GSE Teacher Toolkit: Teaching mixed ability classes

Sara Davila
Sara Davila
A teacher sat at a table with students helping them work
Czas czytania: 4 minutes

One of the biggest challenges for language teachers is teaching a mixed ability class. Students with different levels and abilities will always be present in our classrooms. So, how can we use the GSE Teacher Toolkit to improve mixed ability teaching? Let’s find out. 

How to teach mixed-ability classes

Differentiated instruction is the best way to address the challenges of mixed ability classrooms. This is a method that helps teachers adjust aspects of the curriculum to match the different levels of students.* This practice ensures that all learners are meeting course outcomes, even though their learning experience may be varied and different.

In order to differentiate instruction and support students with different needs, teachers can change: 

  • the content being taught  
  • the process used to teach  
  • the product students create  
  • the environment where learning takes place

Adjusting the content tends to be the most obvious way to support learners. So, teachers who want to engage with differentiated instruction in mixed ability classrooms often find themselves producing a lot of content. This is great as a way to support learners. However, creating new content or leveling existing content is time-consuming, and it can become a real challenge for teachers.  

Content vs process

Instead of adjusting your content, you can use the GSE Teacher Toolkit to adjust your process. When you’re not creating lots of new content, you’ve got more time to consider how to teach new language to your students and how they can show what they’ve learned. The GSE Teacher Toolkit helps teachers to focus on the process and language production of learners, rather than the content you are teaching. 

This means less work for you, and more engagement from your students, no matter what their level is. And the GSE Teacher Toolkit can help you understand the skills we can expect students to demonstrate. So how does this work in practice? Let’s take a look. 

Differentiated instruction in practice

Let's apply differentiated instruction, using the GSE Teacher Toolkit, to a complicated grammar lesson for a mixed classroom where some students are still A2, most are A2+ and a few are emerging B1.

Once you have the content for your students, it’s time to think about how to differentiate the lesson. 

One option would be to create two new worksheets, at an A2 level and an A2+ level - but as noted above, it’s a lot of work. Additionally, creating leveled worksheets means that you may actually be preventing your students from making progress by not adding enough challenge. 

To differentiate appropriately, it’s best to focus on the process that students will use, in this case, editing. In the GSE Teacher Toolkit, this kind of editing is an A2+ level skill. So, the A2+ and B1 students should be able to complete this worksheet. 

However, it might be a bit challenging for the A2 students. Therefore, you can look in the GSE Teacher Toolkit to find what writing skills you can expect from your A2 students. There are two skills that can be used to process this grammar point: 

A snippet of the gse toolkits writing points

Now that you understand the difference in process for students at different levels, it’s time to plan your lesson. 

How to differentiate process 

By the end of the lesson all students will be able to identify and correct errors in simple sentences to demonstrate the ability to use 'all of', 'none of', 'most of', 'a lot of', and 'a little of' correctly in writing. 

You can adjust the process to support students at all levels of ability. 

Lesson procedure for the worksheet  How the process is differentiated to support all learners 
 1. Ask all students to read the crossed-out errors in the worksheet and underline specific mistakes.   This supports A2 students the most. However, it's useful for all students.  
 2. Ask students in groups to discuss the mistakes. A2+ and B1 students will guide a discussion to create a series of "rules" to correct the mistakes in highlights.   This will be the most useful to A2+/B1 students while challenging your A2 students. Using groupwork allows more skilled students to support their peers.  
 3. All students will submit their grammar rules as group work.   This allows A2+/B1 students to help A2 students express grammar rules in their own words, to help improve understanding and use.  
 4. When finished all students complete the worksheet.    All students from A2/B1 can now complete the worksheet.  
 5. After completing the worksheet, all students will be asked to highlight the correction in the new sentences.   Completing the worksheet may have been easier for your A2+/B1 students.  
6. Finally, all students will write a new sentence using the target language. Each student chooses one student to collaborate with.   Adding this extra step ensures that all students make progress by asking them to transfer their knowledge and demonstrate learning by creating something new.  
7. Partners review each other’s sentences and underline any errors in the use of quantifiers. Partners can point out the rules that need to be applied and do a final review once changes have been made.   Applying the grammar rules that learners created to the new sentences helps to fully internalize the language of the lesson for all of your students at every level.  
8. Students review peer corrections and create final sentences to submit to the teacher. Students submit all work, including original worksheet, sentences submitted to peers, peer-reviewed sentences with underlines and rule guidance and final correct sentences.   Now, all students from A2/B1 have had an opportunity to understand the rules, clarify and demonstrate knowledge of the grammar point.   

This differentiated process primarily supports the students whose level is slightly lower. However, all students will benefit from the change in process, which gives them a chance to deepen their understanding of the grammar rules. 

And, as you can see, students write rules, create new sentences, and conduct a peer review. All of this work is created and completed by the students.

As the teacher, you don’t need to create a new worksheet to teach a differentiated class. The GSE Teacher Toolkit can help you to find a solution that creates more work for students and less work for the teacher. 

Learn more 

If you are interested in differentiated instruction, the model of differentiated instruction I recommend is thoroughly researched and detailed by Carol Ann Tomlinson. 

