The third event of the Longman Small Class Teaching Support Programme ─ Workshop on Catering for Learner Diversity in Small Classes ─ was successfully held at the Hong Kong Productivity Council on 17th October 2009. The workshop attracted a very positive response, with nearly 400 teachers in attendance.

The workshop was conducted by Mrs Lilian Leung-Downey who is an accomplished teacher trainer and experienced English language teacher. Mrs Downey began the workshop with an interesting question, "In what ways are learners different from one another?" She then gave further elaboration on the differences among the 4 types of learners: visual learners, kinesthetic learners, tactile learners and auditory learners, and provided useful teaching and learning strategies tailored for them. Mrs Downey also suggested ways on implementing whole-class instruction, peer learning and self-accessed learning to maximize teaching effectiveness and learner participation. She then made use of some units from Primary Longman Elect, Longman Welcome to English and Primary Longman Express to provide practical illustrations on how differentiated inputs, teaching approaches and supports can enhance students' language skills and cater for learner diversity.

More professional development programmes will be organised by Pearson Longman Hong Kong, in support of teachers to improve effectiveness of teaching English in small classes.