Action Research on Using Differentiated Instruction to Strengthen Vocational High School Students’ English Learning

• Main Authors: HUANG, MEI-FANG, 黃美芳
• Other Authors: TSENG, SHU-HUI
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/t4mbej

碩士 === 國立臺北科技大學 === 技術及職業教育研究所 === 107 === 12-year Compulsory Education was implemented in Taiwan in 2014. The successful implementation of the compulsory education will be highly dependent on the efforts of the middle school teachers, since it is the teachers that are going to adapt themselves to the needs of the students in a classroom existing with different levels of abilities and learning styles. The study aimed to explore how much the differentiated instruction can do to help strengthen vocational high school students’ English learning. The approach of this study was action research, and the research target was the students the researcher was teaching. Several methods were involved in the research, including survey, classroom observation, recording, interview, and reflective notes. Following are the conclusions: 1. The main obstacle that hinders students’ learning of English is their being unable to pronounce words correctly and confidently. Even with the help of the phonetic K.K. symbols, students can’t feel free to pronounce words fluently. Vocational high school teachers should make sure that students are able to use the phonetic symbols to pronounce words independently. For those students who are not well equipped with the ability, it’s highly suggested to review the symbols with the students at the beginning of the school year, especially for those low achievers. 2. Based on the findings of the action research, differentiated instruction can increase students’ motivation in learning English. It provides antidote to the 12-year compulsory education in which students with different English levels are all put in one classroom. 3. The effective strategies for teaching English in vocational high school are as follows: (1) For the struggling students: Emphasize the ability of recognizing words’ pronunciation with the help of K.K. symbols, reading the same story repeatedly helps build up the speaking ability, put an emphasis on the word collocation, and as the listening ability increases, so does the writing ability. (2) For the average level students: Reading out loud helps develop listening, reading the same story over and over again develops speaking ability, understanding the sentence structure helps reading ability, and help students differentiate the words arrangements between English and Chinese. (3) For the high level students: Offer extra listening materials, get students to speak up on the stage, offer intensive reading materials, and be strict on the correctness of the grammar usage. 4. The professional development the researcher achieved is listed as follows: (1) It is a norm for a class to be differentiated. (2) Recognizing students’ difference in English proficiency is the first step that teachers should take to help them learn more effectively. (3) Allow students to learn with their own pace and unique styles. Do not sacrifice some students’ learning opportunities by following the designated teaching plan.