Ability Grouping as a Way towards More Academic Success in Teaching EFL - A Case of Iranian Undergraduates

Abstract

This research is an attempt to find out if grouping learners, through using a placement test will significantly help students become more successful in learning English. 320 non-English major undergraduates studying at the University of Isfahan participated in this research. The final scores of 121 freshmen who attended their general English courses in homogenised classes were compared with those of 199 freshmen who did not undergo any placement procedure. The analysis of data suggested that grouping the learners and dividing them into different ability groups had a significant impact on the participants' academic success, in their course of general English. In addition, the results suggested that ability grouping provides sufficient ground for methodological decisions and hence sequencing of teaching materials and procedures

Examining English Ability-Grouping Practices by Aligning CEFR Levels with University-Level General English Courses in Taiwan

“…The higher levels of class the students were assigned to, the better they performed in the OOPT. This result corroborates previous research [14,52] that the ability-grouping criterion for Freshmen English courses was confirmed effective to differentiate students into various groups of different proficiency levels. This result also echoes previous studies that students could be placed into appropriate university-level general English courses in correspondence with their performance in the English subject of the College Entrance Examinations [16][17][18].…”

ESOL Urban High School Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Instructional Strengths and Challenges: A Qualitative Case Study

“…For example, Beatrice's ability to group her classes based on her students' academic skills impacts her daily instruction. This type of grouping is known as academic ability grouping, and literature shows the positive academic impact it has for students in ESOL and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms (Khazaeenezhad, Barati, & Jafarzade, 2012;Matthews, Ritchotte, & McBee, 2013;Missett, Brunner, Callahan, Moon, & Azano, 2014). Similarly, Daniel's feedback on the potential of peer-tutoring in the ESOL classroom reflects Bowman-Perrott, deMarín, Mahadevan, & Etchells (2016) findings that "peer tutoring encourages gains for ELLs [English Language Learners] of varying levels of English proficiency.…”