Application Of A Covertly Stratified Method To Teaching Secondary Vocational School Students English Listening And Speaking

Stratified teaching is adopted by many vocational schools to cope with the difference of students’ English proficiency.Some practices and research show that it is difficult to schedule classes when adopting between-class stratified teaching.What’s more,students’self-esteem will be hurt if they are included in lower level class.Therefore,this study will explore the influence of covertly stratified teaching within-class on students’ listening and speaking skills.The main research questions are as follows:(1)What effect does covertly stratified teaching have on listening and speaking ability of secondary vocational school students?(2)What effect does covertly stratified teaching have on listening and speaking ability of secondary vocational school students at different levels?The study adopted both quantitative and qualitative methods.The quantitative study employed listening and speaking tests as the research instrument.The researcher investigated two classes with 81 students in the experiment for one semester.One class(Accounting 1904)was designated as the experimental class(EC),which was adopted covertly stratified teaching.According to the scores of pretest students were divided into three proficiency levels:higher,medium and lower.While the other class(Accounting 1905)was made as the control class(CC)with regular classroom teaching.After the experiment,both classes were conducted the post-test.The qualitative study adopted an interview as the research instrument.Six students from three proficiency levels in the experimental class were interviewed individually.Through both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data,the major findings are as follows:First,compared with regular teaching,covertly stratified teaching can improve students’ability of listening and speaking in secondary vocational schools.Students in the experimental class got higher marks than students in the control class after conducting the covertly stratified teaching.By stratifying students,teaching goals,contents and assessments,this teaching mode achieved the greatest degree of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude.Second,compared with regular teaching,covertly stratified teaching is better for improving listening and speaking abilities of secondary vocational school students at different proficiency levels.According to the experiment,students at higher,medium and lower level all got higher marks in the experimental class than in the control class,though there was no significant difference in higher level between the two classes.Students at medium and lower level achieved much progress in the implementation of covertly stratified teaching.From the interview,it could be concluded that both cooperative learning and emotional factors contributed to the progress.This mode protected students’ self-esteem and improved the initiative and enthusiasm of students to participate in learning activities.This study has the following pedagogical implications:firstly,teachers should observe students from developmental point of view and adjust students’ layer flexibly according to their achievements;secondly,teachers should conduct diversified teaching activities and teaching methods according to teaching goals and students’ interests;thirdly,teachers should pay much attention to the emotional factors and encourage students to participate in classroom activities.