Research project

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Grouping Students to Differentiate Their Instruction in an EFL Classroom
Silvia Cárdenas
EDCI 760: Action Research in Education, Section B
April 10th, 2014

GROUPING STUDENTS TO DIFFERENTIATE INSTRUCTION
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Grouping Students to Differentiate Their Instruction in an EFL Classroom
Introduction
English teaching in Ecuador has improved over the years. The government has developed
a project to reinforce the English Language Curriculum aligned with standards like the Common
European Framework of Reference (Ecuador, Ministerio de Educacion del, 2012). The
educational system is based on standards in order to achieve the goals of education (Ecuador,
Ministerio de Educacion del, 2012). Because of the focus on standards, it has been challenging to
incorporate progressive instruction in our system.
According to the Ecuadorian In-Service English Teacher Standards about teaching and
learning, (Ecuador, Ministerio de Educacion del, 2012) , “Teachers know, understand, and apply
concepts, research, and best practices to plan classroom instruction in a supportive learning
environment for students” (Ecuador, Ministerio de Educación del, 2011). The standard states that
teachers should “plan differentiated learning experiences based on assessment of students’
English proficiency, learning styles, and prior formal educational experiences and knowledge”
(Ecuador, Ministerio de Educación del, 2011). Based on this, it is necessary to understand
differentiated instruction to accomplish one of the goals of our Education system. Continuing
research in this topic will help inform Ecuadorian educational practice.
“Differentiated instruction is the practice of teaching each student in a manner that will
accommodate how he/she learns best” (Breaux & Boutte, 2010, p. 4). Each person is different
and students learn in different ways (Breaux & Boutte, 2010). It is difficult to manage classes in
Ecuador because teachers do not understand individual differences, learning styles, and students’
backgrounds, in order to provide the opportunity to each student to learn and develop his/her
abilities. Classroom management is very important when teachers want to differentiated

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instruction. Teachers planning does not usually incorporate classroom management techniques.
Teachers believe that their knowledge base is important, but may not intentionally plan for
practices that can be successful in classes, like grouping activities. According to Breaux and
Boutte (2010) group work is an opportunity to recognize strengths and weakness. The groups can
be divided according to: abilities, interests, readiness levels, multiple intelligences and learning
styles. This is important in our English class because we can differentiate abilities and readiness
by grouping students to help them to achieve their goals in each level.
Ecuador is multicultural and the mixture of languages, cultures, religion, etc., is an
important factor to consider in education. The place where I reside is as diverse as the rest of the
country. The schools have diverse students since we have people who come from the “Shuar”
ethnic group, mestizo, and students that have been in the United States who are now studying in
those schools. In the school where I work there is at least one student who speaks English at a
higher level. Working in groups has been an issue that English teachers have faced in classes
since there is a big difference between those who can speak English at a high level and those
who speak native languages than Spanish, in this case “Shuar.” Teachers have made a huge
effort in order to teach these two groups without much success. Most of the teachers do not like
to group students because they do not know how to use strategies to work in cooperative
learning. Sometimes teachers try to do pair work, but without considering learning differences,
the work is not productive.
Implementing group work could support students achieving their goals. However, some
research articles on group work and differentiated instruction discuss very important issues to
consider. It is necessary to consider the Zone of Proximal Development and how people interact
(Herazo, 2002). To work in a class based on ability grouping needs a lot of training, planned

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materials, and can affect students’ attitudes and emotions (Kim, 2012 ). The purpose of this
qualitative study is to investigate how using group work affects self-esteem and motivation of
EFL students.
The purpose of this qualitative case study is to investigate how grouping students
according their language abilities affects English language acquisition and explore other
alternative ways of working in groups.
Research questions
In what ways does differentiated instruction by grouping students according their language
abilities affect English language acquisition?
In what ways does grouping students affect self-esteem and motivation of EFL learners?
How can group work help students with a high level of English?
How can I differentiate my instruction using group work?
Literature Review
Differentiated Instruction
Before attempting to know more about grouping students according to their abilities, it is
important to discuss approaches for differentiated instruction and the learning process. Also, it is
necessary to analyze how Ecuadorian English curriculum is designed to know the importance of
using differentiated instruction.
Teaching English in Ecuador is based on standards. These standards are aligned with the
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and consider the communicative
language components and the four skills of the language (Ecuador, Ministerio de Educacion del,
2012). Voltz, Sims and Nelson (2010), argue that some teachers have called this issue
“standards-based reform” because all students have to achieve their goals despite their
conditions. This situation has challenged teachers to look for new strategies and be more

