Abstract:
This study investigates and compares the efficacy of differentiated instruction and traditional-based instruction on enhancing Iranian students’ reading comprehension. Eight elementary, intermediate, and advanced classrooms from 1 language institute were chosen, and based on their performance on the pretests were further divided into 4 control and 4 treatment groups. Flexible grouping, tiered instruction, and tiered assignment strategies were adopted to differentiate the content, process, and product in the treatment groups. Results of the final achievement tests revealed that implementing differentiated instruction was effective in fostering the participants’ reading comprehension in the elementary and intermediate classrooms, but no meaningful difference was found in the final performance of the advanced level classrooms.
Machine summary:
Impact of Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Traditional-Based Instruction on the Reading Comprehension of Iranian EFL Students Mohammad Aliakbari¹ & Jaber Khales Haghighi² ¹Corresponding author, Ilam University, maliakbari@hotmail.
Results of the final achievement tests revealed that implementing differentiated instruction was effective in fostering the participants’ reading comprehension in the elementary and intermediate classrooms, but no meaningful difference was found in the final performance of the advanced level classrooms.
The first and foremost goal of the current study was to practically implement differentiated instruction in the areas of content, process, and product, so as to evaluate its effectiveness in the promotion of EFL students’ reading comprehension.
g. , Arens, 2006; Barbaum 2009; Hendricks, 2008; Porcher, 2007; Rock, Gregg, Ellis, & Gable, 2008; Schumm, Moody, & Vaughn 2000; Steinmeyer, 2011; Tobin & McInnis, 2008).
Following the findings and the issues discussed in the literature, it is hoped that the upshots of the present investigation also add to the body of knowledge by providing information about the efficacy of differentiation in the elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels EFL classrooms in the realm of reading comprehension in the Iranian contexts.
Acknowledging differentiated instruction wherein students’ diverse needs, learning styles, and prior knowledge are taken into consideration, we decided to employ the strategies of differentiated instruction including flexible grouping, tiered activities, and anchor activities through differentiating the content, process, and product to investigate if considering the students diversity into account, in the Iranian contexts, is effective in promoting their comprehension.
Does implementing differentiated instruction strategies and traditional strategies lead to differences in the reading comprehension of Iranian EFL students at elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels?