Teachers’ use of tiered lessons as a differentiated instruction strategy a multiple case study of three primary efl classrooms

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER TEACHERS’ USE OF TIERED LESSONS AS A DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION STRATEGY: A MULTIPLE-CASE STUDY OF THREE PRIMARY EFL CLASSROOMS Supervisor: Trần Thanh Nhàn, PhD Student: Phạm Phương Anh Course: QH2013.F1.E5 HÀ NỘI – 2017 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TIẾT HỌC PHÂN TẦNG NHƯ MỘT CHIẾN THUẬT DẠY HỌC PHÂN HÓA: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU ĐA ĐIỂN HÌNH TẠI BA LỚP TIẾNG ANH TIỂU HỌC Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Trần Thanh Nhàn Sinh viên: Phạm Phương Anh Khóa: QH2013.F1.E5 HÀ NỘI – 2017 ACCEPTANCE PAGE I hereby state that I: Pham Phuong Anh, QH2013.F1.E5, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Signature Phạm Phương Anh Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would not have been possible without the guidance and support of many individuals I would like to first acknowledge my family, especially my dad and my mom, who always love me and inspire me to pursue all of my dreams I would like to offer my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Tran Thanh Nhan, who always believed in me and helped me find my vision for this study Thank you for your optimistic attitude, valuable guidance and advice throughout this entire journey I have been extremely lucky to have a supervisor who cared so much about me and helped me overcome every obstacle with her expertise and genuine encouragement A sincere appreciation goes out to my two wonderful teachers, Ms Natasha Sharp and Mr Michael Kendall, who generously contributed their time to enable me to gain insight on my study Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge, experience, and expertise in this field You both are true inspiration to me in my future career Last, but certainly not least, I am extending a heart-felt thank you to my beloved friends, Huong Pham, Nguyen Dieu Hoa, Nguyen Thi Thuong Thuong, Pham Phuong Phuong and Tran Thi Phuong Anh, who persistently encouraged and supported me during the completion of this study i ABSTRACT Much as individual uniqueness is honoured, it has been a challenge for teachers and educators to cater for learner diversity in their classrooms Differentiated instruction is a conceptual approach that offers teachers viable solutions to address this academic diversity One such solution is the use of tiered lessons, which allows for individual students’ optimum growth and varied modalities of accomplishments Despite its proven effectiveness, there has been little attention paid to this pedagogical strategy in Vietnamese EFL teaching context To bridge that gap, this qualitative case study aims to investigate teachers’ use of tiered lessons as a differentiated instruction strategy in three primary EFL classes Three research questions of this study focused on the implementation of tiered lessons, its successes and challenges, together with professional preparations for a successful differentiated classroom To answer these questions, a multiple-case study was selected as research design and the participants in this study were two native English-speaking teachers The data collected from documents, interviews and observations was coded for emerging themes using thematic analysis The findings revealed that the teachers incorporated tiered lessons in their teaching by establishing positive learning environment, giving adaptive instruction, and assessing students accordingly In addition, students’ academic growth and increased engagement were the perceived successes while the challenges remained in the teachers’ understanding and their daily implementation of tiered lessons It was recommended that consistent professional development and teachers’ collaborative planning were the necessary preparation for the deployment of tiered lessons By revealing how tiered lessons were implemented, the study has the potential for promoting effective pedagogical practices among teachers and educators Additionally, the suggested preparation and pedagogical implications from this study might encourage the administrators of the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies to provide professional development opportunities relating to differentiated instruction for both pre-service and in-service teachers ii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of research problem 1.2 Research aims and research questions 1.3 Significance 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Organisation of the paper CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical background 2.2 Differentiated instruction 2.2.1 Definition of differentiated instruction 2.2.2 Key elements of differentiated instruction 2.3 Tiered lessons 10 2.3.1 Definition of tiered lessons 10 2.3.2 Guidelines for tiered lessons 10 2.3.3 Methods of structuring tiered lessons 11 2.3.3 Tiered instruction 13 2.3.4 Tiered assessment 16 2.3.4.1 Pre-assessment 16 2.3.4.2 Formative assessment 16 2.3.4.3 Summative assessmen 17 2.4 The importance of tiered lessons in teaching English for young learners 17 2.5 Review of related studies 19 iii 2.6 Conceptual framework 21 2.6.1 Tomlinson’s theory of differentiated instruction 21 2.6.2 Heacox’s guide to tiered lessons 22 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 23 3.1 Research design 23 3.2 Context of the study 24 3.2.1 Settings 24 3.2.2 Participants 25 3.2.3 Roles of the researcher 25 3.2.4 Ethical considerations 26 3.3 Data collection 27 3.3.1 Data