English as a Foreign Language Teachers’ Beliefs and Challenges in Mixed-Ability Classrooms
Students studying English as a foreign language have a wide range of abilities, motivations, needs, and educational backgrounds. Due to such variations, teachers face difficulties in teaching mixed-ability classes. The study sought to examine EFL teachers’ beliefs and the challenges of teaching...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin,
2025-09-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jmrels.journals.ikiu.ac.ir/article_3554_aafb1bb55f8bc7a70ec5acb10a101e4c.pdf |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Students studying English as a foreign language have a wide range of
abilities, motivations, needs, and educational backgrounds. Due to such
variations, teachers face difficulties in teaching mixed-ability classes. The
study sought to examine EFL teachers’ beliefs and the challenges of
teaching mixed-ability classrooms. A descriptive survey research design,
along with mixed-methods approach, was employed to address the
research questions. Through availability sampling technique, 44 Englishas-a-foreign language (EFL) teachers from three secondary schools were
selected and filled out the questionnaires. Four EFL teachers voluntarily
participated in the interviews. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis
were utilized to analyze the quantitative and the qualitative data,
respectively. The study results revealed that the participants had minimal
knowledge of strategies to manage mixed-ability classes. Besides, most
participants believed in using a whole-class teaching approach rather than
helping weaker students. Regarding materials issues, the participants
believed in using textbooks as the only resource to teach mixed-ability
classrooms. With varying degrees of seriousness, the instructional
challenges facing EFL teachers were teaching and learning, motivation,
and interest, followed by materials, classroom management, and
participation. The study results imply that English teachers should have
access to professional development opportunities in order to improve
their pedagogical as well as psychological readiness to teach mixedability classrooms. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2676-5985 |