Effectiveness of Differentiated Instruction on Primary School Students’ English Reading Comprehension Achievement

Abstract

This study explores the effectiveness of differentiated instruction strategies on EFL students’ English reading comprehension accomplishment on the fundamental level in Jordan. Four classes of (n=118) students of the primary level from 4 different schools were selected. Two levels of grade 4 students (n=59) and two levels of grade 5 (n=59) were divided into two control and two experimental groups. One level of (n=30) students formed grade 5 experimental groups, and one level of (n=29) formed the control groups. Moreover, one level of (n=30) students of grade 4 formed the experimental group, and one level of (n=29) formed the control group. The teachers followed differentiated instruction strategies of flexible grouping, tiered instruction, and tiered assignments in the areas of content, process, and product to teach the experimental group. However, they followed the one-size-fits-all method to teach the control group. Results indicated that employing differentiated instruction was operational in improving EFL students’ reading comprehension attainment for grades four and five Jordanian students. The experimental group statistically outperformed the control group. The finding showed that differentiated education reduced classroom diversity. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.2