6. Researchers either ignore or minimize the role
that individual differences contribute.
Actually, determining what most people believe
represents an “individual difference” variable is
NOT an easy task.
Every possible variable cannot be studied in every
situation, thus effort should be devoted to the
determination of the most relevant variables
within a particular context.
8. Human beings are diverse individuals in terms of their:
Physical height, weight, skin tone, eye shape and color, hair
appearance color and texture.
Gender a social construct that specifies the socially and
culturally prescribed roles that men and women are
to follow.
Age infants, children , adolescents or adults
Family family resources such as household income, parental
background education, etc.
Language their mother tongue, in addition to any second or
foreign language they may have learned or studied.
9. Socio-economic the classification of people by their wealth and
status social status in their community
Physical abilities the abilities that influence strength, endurance,
(and disabilities) flexibility, balance and coordination.
Intellectual the skills that are needed to perform mental
abilities activities usually involving thinking & reasoning.
Race the biologically engineered features such as skin
color, skin tone, eye and hair color …
Ethnicity the learned cultural behaviors and heritage of a
human being.
Religion the level of their religious affiliation &
commitment.
11. Personality the classification of people by their wealth and social
status in their community
Values Values are the beliefs or ideals shared by the
and members of a culture about what is good or bad and
attitudes desirable or undesirable.
Attitudes are the established ways of responding to
people and situations that we have learned based on
the beliefs, values and assumptions that we hold.
Perception: the process by which people translate sensory
impressions into a coherent and unified view of the
world around them.
15. Learners in any classroom are both similar and different.
An understanding of such similarities and differences help
teachers determine what to teach and how to teach it.
In a classroom of students in a Moroccan high school, for
example, students may share more similarities than differences:
They would roughly be of the same age & socio-economic
background
They would usually have the same nationality and religion.
They would often come from the same geographical region.
They would mostly belong to the same race (Amazigh or Arab)
or a combination of the two races.
16. They could share the same mother tongue:
Darija - with all its regional variations, or
Tamazight, or
Tarifit, or
Tachelhit, or
Elhassania.
17. Since the classroom is a microcosm of society, within the
same classroom students can look and behave differently.
From the first day in class, a teacher can notice the many
ways in which their new students seem to be different.
Diversity:
“…Those human characteristics that have both the potential
to either enrich or limit a student’s capacity to learn from the
school environment.” Henson & Eller (1999, p121)
18. However, there are many ways in which they can be different:
Some of them may be girls, some boys.
Some may like school and some may not;
Some may find learning at school an enjoyable experience;
Others will feel it is a hardship.
Some may feel happy most of the time, some unhappy.
Some of the students may have special needs, such as
hearing difficulties, poor eyesight, or difficulty sitting still.
Shaping the way we teach English
19. Students can have different learning styles
Some of them may be girls, some boys.
Some may like school and some may not;
Shaping the way we teach English
20. 1. Gender
2. Personality Traits
3. Learning Style
4. Cognitive Abilities
5. Multiple intelligences
6. Degree of Motivation
7. Exceptionality (Giftness & Limitations)
8. Teachers are also different (Good & Bad)
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27. Students can have different learning styles
Some of them may be girls, some boys.
Some may like school and some may not;
Shaping the way we teach English
28.
29.
30. Disability Area of Difficulty Symptoms include trouble with: Example
Learning Disabilities
Letters and words may
Processing
Dyslexia Reading, writing, and spelling be written or
language
pronounced backwards
Computation, remembering
Difficulty counting by 2s,
Dyscalculia Math skills math facts, concepts of time,
3s, and 4s
and money
Illegible handwriting,
Handwriting, spelling,
Dysgraphia Written expression difficulty organizing
composition
ideas
Coordination and manual Trouble with scissors,
Dyspraxia Fine motor skills
dexterity buttons, and drawing
Information
Processing Disorders
Difficulty anticipating
Auditory Processing Interpreting Language development and
how a speaker will end a
Disorder auditory information reading
sentence
Visual Processing Interpreting visual Difficulty distinguishing
Reading, writing, and math
Disorder information letters like "h" and "n"
http://nymetroparents.com/article/Learning-Disabilities-ChartDiagnoses-and-Symptoms
34. It follows that if completely individualized
instruction is impractical and one-size-fits-all
is
ineffective for most students,
a more balanced approach that attempts to
accommodate the diverse needs of the
students in a class at least some of the time is
the best an instructor can do.
Editor's Notes
Imagine we were all the same: all women or all men. We looked the same, behaved and reflected in the same way. How would life be like??? Surely not as exciting and intersting as it actually is NOW.
