Teaching a Group of Wildly Diverse English or Foreign Language Learners

A Truly Diverse Group of Foreign Language Learners

Can you imagine having a really diverse group of EFL learners all in one English as s foreign language class? Okay, let’s give you your class of 25 learners then.

Their names are:

Al Capone, Augustus Pinochet, Lady Diana, Queen Elizabeth II, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Paris Hilton, Shakira, Pele, Fernando Botero, Michael Jackson, Halle Berry, Osama Bin Laden, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Bob Marley, Pierce Brosnan, Fidel Castro, Oprah Winfrey, Charlie Chaplin, Whoopi Goldberg, Mike Tyson, Frank Sinatra, Martin Luther King, Jr., Celia Cruz and Mr. Bean.

There, is THAT diverse enough for you? Do you think you’re going to be able to teach all the learners in this class the same way? Certainly not. You can just bet they don’t all learn the same way, so teaching a group this diverse will be a true challenge.

So, what are you going to do? Let’s briefly look at some useful approaches that might be successfully applied.

The Theory of Dual Psychology
The theory of Dual Psychology simply states that our brain is divided into two distinct hemispheres. Each hemisphere is the seat of particular intellectual abilities. The right side of our brains, for example, manage insight, 3 dimensional shapes, art, imagination and music in addition to the control of the left side of the body. The left side, in contrast, manages number skills, written language and reasoning, spoken language, scientific thought and the control of the right side of our bodies.

The Theory of Multiple Intelligences

The Multiple Intelligences
Multiple Intelligences theory developer Dr. Howard Gardner (pictured here) identified nine distinct areas or “intelligences” in which each person has decidedly different levels of development.

These are:

Verbal – Linguistic
Visual – Spatial
Bodily – Kinesthetic
Logical – Mathematical
Musical – Rhythmic
Naturalist
Inter-personal
Intra-personal
Spiritual

Hermann’s Brain Dominance Model
The late researcher Ned Hermann, identified four key aspects of human personality which in turn gives us insight into the manner in which people interact not only with each other but also with their environment. Basically these four types of brain organization between the limbic and cerebral systems are:

- Theorist
- Innovator
- Organizer
- Humanistic

An additional didactic tool we might apply is to adapt to meet learner needs using a variety of exercise types during the course of teaching our wildly diverse group of learners. Here are some recommended exercise types that might be useful:

• COGNITIVE PAIRS
• CLOZE EXERCISE
• FILL in the BLANKS
• WORD or LETTER UNSCRAMBLE
• RE-ORDERING a SEQUENCE
• TRUE or FALSE
• GIVE a DESCRIPTION
• EXPOSITORY WRITING
• COMPLETE the PHRASE or SENTENCE
• PROBLEM-SOLVING
• ERROR CORRECTION
• COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
• WRITE the QUESTION
• COMPLETE a CHART or GRAPH
• MAKE a COMPARISON
• SELECT an ITEM FROM a GROUP
• RE-WRITE or RE-STATE
• GIVE an OPINION
• DRAMATIZATION
• COMBINE EXERCISE TYPES

Armed with this array of methodologies and didactics we’re now ready to tackle of wildly diverse group of English language learners. In continuing, we’ll look at how the use of these theories, didactics and strategies might be implemented in the EFL classroom. We’ll also consider factors which impact English language teaching and learning and how to successfully address them.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com