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responsible in order to help all students reach these standards, regardless of their backgrounds or
disabilities.
Herrera and Murry (2011) state that “the effective educator demonstrates logic-, theory-,
and research-based reasons for the selection and sequence of actions that he or she chooses to
incorporate classroom instruction” (p. 188). Teachers usually use the following terms: approach,
methods, strategies and techniques in their professional development. However they get
confused when applying in their instructional plan or trying to communicate their ideas to others.
Excellent teachers base their instruction in a clear approach and understand the meaning of each
term (Herrera & Murry, 2011). This means that grouping students is a technique that results from
cooperative learning strategy, shelter instruction method and is based on communicative and
cognitive approaches. These concepts are well-explained in their book. (Herrera & Murry, 2011,
pág. 190)
Levy (2008) emphasizes that teachers have to be more conscious and flexible with the
activities developed in classes. They should be more systematic in the class and students could
reach their goals. There are some strategies and assessment tools that could help teachers to
apply in the learning process and teachers must use differentiated instruction when applying each
process. The learning process involves teaching, practicing, and implementing. Teach means the
content, where all the students have to be taught the same curriculum, however, teachers can
differentiate instruction by doing variations in content. It is necessary to conduct preassessment
in order to know students strengths and weakness. Practice is the process where the teacher
provides activities based on students’ abilities, learning styles and interests. Formative
assessment is a tool that helps teachers to accommodate instruction and implement is the product
where students can show what they have learned. In other words is the summative assessment

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that could be the standardized test (Levy, 2008). In general, differentiated instruction is a
process where teachers have to look for strategies for the learning process to help all the students
to reach their goals.
Differentiation requires a well-organized class. Teachers have to plan each class to
differentiate instruction. If there is no organization, differentiation will be unsuccessful. When
teachers are organized, the learning environment is more comfortable for teachers and students.
It is important that teachers explain the procedures in order to allow students to know what the
expectations of the class are. Teachers have to review the learning process of teach, practice, and
implement to help students feel motivated in the class. (Breaux & Boutte, 2010, pp. 40-42).
According to Breaux and Boutte (2010), differentiated instruction means the way
teachers teach students based on students’ previous knowledge, learning styles and needs or
abilities. Teachers must understand that each student is different and they have to change
instruction for the purpose of producing meaningful learning (Breaux & Boutte, 2010, p. 4-7).
Furthermore, Buteau and True (2009) state that “differentiating instruction in a classroom has
become even more critical with the increasing population of students with diverse cultural and
linguistic background” (p. 23) and present some strategies to improve teaching and the learning
process. One of the strategies is creating meaningful partnerships where students work together
but teachers have to be careful when pairing students considering their differences (Buteau &
True, 2009). Moreover, Beacher (2012) states that differentiation “provides the opportunity to
become more focused on language development activities within the content lesson.” He also
agrees with Beteau and True (2009) about the necessity of differentiated instruction to know the
students’ needs when they are culturally and linguistically diverse.

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According to Baecher, Artigliere, Patteson, and Spatzer (2012), differentiation requires
teachers to accommodate their lessons plans and there are some principles that could help
teachers to apply this approach. First, teachers have to apply a diagnostic assessment in the four
skills of the language to know students’ strengths and weaknesses. Second, it is important to set
the content objective and then determine the language objectives. Third, differentiation does not
mean different individual activities. Rather, it means to establish changes based on a single
activity. Fourth, if differentiated materials are not according to students’ needs, teacher should
adapt those materials in order to have a more meaningful lesson. Fifth, teachers should look for a
base activity but with the same learning goal. Sixth, higher-level students should not have to
work with lower-level students since the lower-level students could not effectively develop their
skills and the higher- level students attempt to work according to their proficiency. Seventh,
teachers have to be wise when differentiating because students could feel segregated and may be
unmotivated if they are in the same group for each class. Eighth, students can choose their
activity according their level of challenge. Ninth, it is important to know the cognitive
complexity of each student. Teachers should use planning tools like Bloom’s Taxonomy. Finally,
the activities must be done in the same amount of time by each student or group. This could help
teachers with class management.
It is important to review Bloom’s Taxonomy when planning differentiated instruction
because it is a tool that can help teachers to modify the lesson. According to Roberts and Inman
(2009), planning can help students to make progress and teachers have to know strategies to use
in classroom. These authors suggest some strategies to supply students’ needs, however Bloom’s
Taxonomy seems to be the most appropriate strategy for differentiation. Using this strategy,
teachers allow each student to have the same learning experience but using different process. The

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bloom chart can help teachers to select the correct options for instruction based on the
differences of each student. Additionally, not all students will be able to complete the learning
experience stated in the Bloom chart. Teacher should bear in mind that students have to work at
least with two levels. It is better if the student work with one from the higher and one from the
lower level. But, students have to face challenges in each learning experience. Thousand, Villa,
and Nevin (2007) also agree with Roberts and Inman (2009) and present the levels of Bloom’s
Taxonomy and the different process. See appendix A.
Cooperative learning
There are different ways to differentiate instruction. Cooperative learning is a strategy to
consider since teachers all the time work with groups of students with different needs, abilities
and backgrounds. According to Johnson, Johnson, and Smith (1998), cooperative learning is “the
instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each
other’s learning” (p. 1:14). They also states that in the new paradigm of teaching there are a lot
of facts that teachers have to know and one of these is that learning is social in which students
need to interact with others in order to learn. This interaction is important since students are able
to solve difficult tasks in cooperation with others rather than alone. Miller (2002) agrees that
“cooperative learning is an instructional arrangement whereby small groups of students with
mixed abilities work together toward shared academic goals rather than competing against one
another or working individually” (p. 246). Additionally, Herazo (2002) analyzed the group work
since the perspective of communicative, cognitive and social affective and stated that people
learn when there is interaction. For this reason, in the learning process students need to interact
with other people to learn. This process is based on Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone of Proximal
Development where learning occurs with other people’s guidance. So, it is necessary to be in a

