I would be very thankful, if you could help me with some advice on how to deal with a relatively large number of students in a class (about 20-25). What are the difficulties faced by teachers, what kind of activities are more suitable for such classes, how could one ensure the active participation of all the students, how could one ensure an equal speaking practice for all of them and so on?.
Can you help Renato with some advice and tips? What experience do you have of teaching large classes? What are the good things about having a large class, as well as the difficulties? contact us.
This question is from Renato, Brasil
Comments
rebecca1
I am also teaching large classes. I have at least fifty students in each class. Role plays are not very appropriate. Directing questions to them or want them ask questions to the studets they want could be easier. Making small dialogues with their pairs can be useful but it is really hard to get over these difficulties.
Santhosh Kumar Kana, India.
Hello, the only convenient way to teach a large group of students is by grouping them. Suppose, there are 20 students you can classify them into 4 groups, each containing 5 students. Each group can be given certain tasks related to language. It should be kept in mind that each one of each group puts in equal participation. You may ask me a question: "What is the yardstick to be followed in making a group?" Before teaching any group of students, a teacher has to know their perceptions, command over the language etc. You can give a common task to all the students and according to their performance the grouping can be made. It would be better if each group is heterogeneous. A group leader can be selected to look into the propriety of their work. Try it. All the best.
A. Nahir, Venezuela
To ensure all the students in your large English class get to speak try making them work in pairs or small groups. I guess you have more advanced students and less advanced ones in the same class, and probably you have those who like speaking a lot and those who don't. By mixing learners with different abilities and monitoring you may get everyone to speak.
Anonymous
It's always a good idea to split the class up into small discussion groups, of not more than 6, or ideally 3, 4. Pair work is also useful. Another way to tap on the synergy of large classes (the classes i teach are mostly about 40 students each), is having class activities like grammar and vocabulary competitions, or even asking each to act out a drama. That way, every student feels motivated enough to respond in class. Also, giving the students something to prepare at home for presentation at the next class gives every student the chance to 'show off' in class. All the best!
lilit2007
Hi!!
Well, I agree with others that the best way to teach to large number of students is to divide them into small groups. Also you can get the classroom arrangment done in such a way, that you can move around and make sure that all the group members are doing their tasks. A class of 20-25 students isn't very large, so you will be able to manage them. Once we organized English classes for the local community and we used to have more than 70 students!! Well, me and my friend were carrying whistles for managing the classroom :)) .We used to divide the class into groups for certain activities but not for all the lessons. What we also used to do was letting the students correct their fellow students mistake. If you have an experience teaching to small number of students, then go through the activities you used. You can change them accordingly and some may even work for larger classes as well!!
Good luck!
Lilit
P.S. One of the difficulties I was facing while teaching larger classes was managing the students (making sure that all the students are involved or at least the majority). Yeah, and the other thing was making sure that all the students get a chance to answer a question or speak out.
Aussiemeg