LARGE CLASSES

Discussion of large classes in campus classes showed a considerable variation in

perceptions of what a large class is with 12-15 being seen by many as the optimal
size for a class with others mentioning that they regularly taught classes over
40. An informal survey of the final year B. Ed TESL students in SLAS showed
that they felt 24 was the ideal number, given the wide range of possible
permutations for pair and group work.

It was clear that it is difficult to categorise a class as being large without a

knowledge of the context: there appeared to be agreement that a class with 25
motivated students of similar abilities could be easier to teach than some classes
of 15.

Research in this area is somewhat limited. The University library contains some
of the pamphlets produced by the Lancaster-Leeds Language Learning in Large
Classes Research Project (1978-88) led by Dick Allwright. This was one of the
main studies of the effects of class size in national education systems. Some of
the findings follow:

Coleman (1989, p3 ) found the following data for Nigeria for tertiary level:

Mean Range

largest 109 40-200

usual 53.8 30-150
smallest 22.0 5-55

What are the implications for classroom practice of such class sizes?

Sarangi (1989) discusses the impact on methodology in terms of

 effect effectiveness activities
 affect psychological feelings teacher
 effort amount of work required for teachers to perform a task

It is useful to consider what aspects those areas have on your own practice when
teaching Large classes.

One of the findings of Locastro (1989) was that teachers often feel that the
classes that they teach are too big but rarely claim that their classes are too
small. Research at Keio University in Japan suggested that teachers’
dissatisfaction with their students’ performance tends to increase as classes
become smaller: as teachers know their students better, they are more aware of
individual deficiencies.

The OECD website (www.oecd.org ) contains much up-to-date information

comparing private and public sector classrooms; data on teacher/student ratios
and class sizes for a wide range of countries can be found at
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/61/28/48631144.pdf. Although these statistics do
not refer specifically to language classrooms, they do provide information on the
wider context.

The issue of large classes is often dealt with in ELT literature in terms of
practical implications for example in Nolasco, & Arthur (1988), Harmer (2007,
pp125-129)

To what extent do you agree with the following advice from Davies and
Pearse (2000, p130)?

You may need to organise practice on military lines at first with clear, highly
structured activities. This means accuracy work and simple reading and writing
rather than free oral fluency practice. If you can get the learners and the team to
attend and respond like a well-trained orchestra, even lockstep team and
individual repetition can be quite satisfying for everyone. You can then get teams
to prepare more complex fluency activities, for example dialogues, role-plays,
talks and present them at the front of the class.

Look at the video of the classroom in Papua New Guinea. To what

extent has the teacher followed this advice?
How communicative is the class?
How could it be made more communicative?

More recently, Prodromou and Clanfield (2007) devote a section of their resource
book on dealing with difficulties encountered in the classroom to large classes
and classroom management.

Hess (2001) summarises some of some of the issues from the view of classroom
teachers, pointing out that there may be advantages as well as disadvantages:

Benefits of large classes (Hess, 2001, pp 2-4)

 There are always enough students for interaction
 We get a wide variety of human resources
 The teacher is not the only pedagogue
 We are never bored
 Professional development occurs naturally

Challenges of large classes (Hess, 2001, pp 4-6)

 We often feel out of control
 In the large class we sometimes feel trapped in the problems of management
 We are frustrated by the huge amount of written work
 It is difficult to provide for individual learning styles
 Activating the quiet student is difficult

In the ELT Journal Hayes (1997) discusses key factors under the headings
discomfort, control, individual attention, evaluation and learning. He quotes
from teachers in Thailand to illustrate the issues. A more general article
summarising key features of teaching large classes can be found in Locastro
(2001).
To what extent are the following solutions put forward by Hess (2001)
appropriate for the contexts in which you have worked? (see also Ur
1996)

How do you translate these principles into practice in the classroom?

11 principles of coping in large multi-level classes (Hess, 2001, pp 7-15)

1 Scarlet O’Hara (when things get tense ‘I will think about it tomorrow’)
2 Variety
3 Pace
4 Interest
5 Collaboration
6 Individualisation
7 Personalisation
8 Choice and open-endedness
9 Setting up routines
10 Enlarging the circle
11 Question the type of questioning we use

Hess (2001) called her book “Teaching large multilevel classes”. To what
extent is heterogeneity more of a problem than the number of students
in a class?

In another file in this section, you will find a link to a free British Council downloadable
collection of papers giving ideas for maximising learning in large classes, based on
Hornby workshops in Addis Abbaba.

References
Davies P, & Pearse,E. (2000). Success in English teaching. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Hayes, D. (1997). Helping teachers to cope with large classes In ELT Journal (1997)
51(2) pp 106-116
Hess, N. (2001). Teaching large multilevel classes. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Locastro, V. (2001) Large classes and student learning In TESOL Quarterly Vol. 35, No. 3
(Autumn, 2001), pp. 493-496
Nolasco, & Arthur (1988) L. (1988). Large classes. London: Macmillan
Prodromou, L & Clanfield, L. (2007). Dealing with difficulties. Peaslake: Delta.
Ur, P. (1996). A course in English language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

Lancaster-Leeds Language Learning in Large Classes Research Project Pamphlets

available in the library (all 1989)
Coleman, H. Large classes in Nigeria
Sabadar. J. Language learning in large classes in Indonesia.
Sarangi, U. A consideration of methodological issues in analysing the problems of
language teachers in large classes.