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group and receiving the collaboration of the others to acquire knowledge. In an English class,
teachers should consider working with cooperative learning groups in which the effort of each
person will allow them to achieve their goals (Herazo, 2002) .
Interaction in a cooperative learning helps students to acquire the language. According to
Wink and Putney (2002) based on a Vygotskian perspective “development begins as an
interpersonal process of meaning making and then becomes an individualized process of making
sense.” (p. 91). The Zone of Proximal Development means that learners interact with other
people who can help them to acquire the new knowledge. These people must assist learners and
they can internalize learning to produce a concept and communicate it again.
Group work
Levy (2008) suggests that, “grouping should be based on different criteria regarding the
needs of the students and the short-term goals of the teacher in an effort to meet the desired
standard” (p.5). According to Frey, Fisher, and Everlove (2009), teachers can group students
according their ability levels, learning styles or interests. Before explaining the different ways of
grouping students, it is important to analyze some details to bear in mind about working in
groups. Group work does not mean just putting together students. It is important to consider
some facts in order to success in a group work. Based on Johnson and Johnson principles of
group work, Frey, Fisher, and Everlove (2009) explain the characteristics of a productive group
work. A group must have positive interdependence. Each member has to collaborate to reach the
group’s goal. It promotes interaction to develop rapport among participations. Individual
accountability is when each students have to be conscious that their contribution is important for
the group. Interpersonal and small-groups skills means to know how to act in a group in order to

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give ideas and respect other’s opinions and group processing to reflect on their own work to
improve and scope the goals (Frey, Fisher, & Everlove, 2009).
To differentiate instruction in an English class, teachers should use different group work.
Levy (2008) states that grouping by ability means that teacher can divide the class according
students’ needs. Some students may need more instruction, while students who already know the
topic could work in activities more challenging for them. When teachers decide to work with this
type of group work, they have to rely on formative assessment and bear in mind that students
cannot work in the same group each class. They need to change group members according their
necessities. According to Kim (2012) ability grouping is defined as “a practice that places
students into classrooms or small groups based on an initial assessment of their readiness or
ability.” (p. 289). After reading some information about group work, it could be possible to
group students in an English class based on their needs and learning style. Using assessment
methods the students could be divided according their English level in high, middle and low.
There are some research related to ability grouping in an English class with some concerns that
future research should take in account. Kim (2012) carried out a qualitative study in Korean
middle schools with 55 English teachers and 754 students about teachers and students’
perceptions, benefits and problems found in ability groups. The students were divided in high,
middle and low levels. The results showed that high level learners did not perceive much
difference, while mid and low group students felt that ability grouping caused unequal leaning
opportunities, labeling effect and an impact on learners’ self-esteem. Teachers also perceived
that they had behavior and motivational problems with low level students. The researcher states
that it is necessary teacher training, materials development and assessment should be based on
ability grouping. Also, according to the results of this study, English teachers in Korea have

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problems looking for additional materials to different level learners. The author suggests that
grouping students in smaller classes would be better to get more attention from teachers, reward
students’ ongoing process, and give more attention to ability groups as necessary to help students
to reach their goals (Kim, 2012 ). On the other hand, in another study conducted in Iran with
undergraduates students, the results showed that grouping students by their abilities improved
their achievement, but this study was conducted in a different way. The students with low level
had 4 hours in a week. Middle level students had 3 hours and high level students received 2
hours of English classes. The mean of the whole group final test was better than the mean of the
diagnostic assessment. This study suggests an appropriate teaching plan, improve methodology
when using cooperative learning and use appropriate textbook for English classes
(Khazaeenezhad, Barati, & Jafarzade, 2012) .
Levy (2008) states that grouping for learning styles means to bear in mind the learning
styles. Teacher could form group with one student of each learning style in a group or students
with the same learning style in a group. Teacher can group students according their interests.
Not all the students have the same interests, so teachers should investigate before students’
interest to apply in this kind of group work.
Also, heterogeneous grouping can be possible. In this type of group work, teach and
process are worked with the whole class but when students need to present the product, teacher
can divide in groups according their needs or learning styles (Levy, 2008).
Furthermore, some authors establish others form of grouping students like Nina Brown
(2000) that identifies five types of learning groups. The first one is work group in which students
work alone but they help partners and the grade is individual. The second one is grouping
students as teams. The groups have a leader and each member has an activity to accomplish. The