For more uses of the GSE Teacher Toolkit, there is a whole section dedicated to GSE on our blog where you’ll find articles on how to use the toolkit. If you need to teach grammar and vocabulary, the GSE Teacher Toolkit is there to support you. 

Read our posts 'Grammar lesson planning with the GSE Teacher Toolkit' and 'Assessing listening skills with the GSE'.

Explore our GSE resources

More blogs from Pearson

  • Woman writing on whiteboard with two women watching her, smiling
    Writing your own English language materials with the GSE
    By Billie Jago
    Czas czytania: 4 minutes

    Being an English language teacher means you’re also probably (definitely) a materials writer. You likely tailor or create language materials for your students that are suited to their needs and interests, either as supplements to your course materials or for communicative lessons. Alternatively, you might be a teacher who creates paid, published materials available for students worldwide to enjoy.

    With this in mind, think of the materials you’ve developed and ask yourself the following:

    • How do you level your grammar or vocabulary for the content you write?
    • How do you find topic-related vocabulary to extend your students’ knowledge of language?
    • How do you contextualize new grammar or vocabulary?

    You can use many different resources, from online dictionaries to course workbooks to a Google search. Still, the Global Scale of English is a reference that provides everything you need to write great learning materials, all in one place. It can help save you valuable time as a teacher and materials writer.

    For me, the GSE was a game changer as an English teacher, and it continues to be as I write materials. The GSE is not just a tool; it’s a companion in the complex journey of material development, offering clarity and direction at every step. It can guide you in creating effective, engaging learning resources.

    How to use the GSE toolkit to create your own materials

    1. Establishing clear Learning Objectives

    The GSE helps you start with a clear roadmap. It provides detailed descriptors for language proficiency at every level, ensuring your materials align with specific learning objectives. For instance, if you’re creating a beginner-level reading comprehension activity, the GSE descriptors will guide you on the appropriate complexity of vocabulary and sentence structures.

    Take a look at the Learning Objectives tab in the GSE Toolkit to learn more.

    2. Designing level-appropriate content

    Once objectives are set, the GSE assists in tailoring the content difficulty to the targeted proficiency level. Its numerical scale, ranging from 10 to 90, allows you to pinpoint the exact level of language skills required and design your materials accordingly. This precision ensures that learners are neither overwhelmed nor under-challenged.

    You can set the level you are looking for by sliding the bar along the scale, so it corresponds to the appropriate CEFR level or GSE range.

  • Friends sat on a moving train together talking
    What is the hardest language to learn?
    By Charlotte Guest
    Czas czytania: 4 minutes

    It's incredible that thousands of languages are spoken worldwide, each with its own set of challenges for learners. A question that often pops up is: "Which language is the hardest to learn?". Today we take a closer look at this question and consider different factors that make learning a language challenging.

    What is the hardest language to learn? 

    Learning a language is a complex process that involves several components, including phonetics (sounds), morphology (word formation), syntax (sentence structure), semantics (meaning), and pragmatics (communication in context). These factors all contribute to the perceived difficulty of a language.

    Language difficulty

    The U.S. Foreign Service Institute ranks languages based on their difficulty for English speakers. Factors include similarity to English and script complexity.

    FSI Language Difficulty Rankings

    • Category I: Easiest languages (e.g. Spanish, French, Italian)
    • Category II: Moderately difficult languages (e.g. German, Indonesian)
    • Category III: Difficult languages (e.g. Russian, Hebrew, Arabic)
    • Category IV: Very difficult languages (e.g. Chinese, Japanese, Korean)

    In theory, you should also be able to apply this the other way around to work out how hard It would be for someone to learn English. But it isn't quite as simple as that in practice.

  • A man working on a laptop in a library smiling
    Are remote English tests lower standard?
    By Alice Bazzi
    Czas czytania: 2 minutes

    As digital testing becomes more widespread, a common perception still persists: that remote testing or at-home tests are somehow lower in quality than traditional test center exams. For institutions and governments, this raises an important question: does the delivery format impact the standard of assessment? 

    The reality is, the quality of the test is defined by design, scoring and security, not by location. 

    PTE Express is built on the same core principles as established English proficiency tests, including rigorous test development, validated content and standardized scoring processes. The academic integrity of the test remains consistent regardless of whether it is taken in a test center or from home. 

    In many ways, remote testing introduces additional layers of oversight. PTE Express incorporates advanced features such as biometric identity verification, AI-enabled monitoring and fraud detection algorithms to ensure that each test session meets strict security standards. These systems provide continuous monitoring and create detailed audit trails, offering institutions greater transparency into how tests are conducted and validated. 

    For US institutions evaluating large volumes of international applicants, this ensures that remote scores can be trusted to meet the same standards as in-person testing without limiting access based on geography.

    Governments also benefit from scalable, secure testing solutions that support broader participation while maintaining compliance and integrity. Agents, in turn, can confidently recommend remote testing options knowing they deliver both accessibility and credibility. 

    The bottom line 

    Remote testing is not a lower standard, but it is an evolution of English testing delivery. PTE Express demonstrates that it is possible to maintain high-quality, secure and globally consistent assessment in a fully online format.