【Abstract】Differentiated instruction is an important strategy used by educators to meet the special needs of students， especially for modern higher vocational college students with diverse English abilities， learning styles and academic challenges.

【Key words】Differentiated instruction； Higher Vocational College

【作者簡介】袁小利，重庆工程职业技术学院。

I. The concept of differentiation

Differentiation is a process used to maximize student learning by improving the match between individual needs and the curriculum. Differentiation means that educators adapt the range of strategies to ensure that students needs are met with a way of tailoring teaching environments and practices to create different learning experiences based on diverse learning needs， different abilities and academic achievements in the same class.

II. The background

Blooms Taxonomy is used to classify educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity. It covers three types of learning， which are in cognitive domain， psychomotor domain and affective domain. The cognitive domain list has been the primary focus of the most traditional education and is frequently used to structure curriculum learning objectives， assessments and activities. The cognitive domain includes 6 levels， which are Knowledge， Comprehension， Application， Analysis， Synthesis （create/build）， and Evaluation.

III. How to formulate questions to enable differentiation in English teaching

Our English teaching is like the ESOL classes in British. ESOL means English for Speakers of Other Languages. It contains 6 levels： Pre-Entry， Entry Level1， Entry Level2， Entry Level3， Level1 and Level2. The teacher who teaches different level will adopt different ways to teach students， like the Blooms Taxonomy. In Entry Level1class， teacher will pick Knowledge， very basic knowledge， （table 1） and ask them to remember and make simple sentences； In Entry Level2 and Entry Level3， teacher will pick Comprehension （table2） and Application， such as short conversations， grammar exercises， and ask them to understand them and try to catch the general ideas； In Level1 and Level2 teacher will pick Analysis and Synthesis， more difficult task， such as， more difficult grammar exercises， articles， which need students to analyse and think； Of course， the different level of Blooms Taxonomy is not separated. Sometimes the teacher may adopt some levels at the same time.

IV. How to differentiate instruction in English teaching

1. Vary the pace of instruction. Assess the learning speed of each students

Each student gets different learning rate. Some may grasp the material immediately， and others may need content repetition. In the class， when teacher gives students an assignment， if it is too difficult， some students may feel frustrated； if it is too easy， some may think it is without challenge. But the brain needs some degree of challenge to stay motivated， and new skills are better grasped when an assignment is not too easy or too difficult. So we need to break up the classroom into groups based on their learning speed.

2. Increase the amount and depth of the workload for advanced students

In English class， teacher classifies students into different levels. Normally there are two ways to classify them in order to maximize the effective learning. First， divide the students into different groups. Group1 is level A， group2 is level B， group3 is level C， etc.， then the advanced students mostly are in group A or B. Teacher can increase the amount and depth of the workload for those students. Because moving too slowly creates boredom and serves only as information review for advanced students. On the contrary， give slower learners easier tasks and allow them to take more time with assignments. Because frustration with a fast pace inhibits learning and leads to a lack of focus. Second， divide the students into groups at random. That means in one group， there may be some advanced and some slower. We can adopt the way that students help students first to make learning effectively. When releasing assignments to different groups. Group members can undertake different tasks. The advanced students undertake more and harder tasks， the slower learners undertake less and easier ones. They fulfill their tasks respectively， help learn each other mutually， and eventually make sure every member grasps the skill.

3. Appeal to students personal interests

High interest levels in a subject will accelerate the learning process and lead to greater information retention. When teaching English， for example， sometimes teacher just uses very simple words that connect students real life experiences， asking them to do the writing exercises that involve application of material to the students personal life， habits and hobbies. We also can use tools， such as multimedia， interactive instructional software， workbooks and so on or some funny words games and activities， to stimulate the students participation in the class learning.

4. Assign homework and classroom activities based on ability

Teacher assists slower learners to complete the work by providing step-by-step instructions， placing fewer demands， allowing them to answer fewer questions and spend more time on their tasks. For average learners， teacher provides examples for them， and encourages them to engage in independent work. For advanced students， teacher assigns more challenging and complicated tasks， encourage them to study the content in greater depth.

5. Reward students based on individualized progress

Students in different level should have different learning objectives. Teacher should record each students learning process， monitor the progress they have made during the whole semester， and give out a proper formative assessment for them. During the teaching， teacher should avoid highlighting the gifted students repeatedly， celebrate the degree of effort exerted by every student and the amount of progress.