collection instruments 27 3.3.1.1 Document analysis 27 3.3.1.2 Classroom observation 27 3.3.1.3 Interview 28 3.3.2 Data collection procedures 29 3.4 Data analysis methods and procedures 30 3.4.1 Data analysis methods 30 3.4.2 Data analysis procedures 33 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 35 4.1 The implementation of tiered lessons 35 4.1.1 The organisation of the classrooms 35 4.1.2 Tiered instruction 39 4.1.3 Tiered assessment 51 4.2 Perceived successes and challenges 54 4.3 Preparation for tiered lessons 58 iv CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 63 5.1 Summary of major findings 63 5.2 Pedagogical implications 64 5.3 Limitations of the study 66 5.4 Recommendations for further research 67 REFERENCES 68 APPENDICES 75 Appendix 1: Consent form for teachers 75 Appendix 2: Observation form 77 Appendix 3: Interview questions 78 Appendix 4: Interview transcript 79 Appendix 5: Open coding and axial coding details 90 Appendix 6: Sample of teacher’s description of the class 94 Appendix 7: Samples of lesson plans 95 Appendix 8: Samples of instructional materials used 104 Appendix 9: Additional floor plans 106 v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES List of tables Page Table 2.1 Methods of structuring tiered lessons 11 Table 2.2 Stages of tiered instruction & example activities 14 Table 2.3 Guiding questions for methods of tiering 22 Table 3.1 Alignment of research questions with data sources 32 Table 4.1 Students’ choices in a lesson tiered by product 44 Table 4.2 Overview of whole-class components and differentiated components of several observed lessons 46 Table 4.3 The themes and subthemes supporting research question 55 List of figures Page Figure 2.1 Key elements of differentiated instruction Figure 2.2 The flow of instruction in a differentiated classroom 15 Figure 4.1 Storytime, Floor plan – “home base” seats 36 Storytime, Floor plan – during an activity Figure 4.2 (tiered by complexity) Figure 4.3 Primary 6, Floor plan – “home base” seats Primary 6, Floor plan – during an activity Figure 4.4 (tiered by outcomes) 37 38 38 Figure 4.5 Stages of instruction & assessment of a tiered lesson 40 Figure 4.6 Used methods of structuring a tiered lesson 42 Figure 4.7 Aspects of teacher collaboration 59 Figure 4.8 Aspects of professional development 60 vi you often divided class into two tiers according to complexity Why did you choose that method of tiering students? 12b There were lessons that you had some new students coming to the class How did you diagnose these students’ abilities and put them in different groups?  Students’ learning ability  Two groups received support from the two TAs      Pre-assess at initial stages Observing students’ performance Monitoring students through the activities and assess Not to make fast judgement Watching students for a few lessons 93  Pre-assess at initial stages  Assess during activities Appendix 6: Sample of teacher’s description of the class 94 Appendix 7: Samples of lesson plans Storytime: Observation 95 96 97 98 99 Storytime: Observation 100 101 102 103 Appendix 8: Samples of instructional materials used Sample 8.1 Choice board Topic: Video Shaun the Sheep - Birthday party animal List important things for a party Make a list of 10 tricky words from the video to test another team on Write the farmer’s birthday invitation letter Script things the characters are thinking in different part of the story Make a list of 10 things the farmer would like to get as presents on his birthday Describe two funniest moments in the film Make a table and write sentences to show four differences between the farmer’s party and yours Re-imaging the ending by drawing 2-3 scenes and scripting them List 10 verbs for actions in the video Sample 8.2 Student assessment card Name: F/M Key S   S W P W P s/a  4/5  This learner likes:  This learner doesn’t like: speaking score s/a self-assessment writing score H Homework (:done, 4/5: point) participation/engagement 104 Sample 8.3 Tiered assignment worksheet Blue Wednesday Thursday Friday On _ it’s _ And And too And then we’ve got class There’s so much to do! On _ it’s _ And And too And then we’ve got class There’s so much to On _ it’s _ And _ And _ too And then we’ve got _ class There’s so much to do! Wednesday Thursday Friday Yellow On _ it’s _ And And too And then we’ve got class There’s so much to do! On _ it’s _ And And too And then we’ve got class There’s so much to do! On Friday it’s _ _ _ _ Sample 8.4 KWL chart Topic: What we Know What we Want to know 105 What we Learned Appendix 9: Additional floor plans Class: Storytime Teacher: Natasha Sharp Figure 9.1 Storytime, Floor plan – during Circle time & review activity Figure 9.2 Storytime, Floor plan – during an activity (tiered by complexity) 106 Class: Primary Teacher: Michael Kendall Figure 9.3 Primary 2, Floor plan – during an activity (tiered by complexity) Class: PP6-SAT8 Teacher: Michael Kendall Figure 9.4 Primary 6, Floor plan – during an activity (tiered by outcome) 107 ... a study entitled ? ?Teachers’ use of tiered lessons as a differentiated instruction strategy: A multiple- case study of three primary EFL classrooms? ?? was conducted The study sought to explore differentiated. .. selected a case study to obtain a more in-depth understanding of the study topic A case study was described as ? ?a legitimate research design that classroom teachers can use to investigate their practices... presented in Appendix Summary: The chapter has expounded on the qualitative approach of the study, specifically, a case study of three primary EFL classes with two teachers as participants Also, the