DSpace Repository :: Browsing NUGSE Research in Education Journal by Subject "ability grouping"

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ABILITY GROUPING IN KAZAKHSTANI EFL SECONDARY SCHOOL CLASSES
(NUGSE Research in Education, 6(2), 2023) Ussenova, Ayim
The ability grouping in Kazakhstani English as a Foreign Language (EFL) class is a process where a class is divided in two subgroups if class capacity is twenty-four or more students in both rural and urban schools. However, clear instructions of how to produce such divisions are not described and teachers are left to choose for themselves. This study's primary purpose is to study the teachers’ experiences of grouping students in Eng-lish classrooms and it provides a qualitative interview-based research approach, where a teacher from one sec-ondary school in Astana was selected through a purposeful maximal variation sampling strategy. The findings revealed practices of structuring English language programs in Kazakhstan. The use of mixed-ability groups is a key aspect, driven by the need to balance students' academic performance levels. Challenges arise when stu-dents with diverse learning experiences join a single class, emphasizing the teacher's role in navigating these differences. The study suggests that while mixed-ability groups have advantages, concerns about evaluating oral competency and potential conflicts among teachers underscore the complexity of class organization in Kazakh-stani EFL instruction.