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responsibility is for each individual and the whole group. Another way is learning groups where
students work together, while they are learning and improving skills. The next one is problem-solving
groups in which students work together to solve a situation and give a solution. Finally,
other groups that include special groups who work on specific activities to investigate something
and self-management group who conduct a work showing results (Nina W. Brown, 2000, p. 3-4).
In conclusion, grouping students according their abilities is challenging work for
teachers. Teachers have to consider different facts in order to apply this technique. Some
researchers suggest that grouping students by abilities is excellent because the result showed
improvement, but other studies suggest that there could be negative effects when using this
techniques. Teacher have to be prepared to group students. Many books give us ideas to use in
classes with group work and teachers and principals must help to have success in grouping
students. This study is focused on using ability group work in an EFL setting to determine how
this technique affects the motivation and self-esteem of EFL learners and what can be done to
help the high level learners who may not benefit from this particular type of grouping.
Methodology
Differentiated instruction in an EFL classroom in Ecuador is not applied most of the time
because teachers argue that it is impossible to work according to the needs of each students.
Students’ tables are in the same position all the time and group work is not a strategy used by
teachers in the classrooms. Though, grouping students is a technique that some teachers rely on
but it does not mean that they are differentiating instruction. They just group students and assign
a work regardless their needs, skills, learning styles, or other factors that are important when
grouping students. This proposal seeks to use a case study action research project to understand
how grouping students according their language needs, learning styles, and multiple intelligence

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theory affect their English language acquisition. Also, this study is attempting to know how
differentiated instruction affects self-esteem and motivation of EFL learners.
Setting of the study
Ecuadorian education is divided in General Basic Education and Bachillerato. General Basic
Education is mandatory and it is considered from the 1st year of education to the 10th year.
Students in the GBE are 5 to 13 or 14 years old. While, students from 14 to 17 or 18 years old
are considered in the bachillerato section. Students who have finished the General Basic
Education must continue the studies in the bachillerato for three years to get a diploma. After
that they can go to the university or look for another alternative to be productive. Some schools
have a curriculum that is designed to help students to be productive if they do not want to go to
the university. This schools are called “Technician schools.” Moreover, Ecuador has private,
public and “fiscomisional” schools. The word “fiscomisional” means that they receive a
government subsidy, but students have to pay tuition to study in these kind of schools. In most
cases these schools belong to religious missions. They are considered semi-private institutions.
This study is going to be carried out in a fiscomisional school. It is located in the Amazon
Region, in an urban area. There are 950 students. Its academic purpose is to offer students who
want to study the 8th, 9th and 10th year of basic education and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year of bachillerato
in an alternative setting to the general public education. The curriculum is designed according
the Ecuadorian Law of Education (LOEI), as is the public curriculum, however it is generally
believed that fiscomisional schools offer better education. It is mandatory to take five hours of a
foreign language each week. In this case, English is the subject that is held up in this school. The
length hour is 40 minutes. There is an average of 30 students in each classroom. Moreover, in
each classroom there is at least one student who has been in an English speaking country like

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The United States. Other students also have a good level of English since they like it. On the
other hand, some students struggle with English because they have not received instruction
before or they do not like it at all. In Ecuador, there is not a system in which students can take a
test to know their level of English and be placed according to their knowledge. All the students
have to attend to the same English class regardless their level. This is the reason that
differentiated instruction by grouping students according to their English level, language skills,
abilities, and learning styles would help low achievers to improve their language acquisition and
middle and high level students might excel in English skills.
The sampling is going to be one class chosen among the five sections of first bachillerato
(B1). Which is similar to the freshmen/sophomore years of high school. It is necessary to ask for
permission to the principal and parents because they have to be informed about the study. If they
know the purpose of the study, I can get access to records and interviews without
misinterpretation. Parents’ permission could be got by having a meeting and writing down an act
with all the parents’ signatures. A letter to the principal will be necessary to inform the activities
that are going to be accomplished.
Participants
The participants will be students from the 1st year of bachillerato. I will choose one class
of 30 participants since in this school there are 5 sections in 1st bachillerato and it will be difficult
to work with all the 5 sections. However, according to Gay, Mills, and Airasian (2012) a
purposive sample is a good choice to select the sample for this study. The class will be selected
based on students with high level of English, native people, and students who have got bad
grades in English in the last year of school.
Role of the researcher

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I will be an active participant observer since I am going to teach and observe my students
development and improvement. I will record data to analyze and try to respond my research
questions.
Intervention or Subject of Study
Teaching English in Ecuador is based on constructivism and group work as cooperative
learning is one of the forms to apply this theory. However, English teachers sometimes use group
work as a strategy but without planning. I am planning to conduct this study based on this
technique using differentiated instruction to understand if language acquisition improves and
students feel more motivated. Students are going to be grouped in different ways. Ability group
will be carried out when the lesson plan is about listening, speaking exercise. Low, middle and
high level students will be grouped when a grammar topics will be explained. If the activity is
about writing and reading skills, students will be grouped by the multiple intelligence inventory
or learning styles. Each lesson plan will be according to the Bloom’s Taxonomy since it is an
effective strategy to engage all students in the learning process. This strategy could be applied in
an English class to provide meaningful learning and develop thinking skills. This strategy seems
to be the most effective when differentiating instruction because all students reach their goals
according their level.
Data collection
To accomplish this study is necessary to use some resources that are going to help me to
develop the research and present the results. The first resources that I am going to use is an
inventory. According to Breaux and Boutte (2012), teachers can know their students using
inventories. They provide inventories to know students’ learning styles and multiple
intelligences. (p. 12-29-30-34-37) See appendix B.

