The Effects Of Differentiated Instruction On College Non-English Major Learners' English Writing Ability

In the field of EFL teaching, learner-centered teaching is highly valued in recent years. Education experts and teachers have been deeply aware of the effect of individual differences on students'learning processes and products. The uniform learning requirements for students are challenged. College English Curriculum Requirement (for trial implementation,2004) in China has emphasized that the success of teaching reform greatly relies on students'individualized learning routes and learner autonomy. Carol Ann Tomlinson (2001) and Hua Guodong (2001) propose differentiated instruction, which cares about individual differences among students. It has been argued that differentiated instruction is not only a kind of teaching thought, but also an effective way to emphasize individual differences in class teaching (Hua Guodong, 2004). The essence of differentiated instruction is that the teacher designs different learning contents, procedures and products based on students'different learning readiness, interests and learning styles to promote all learners'respective progress based on their present levels (Tomlinson, 2001). Differentiated instruction has drawn wide attention. However, whether applying differentiated instruction in foreign language teaching practice can be effective is still an open question.The study of college English writing has long been the focus and difficulty in EFL research and students'writing ability need improving. The current study was implemented to examine whether differentiated instruction can be more effective in improving college non-English majors'English writing ability. Due to the complexity of individual differences, three factors of individual differences were mainly included in the study. They were: different writing levels, different learning style preferences and different personalities. The subjects were 60 freshmen of Class 2006 in Chongqing University with 30 students in the experimental class and 30 students in the control class. The English writing pre-test showed there was no significant difference between the experimental and control classes. Then students'learning styles, personalities along with their general English writing situations in experimental class were investigated by two questionnaires. These 60 students learnt five English writing genres in 10 weeks. Students in the control class were guided by non-differential instruction, while the teaching in the experimental class included two major parts: one is differentiated instruction in class learning and the other is Moodle internet platform for complementary learning. With references to the Differentiated Instruction Model proposed by Tomlinson and Tracy Hall, et al, the author designed different learning goals, learning contents, learning processes and after-class assignments according to students'present writing levels, learning styles and personalities. The teaching principle is"the same textbook, the same speed and different requirements". On-going assessment of students, inquiry learning, whole class learning, flexible collaborative learning and individual learning with teacher's guidance in class were major learning forms for the purpose of enhancing students'class involvement and helping them all make progress in their English writing ability based on their present levels. According to College English Curriculum Requirement (for trial implementation) promulgated by Education Ministry's Higher Education department, three levels of requirements of college students'writing ability have been proposed. So, students in the study were all required to reach at least the first level and encouraged to get to the higher levels. Finally, the English writing post test was adopted for 60 students and test results showed there was significant difference between the experimental and control class by SPSS analysis, that is to say, students in the experimental class made greater progress than those in the control class. The present study was just a preliminary attempt to apply differentiated instruction in English writing class. Hopefully, this research can provide some implications for English learning and teaching.