute. The actual designing
of lessons still has to depend upon particular groups of learners. Teachers
should try out different teaching techniques so that there are chances
for every student to develop individually.
Homogenous
and Mixed-ability Groupings
Another way of catering for students' needs is through groupings. Grouping
is one of the commonest ways of organizing students in the classroom.
There are many types of groupings, namely random groupings, groupings
according to seating positions and groupings according to social cliques.
In this section, we focus mainly on homogenous and mixed-ability groupings.
Green et al (1996:137) are of the view that "group members should
be homogeneous in terms of both linguistic ability and personality type".
This helps to encourage "substantial and coherent contribution"
in the learning process. In some schools in Britain, students are grouped
differently for different subjects. As a result, students have to change
classrooms (either to the higher or lower grades classes) depending
on their capability in a particular subject. In this paper, we suggest
students to be grouped according to the objectives of every lesson -
homogenous at some lessons and mixed-ability at others.
For tasks such as drama presentations, it is unfair to group the introverts
into a group and the extroverts into another. In this case, a mixed-ability
grouping is more suitable. Nevertheless, in project work such as field
research, homogenous groupings help students to enjoy being each other's
company. However, there are also cases when students with the same personality
type that cannot work together. Therefore, teachers hold the responsibility
of being observers as well as decision-makers in the classroom.
In term of personal study groups, students with the same learning style
can be grouped together. For instance, visual learners who prefer notes
in the diagrams or mind-mapping format can exchange notes with one another.
This helps student to build up learning skills as well as cooperative
learning. Furthermore, to categorize students into groups can also avoid
the trouble of designing individual lesson plan for each student.
Journal
Writing
The next differentiation method is journal writing. The type of journal
that we suggest here does not refer to the compiled articles that are
published for academic purposes. Journals in the classroom refer to
students' reflections towards a particular issue or literary work. This
type of journal is usually used in Literature class for students to
express their thoughts and opinions. It is not a private document but
its contents can be shared between students and teachers as a way to
communicate and exchange ideas.
Below is
an example of a journal entry:
Wednesday,
12 June
The poem: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
From this example, we can notice the writer's personality - that this
student is not a risk-taker type. Through reading students' journal, teachers
obtain information about students' interests and needs. From the journal
above, teachers can investigate whether that particular student has an
aptitude in dancing. A deeper understanding of students' differences helps
to direct teachers in developing these differences either inside or outside
the classroom.
Other ways that teachers can encourage students to express themselves
are through discussion on poems, dramas and societal issues. Through expressing
thoughts and opinions, students develop their own identities, which is
what we aim for in Stage 3.
Stage 3: Developing Stage
Stage 3 is the stage in which students have slowly started to appreciate
their own differences. They will also learn to respect others' differences.
At this stage, students' self-discovery is at the maximum, which brings
about minimizing of teachers' instructions and dominancy.
At Stage 3, we suggest two ways to help teachers to further develop students'
differences. The main purpose of this stage is to instill confidence into
the students so that they continue to self-develop even after they have
left school.
Autonomous
Learning
The first way that we suggest for developing students' differences is
through autonomous learning. Autonomous learners are those who can self-direct
and develop own commitments in learning without waiting for instructions
from others. These students show their own organization toward learning,
revising and doing library research.
In training learners to become autonomous learners, teachers need to
instill a self-directed attitude into the learners. Teachers need to
inform students why is autonomy beneficial to them. Reducing students'
dependency on teachers is the first step in autonomous learners' training.
To start autonomous learning in the classroom, we suggest teachers to
give more chances for students to make decision. Teachers can start
from small matters such as allowing students to make notes by using
their own styles, letting students choose a topic for discussion and
even encouraging self- and peer- corrections in exercises. Other than
that, teachers can bring students to the self-access centers which are
available in most libraries. Students learn how to use radios, televisions
and other materials for self-learning. At this stage, teachers become
the facilitators who keep monitoring students' progress. Factors such
as students' age and levels of maturity provide hints for teachers the
degree of autonomy they can impose upon the students.
Once students have adopted an autonomous learning style, they can bring
with them the same attitudes in facing challenges in life such as challenges
in learning new skills at work place. Autonomy also aims to produce
students who know how to handle new knowledge by adjusting to their
own learning styles.
Learning
Contract
The second way that we can use to develop students' differences is via
learning contracts. The learning contracts that we suggest in this paper
are different from those that teachers 'make' students to produce in
order to achieve certain goals in language learning. The difference
in our proposal is that we opt for more freedom for the students in
making the contracts. Here, we suggest two types of contracts:
a) Self-motivated
Contract
Self-motivated contract is a contract for the students themselves in
which they set their own goals in learning. This contract need not be
shown to any one. It is a contract that students can keep for their
own reference. The overall purpose is to trust students in goal-settings.
The types of conditions in the contracts can be skills-developing or
examination-driven.
Since we have discussed autonomous learning, this is a step to further
pursuit learner autonomy in learning. Nevertheless, teachers have to
be aware that this type of contract is more suitable for matured learners.
For younger learners, teachers can consider setting more specific condition
such as 'I must finish five books by the end of this month'.
b) Contracts
with Others
'Others' can be peers, parents or anybody as long as the person is whom
the students trust. The aim of this contract is to develop a 'mentoring'
relationship between the learners and someone they trust. 'Mentoring'
relationship is a kind of supportive relationship between two or more
individuals in terms of problem-solving, academic building and being
each other's company. At Stage 3, our model entrusts upon the learners
to be dependent in setting learning goals. This brings about the gradual
reduction of teachers' dominancy from Stage 1 to 3.
The methods and activities suggested for the Individual Developing Model
is summarized as below:
Suggested
Methods and Activities in the Individual Developing Model
Stage 1: Discovery Stage
* Observation
* Questionnaires
* Assessments
* Information Feedback
_________________________________________________________
Stage 2: Differentiation Stage
* Gradation of Tasks
* Varieties of Teaching Aids
* Homogeneous and Mixed-ability Groupings
* Journal Writing
_________________________________________________________
Stage 3: Developing Stage
* Autonomous Learners
* Learning Contract
_________________________________________________________
Table 3: Suggested Methods and Activities for the Individual Developing
Model
4.0
Conclusion
The examples
of methods and activities listed in this paper are not exhaustive and
neither are the individual differences in section 2.0. Nevertheless,
they provide an overview of the ways in which teachers can attend to
individual students' needs in a general curriculum setting. Our suggestion
of the Individual Developing Model distinguishes students according
to individual similarities and differences. This helps to reduce teachers'
burden especially toward the notion of designing single lesson plan
for every student in the class. The activities suggested in this paper
are practical for actual classroom use. Teachers only need to put more
thoughts and attention to each student in order to maximize every potential
in every student.
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