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Additionally, Herrera, Morales, and Murry (2013), informal assessment is good to help
teachers to measure students’ skills. They provide examples of inventories like the cognitive
academic language proficiency (CALP) and the basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS)
(p. 152-153). For this study is necessary to use tools that can help teacher identify students
strengths and weakness to know how to differentiated instruction and group students.
Unit tests
The tests will help me to obtain information about my students’ progress. At the
beginning students will take a diagnostic test to know students level of English. At the end of
each unit, the English books have standardized tests that could be used to obtain data about
students’ improvement. These tests are on the Teacher’s book and they are designed to test
reading, writing, listening, vocabulary, grammar, and communication skills. However, these tests
can be adapted according to the students’ needs. Therefore, it will be necessary to design the
tests according the students’ needs. It could be done by changing the complexity of the
questions.
Students’ interviews
Interviews will help to know the effects on motivation and self-esteem of the students
when they are grouped according their needs, skills, learning styles or multiple intelligence.
Using interviews is a strategy that is going to help researcher to obtain information direct from
the participants (Gay, Mills, & Airasian, 2012). These interviews will be carried out with one
student from the low, middle and high level of English. The chosen students will help me to
know their feelings, points of view, and self-reflection. There will be 8 questions to each student.
See appendix C
Observational field notes

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Observation will be a technique to collect important data of students’ behavior. The
whole class will be observed once per week. This activity will be carry out during three months
from March to May because in this period students are in the second quimestre and they will
finish the academic year in June. I will manage field notes in order to organize information
accurately. See appendix D
Surveys
There will be some surveys that are going to be applied at the end of each group work
activity using differentiated instruction. All the students from the class will answer it. There will
be questions on Likert scale format. These surveys’ statements will be focus on students’
feelings, emotion and criteria of group work development. Students will not write their names
because they are anonymous. However, these surveys will be printed in different color of papers
since it is important to differentiate the members of each group. There will be surveys focus on
the different group works. One of these surveys will be based on ability group, another according
their learning styles, other related with their English level and multiple intelligences. See
appendix E
Data analysis
The data collected from the anecdotal records will be analyzed according the frequency
of attitudes and actions that students will carry out during the group work activities. It will be
necessary to use a summary sheet in order to collect and analyze what, how, when, and why they
do each activity. With this method I could see the repetitions of feelings, gestures, reasons,
activities, and length of each situation inside the group. This method will be used in each class
except when I will apply the observational method.

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The diagnostic test will be applied at the beginning of the study. Other tests will be
applied at the end of each unit and there will be a final test. These tests will evaluate writing,
listening, reading, grammar, and vocabulary skills. Speaking skills improvement will be
evaluated according the SOLOM instrument because the standardized tests of our English book
do not consider this language skill. After applying the test, it will be necessary to use a chart in
order to know the average of each skill and obtain the mean of low, middle, and high level
students according to the differentiated made at the beginning of the study. This analysis will
help to understand if grouping students based on differentiated instruction has helped students to
improve their language acquisition. See appendix F
Students’ interviews will be carried out on the last week of May. The data collected from
these interviews will be analyzed using a summary sheet of each interviewed student.
Observational field notes will be carried out once in a week. These notes will be coded
according the recurring activities, movements, number of participation of each student,
vocabulary, and quality of work.
Surveys will be coded according to the number of responses of each option. The survey is
designed using the Likert scale. It will be necessary the use of a bar chart to graph the answers.
There will be a survey after each lesson plan that could take 5 minutes to answer it.
Timeline
This study will take place in the second quimestre of the academic year. The students’
conference, applying inventories, principal and parents’ permission will take place in January
since in that month, the first quimestre is ending and students have two weeks free. In these two
weeks, I can check the inventories and plan the participants for each group. When students go
back, I will apply the diagnostic assessment test to get information of students’ English level and

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compare with the results of the unit and final tests. The surveys will be applied at the end of each
lesson plan. Each lesson will be developed using differentiated instruction. I will take 5 minutes
before finishing the lesson to allow my students to complete the survey. Each lesson will take
from two to three periods. It means that I will apply one or two survey for each week. There will
be one observation each week until May. The anecdotal records will be used every day, except
when I will be applying the observation technique. The interviews will be carried out at the end
of the quimestre because it is necessary at least one hour with each interviewed student and they
are more available in June. See appendix G
Describe reliability/validity or trustworthiness measures
Credibility of observation and anecdotal records strategies will be reflected because this
study will be carried out during 5 months and I will be engaged with my teaching practice and
my research project. However, I will be objective because my reflections and notes will be
checked according with the purpose of my study. Persistent observation is necessary to obtain
each detail and the use of field notes can help to measure the reliability of the information. Peer
review was done with surveys and interview’s questions. They were checked by my partners of
the master’s program. This helped to avoid leading questions, bias and misinterpretation.
Moreover, these questions will be checked by some school’s partners to be sure that it is
according to the environment of the school. Peer debriefing will be done with a colleague of
English language that is interested in this study too. It will be necessary to know my partners’
suggestions and reflection. Triangulation will be carried out by comparing the information of the
interviews, surveys and fields notes. The information will be reliable if there is consistency
among the three tools. Member checking will be important to avoid misinterpretation and lack of
information with the transcript of the interviews. Participants will review the data to add or

