Exploring Students’ Diversity in a Differentiated Classroom
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Abstract
Differentiated classrooms accommodate students’ diverse needs, however, tailoring learning to meet students’ individual needs is challenging for teachers. This study explores students’ diversity in an English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom setting, especially students’ needs in differentiated English language tasks and assessments through a quantitative survey. The survey consists of a questionnaire investigating students’ different needs in a differentiated English classroom. The data were gathered through an online survey for junior high school grade 8 students in Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia. Eight hundred and eighty-five students aged between 12 to 15 years participated in this study. The survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Additionally, 102 students voluntarily joined a semi-structured interview session. The results of the interview were then analyzed using thematic analysis. This study revealed that students have various needs regarding their English learning goals, as well as the assessment of the four language skills activities and products, media preferences, favorite topics, task setting, and teacher’s role preferences. Implications of the results for accommodating students’ diverse needs in the EFL classroom are discussed.
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