Differentiated Instruction in Mixed - Ability Groups the Jigsaw Strategy -

An effective teaching-learning environment is student-centered, student-driven, allowing teachers to meet students’ learning needs and help them make progress in a variety of ways. This paper aims at analyzing some of the cooperative learning methods used to create more flexibly-designed foreign language lessons, where students’ skill levels, educational background, interests and motivation are heterogeneous. It focuses on differentiated instruction strategies, such as team work and jigsaw teaching, as well as on ways of implementing them appropriately and effectively in the foreign language classroom. We will start with an overview of some theoretical contributions and definitions concerning the differentiated instruction and the jigsaw classroom. The study mainly focusses on the jigsaw classroom as an effective technique meant to encourage students to involve in learning activities, interact and share knowledge and information, developing their linguistics, social and problem-solving skills, necessary in international environments, in such areas as communication, leadership, and decision-making.