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clarify information. The tests are designed according the CEF, however it will be necessary to do
adaptations. These adaptations will not change the objective of the tests because they are already
designed and the content will be the same. These tests will have stability because similar scores
among the low, middle and high level students will be reflected at the beginning and after
applying differentiated instructions. Item validity will also contain these tests because each item
will be based on the content objectives.
The methodology that I am planning to use is based on a case study research. This study
is going to be conducted in an English class. It will be necessary to use some instruments to
collect data. These data will allow me to understand and change if necessary my teaching
practice. There are some instruments like the learning styles inventory that are new for the
students and I have to be sure they understand how to complete them. I think that using all this
methods will help me collect data in a systematic way. How teachers plan is one of the most
important steps in an activity. Teachers plan every day and in this study I am the teacher and at
the same time the researcher. This methodology will guide me in each step to avoid problems or
disorganization in the study.
Possible challenges
This study my face some problems that could affect the development of the research.
Ecuadorian academic year is divided in two terms. Each term lasts five months and students have
to give a test at the end. It is called quimestre test. If I want to apply the study in the second term,
I could not have the opportunity to keep prolong engagement. Students finish the second
quimestre in five months but they have to accomplish some extra activities such as observation
trips, or final test that are included in these months. It would be better to apply the study at the

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beginning of the academic year because there are not many interruptions in the academic
activities in the first term.
Another problem of conducting a research study in this school could be that other
teachers have no experience in developing research. If I want some help, it will be difficult to
find a support on another partner. It will be necessary to ask for support for other people outside
my area of study.
Furthermore, time is another factor to consider in this study. English teachers have to
work forty hours in the whole week. Thirty hours are used in instruction while the rest of hours
teachers have to review tests, do lesson plans, and other extra activities. The time that teachers
are working outside the classroom is not enough to finish with all the requirements for each day.
Most teachers carry out their job at home and this could be the solution to develop this study.
Organization and commitment will be the most important characteristics while carrying out this
study.
Finally, generalization of this finding may be limited because not all the schools have a
context like this school. It happens most in places where people have emigrated especially to the
United States and have gone back to Ecuador. However, the results from this study may be
adapted to other contexts in order to conduct another research.
Ideas for opportunities to share this research
Conducting this study may benefit students and English teachers. During the study
students will work in group works according to their English level, abilities, learning styles and
multiple intelligences. This strategy could help them to achieve their goals. On the other hand, it
could help me to improve my instruction and find activities that are going to allow my students
to develop social skills. This study may be shared in conferences that could be organized with all

22
the English teachers of my province. English teachers are always worried about their
professional development and we have training most of the time during the academic year.

23
References
Baecher, L., Artigliere, M., Patteson, D., & Spatzer, A. (2012). Differentiated instrction for
English language learners as "variations on a theme". Middle School Journal, 14-21.
Breaux, E., & Boutte, M. (2010). How the Best Teachers Differentiate Instruction . New York:
Eye on Education.
Buteau, G., & True, M. (2009). Differentiating instructional strategies to support English
language learners. New England Reading Association Journal, 23-25. Retrieved from
www.a.ebscohost.com.
Ecuador, Ministerio de Educación del. (2011). Curriculum . Retrieved from
www.educacion.gob.ec: http://educacion.gob.ec/objetivos-2/
Ecuador, Ministerio de Educacion del. (2012). Ecuadorian In-Service, English teacher
standards, the English language learning standards. Quito: Equipo técnico de proyecto
de inglés. Retrieved from www.educacion.gob.ec: http://educacion.gob.ec/wp-content/
uploads/downloads/2012/09/estandares_2012_ingles_opt.pdf
Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Everlove, S. (2009). Productive group work. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Gay, L. R., Mills, G., & Airasian, P. (2012). Educational research. Competencies for analysis
and applications. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.
Gillies, R. M. (2007). Cooperative learning. Integrating theory and practice. Los Angeles: Sage
Publications, Inc.
Herazo, J. D. (2002, November 3). Group work in EFL: constructiong zones of learning.
Retrieved from Gale Cengage Learning: http://go.galegroup.com.er.lib.k-state.
edu/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE|A115902208&v=2.1&u=ksu&it=r&p=IFM
E&sw=w&authCount=1

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Herrera, S. G., & Murry, K. (2011). Mastering ESL and bilingual methods. Differentiated
instruction for culturally and linguistically divers (CDL) students. Boston: Allyn &
Bacon.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R., & Smith, K. (1998). Active learning: Cooperation in the college
classroom. Interaction Book Company.
Julia L. Roberts, E., & Inman, T. (2009). Strategies for differentiating instruction best practices
for the classroom. Waco: Prufrock Press Inc.
Khazaeenezhad, B., Barati, H., & Jafarzade, M. (2012, July). Ability grouping as a way towards
more academic success in teaching EFL - A case of Iranian undergraduates. Retrieved
from www.search.proquest.com.er: http://search.proquest.com.er.lib.k-state.
edu/docview/1027548916?accountid=11789
Kim, Y. (2012 ). Implementing ability grouping in EFL contexts: Perceptions of Teachers and
Students. Language Teaching Research, Vol. 16(3) 289-315.
Levy, M. M. (2008). Meeting the needs of all students through differentiated instruction: helping
every child reach and exceed standards. Clearing House: A journal of educational
strategies, issues and ideas, Vol. 81(4) 161-164.
Mandel, S. M. (2003). Cooperative work groups. Preparing students for the real world.
California: Corwin Press, Inc.
Miller, S. P. (2002). Validated practices for teaching students with diverse needs and abilities.
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Nina W. Brown, E. D. (2000). Creating high performance classroom groups. New York: Falmer
Press.

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Rivera, J. D. (2012, November 3). GALE CENGAGE leraning. Retrieved from
www.go.galegroup.com.er: http://go.galegroup.com.er.lib.k-state.
edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA115902208&v=2.1&u=ksu&it=r&p=IFME&sw=w&as
id=81c7932d74b6b14110cd0f7883242e15
Thousand, J. S., Villa, R., & Nevin, A. (2007). Differentiating insgtruction. Collaborative
planning and teching for universally designed learning. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
Voltz, D. L., Sims, M. J., & Nelson, B. (2010). Connecting teachers students and standards.
Strategies for success in Diverse and inclusive classrooms. Alexandria: ASCD.
Wink, J., & Putney, L. (2002). A vision of Vigotsky. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

26
Appendices
Appendix A
The level of Bloom’s Taxonomy contains different process of learning to use when planning
differentiated instruction. (Thousand, Villa, & Nevin, 2007, p. 102)
Level of Bloom’s
Taxonomy
Different process to facilitate access to curriculum
Knowledge Define, draw, identify, list, label, locate, match, name, recite, select,
state
Comprehension Demonstrate, describe, define in your own words, explain, generalize,
give examples, paraphrase, put in order, rewrite, show, summarize
Application Use a formula, debate, diagram, examine, interview, construct,
translate, use to solve a problem, keep records, classify, discover
Analysis Classify, compare and contrast, deduce, determine, infer, uncover,
relate two or more learning outcomes
Synthesis Create, design, imagine, develop, prepare an original piece of work,
synthesize, combine
Evaluation Argue, award, choose, criticize, critique, defend, judge, grade,
support, validate, rank, justify

27
Appendix B
It is important to use inventories to know students at the beginning of the teaching practice. The
following inventories can help teachers to identify students’ individual differences.
Interest inventory
Who am I?
What is your full name?
__________________________________________________________________________
List your family members
__________________________________________________________________________
Do you have a pet? If so, what kind?
__________________________________________________________________________
What is favorite subject?
__________________________________________________________________________
What do you most enjoy doing?
__________________________________________________________________________
What are your favorite TV shows and movies? Can you explain why?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
What type(s) of music do you like?
__________________________________________________________________________
What is your favorite color, sport, food, and free time activity?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
What is the last book you read?
__________________________________________________________________________
Where did you go on your last vacation?
__________________________________________________________________________
Where would you like to go on vacations?
__________________________________________________________________________
Do you have a computer at home? If so, do you have access on internet?
__________________________________________________________________________
What types of classroom activities do you like best?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Tell about a special moment in your life.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Determine your multiple intelligence
Circle each statement that describes you the best. Total the number of circles in each part.
Part 1 Naturalistic Intelligence
I like collecting rocks
I like all animals and insects
I recycle every day at home
I know the names of different plants and
Total _______
flowers
Part 2 Intrapersonal Intelligence

28
I like being alone
I get upset when someone is treated unfairly
I get nervous around a lot of people
I want to know why when given an assignment
Total _______
Part 3 Musical Intelligence
I can play a musical instrument
I often tap to the beat without hearing music
I like singing
I remember the words to different songs
Total _______
Part 4 Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
I like math
I like to sort objects by color, size, or shape
I like to figure out how to do something on my
own
I like puzzles
Total _______
Part 5 Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
I like to play outdoors
I like sports
I like to dance
I like to build things
Total _______
Part 6 Interpersonal Intelligence
I like to be the leader
I like working in a group
I have a lot of friends
I like to cheer up others who are sad
Total _______
Part 7 Spatial Intelligence
I like to draw
I like looking at pictures
I doodle while doing other things
I can remember an object/person’s face after I
see it one time
Total _______
Part 8 Linguistic Intelligence
I like reading
I like writing/telling a story
I sound out words that I do not know
I like to teach others how to do a task
Multiple intelligence profile
Directions: Color in the totals from each part of the Determine Your Multiple Intelligences
inventory. The results will help you identify your personalized set of Multiple Intelligences
Multiple Intelligence Profile
Name______________________________________________
Part 1
Naturalist Intelligence
1 2 3 4
Part 2
Intrapersonal Intelligence
1 2 3 4
Part 3
Musical Intelligence
1 2 3 4
Part 4
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
1 2 3 4
Part 5
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
1 2 3 4
Part 6
Interpersonal Intelligence
1 2 3 4
Part 7
Spatial Intelligence
1 2 3 4
Part 8
Linguistic Intelligence
1 2 3 4

29
Learning styles inventory
Underline the most appropriate word.
Part 1
1. I prefer to read materials in a textbook than to listen to
lectures
often sometimes seldom
2. I remember information when I put it on flashcards often sometimes seldom
3. I enjoy doing word puzzles and crossword puzzles often sometimes seldom
4. I prefer writing things down or taking notes when studying. often sometimes seldom
5. I can easily follow directions using a map often sometimes seldom
6. I prefer to obtain new information by reading often sometimes seldom
7. I like to picture something in my head when trying to
remember it
8. I enjoy making graphs and charts often sometimes seldom
Part 2
9. I often read aloud to understand information often sometimes seldom
10. I need someone to explain graphs and/or charts to me often sometimes seldom
11. I prefer listening to the news on the radio as opposed to
reading it in the newspaper
12. I can learn how to spell a word better by repeating the
spelling versus writing it down
13. I prefer oral directions to written directions often sometimes seldom
14. I prefer to listen a book on tape than read it often sometimes seldom
15. I remember phone numbers by repeating the number several
times
16. I prefer academic classes than give information via lecture often sometimes seldom
Part 3
17. I enjoy doing hands-on activities often sometimes seldom
18. I play with the coins in my pocket or the keys in my hands often sometimes seldom
19. I learn best by doing often sometimes seldom
20. I find better with physical activity often sometimes seldom
21. I find myself chewing gum or snaking while studying often sometimes seldom
22. I am very comfortable with hugging or touching objects often sometimes seldom
23. I remember things best by writing them down multiple times often sometimes seldom
24. I learn more from a lab class setting versus a lecture often sometimes seldom
Scoring Directions: The following points apply to each.
Often = 5 points
Sometimes = 3 points
Seldom = 1 point

30
Part 1- Visual Learner ____
Part 2- Auditory Learner ____
Part 3- Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner ____
Know your students
This table can help teacher to have information of all the class instead of having each students’
inventory.
Name Interest Multiple
Intelligence
1st
(strongest)
Multiple
Intelligence
2nd
Multiple
Intelligence
8th (weakest)
Preferred
Learning
Style
1.
2.

31
Appendix C
Interview questionnaire
Date: _____________________ Level student: High/middle/low
a) How did you feel when you had to work in a group with partners of your same level of
English?
b) How were the relationships with the partners of your group?
c) What activity helped you to improve your grammar skills?
d) What activities do you think will be memorable for you?
e) Which grouping technique do you think was the most appropriate to improve your language
acquisition?
f) How could your teacher improve group work?
g) What strategy should be improved when working in a group work?
h) What strategy should be rejected when working in a group work?

32
Appendix D
Fields notes format
Time:…………………. Date:…………………… Length of observation:……………………
Students’
names
interaction Activities or
actions
Behavior or
attitude
Common
vocabulary
Personal
reflection
1.
2.

33
Appendix F
Survey
Read each statement carefully and write and X in the section according to your opinion.
1. The English language skills were developed in your group.
1 Strongly disagree 2 Disagree 3 Neither agree nor disagree 4 Agree 5 Strongly agree
Skill SD 1 D 2 N 3 A 4 SA 5
Writing
Speaking
Reading
Listening
Vocabulary
Grammar
Communication
2. The teacher’s role was…
Skill SD 1 D 2 N 3 A 4 SA 5
Helpful to improve your grammar skills
Helpful to improve your vocabulary skills
Helpful to improve your listening skills
Helpful to improve your writing skills
Helpful to improve your communication skills
Helpful to improve your reading skills
Helpful to improve your speaking skills
3. The group work…
SD 1 D 2 N 3 A 4 SA 5
Was helpful to make you understand and complete the activity
Was interesting
Was bored
Was less stressful
Improved my self-esteem
Was challenging
Was successful
Promoted interaction
Developed accountability
Did not allow all students to participate
Was motivational

34
Appendix G
Unit tests grades record
Date:………………… Type of group:……………………… Unit Topic:………….
Students
name
writing listening reading speaking grammar vocabulary
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Average

35
Appendix G
Timeline
Activities January February March April May June
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Permission
from the
authority
x
Meeting
with
parents and
permission
x
Conference
with the
students
x
Apply
inventories
x
Process
informatio
n and
preparing
the group
works
x X
Use
anecdotal
records
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Observatio
n
x x x x
Term test x x x
Interviews x
Surveys x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Coding and
interpreting
informatio
n
x
Writing the
report
x

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