Some Practical Techniques on Managing Large English Language Classes
Yaser Khajavi and Reza Abbasian, Iran
Yaser Khajavi got his MA in TEFL from University of Isfahan, Iran. He currently teaches English in high schools and Islamic Azad University, Izeh branch. He is also an editorial board member of Theory and Practice in Language Studies Journal. His area of interest includes teaching methodology and psychology of teaching.
E-mail: yaserkhajavi@yahoo.com
Reza Abbasian is currently the head of English department of Islamic Azad University, Izeh Branch, Iran. He is interested in psycholinguistic and materials development.
E-mail: Abbasian_reza@yahoo.com
Menu
Abstract
Introduction
Practical techniques
Conclusion
References
This paper aims at providing English language teachers with a set of practical techniques for minimizing problematic features of large classes. These techniques can be used in a variety of situations and linguistic settings. At first, some general guidelines will be given and then some practical techniques are suggested for implementing the guidelines. It is hoped that these techniques would be of use for English language teachers who are involved in teaching large classes around the globe.
The problem of large English language classes is very common around the world especially in Asian countries. As Scrivener (1994) maintains, one of the restrictions in the way of teachers' innovative techniques is the large number of students in class. (p.190). Due to this problem, teachers sometimes are not able to perform successfully in the classroom. Therefore, it is vital for teachers to use some useful techniques and strategies for tackling this problem.
The term of ‘large class’ is relative, dependent on many factors, such as nature of the course or characteristics of the learners. As an example, a class of reading with 30 students may not be large, but a class with the same size for writing course may be considered large. As a rule of thumb, classes with more than 30 students can be considered large. Here some suggestions will be made regarding the problem. The guidelines are presented in short for the sake of readability. It is hoped that these guidelines would help teachers manipulate their crowded classes.
In this part, some general guidelines will be given and then some practical techniques are suggested for implementing the guidelines.
Divide the class into small groups
One of the techniques which seem to work well in large classes is dividing the class in small groups.Smith (1987) holds that two main benefits of group work in the classrooms are: (a) group work shifts the responsibility for learning from the teacher to the student; and (b) group work increases achievement and improves students' attitudes (cited in Alley, 2005). In developing groups, the following guidelines should be taken into account.
Place not more than four or five student in a group
Most of the educators recommend groups of four or five members. Generally, experience shows that groups of around five members possess higher degree of involvement compared with other large ones (Harmer, 2001: 167).
Rearrange the seating for the group work.
Students should be arranged in such a way that they communicate through a good channel of speech. i.e. circles, squares and horse shoes rather than parallel rows (Scrievner, 1994: 15). Face to face arrangements of the students in different shapes not only increase their interaction but also create a mode of intimacy, variety and student- centeredness in the class (ibid: 93).
Remember: Mixed groups are preferred.
Heterogeneous groups, regarding ethnicity and proficiency, show better efficiency compared with homogeneous groups (Ellis, 2003: 271).This may be attributed to the excitement that variety can develop in the interaction among group members.
Allow students to select their partners
When students have opportunity to choose their peers in a group, they certainly share some common tempered features, and these attributes promote senses of cooperation and achievement among group members.
Assign some score or advantage for successful group leaders
To enhance a sense of competition among groups and to elevate a sense of responsibility for group leaders who play the main role in group promotion, it is helpful to assign some scores or advantage for them based on their successful performance in the group.
Develop autonomy in your students
It goes without saying that there is the problem of time in large classes. It is the responsibility of the teacher who should try his best to solve this problem and maximize students' achievements in the classroom. One of the solutions to this problem is improving autonomy of learners and devising some methods to promote autonomous learning situations. Some of the techniques which can aid teachers shape up autonomous learners are elaborated as follows.
Teach students learning strategies
In order to make up for time restriction of the classroom and to eliminate students' passivity that is an obstacle in the way of learning, it is necessary for students to develop new strategies to foster autonomous learning (Harmer, 2001: 335). Learning strategies help learners to be autonomous.
Use diaries and evaluation sheets in the classroom
Diaries have been widely used in education and teaching in recent years. Diaries and evaluation sheets offer students the possibility to plan, monitor and evaluate their learning, identifying any problem they run into and suggesting solutions (Thanasoulas, 2000).
Assign students some homework to be done at home
Learners’ autonomy will be reinforced when homework is set for students to do out of class. In this case, they will have to study without help of their teachers. (Harmer, 2001: 338)
Involve your students
It is a psychological belief: I listen, and then I forget. I read, and then I remember. I involve, and then I learn. In large classes, when students are involved, they participate in class activities; this will create an active atmosphere in the classroom which consequently leads to optimal learning.
Discuss advantages of class activities to students
Jacobs and Hall (2002) believe that discussing the advantages of learning in groups can overcome students' resistance for involving in class procedures. They believe that the teacher must let the students know about practical benefits of group work like having fun and better learning. This will motivate students to engage in class activities.
Encourage risk taking (Brown, 2000)
Some students do not participate in class activities because they are shy or anxious. Since there are two types of anxiety: one arises from inner feelings of an individual named ‘internal anxiety’ caused e.g. due to lack of knowledge. The other kind arises from environment named ‘external anxiety’; teachers should find the reasons of students' anxiety in classroom and help them to be relaxed. This can be done by reinforcing the answers that students give to teacher's questions. Students should be ensured that their cooperation in the class is worthwhile and there is nothing to be worry about.
Add variety to your teaching
As you all know, variety is the spice of life. In every class, there are different individuals who have different characteristics and tastes. Teacher should utilize a variety of activities and subjects to tap their interests and keep them engaged (Harmer, 2001). This can be done by using games and role plays and other interesting activities which students are interested in to keep them involved.
Reduce the level of noise in the class
One of the most problematic issues in large classes is the level of the noise which is high as a result of large number of students. This matter is something prevalent in most of the classes. Level of the noise can be reduced to a large extent using some techniques.
Place one noise monitor in every group
To lessen the level of noise in the classroom, one student can be a supervisor or noise monitor in each group that makes the students to cooperate actively and quietly. (Jacobs & Hall, 2002: 55).
Assign scores for punishment and encouragement of groups
At the beginning of the course, the teacher can tell the students that those groups or students who work quietly will be given an extra score and those who are noisy will be punished by decreasing their final score.
Use a signal ring for reminding the students of silence
When the level of noise in class is increasing, use a signal to remind students to continue their work, but a bit quietly. This helps in manipulating the discipline of the class.
Organize post-task activities for groups which finish earlier
It is common that the pace of different groups is not similar. If one group finishes the activities before other groups, it may be a noise maker for others because of lack of a task to do. To avoid this situation, determine some tasks to be done after groups have completed a task.
Provide constant feedback for your students
Most of the students expect us to give them feedback on their performance in the classroom. Feedback plays an important role in motivating further learning among learners.(Alavi & Keivanpanah, 2007) Also, the feedback which teachers receive from students is a good source of information regarding what students have learnt or what they have not learnt. However, there are some rules which should be considered in providing feedback.
Be available out of class in person or via e-mail
In large classes, teachers face with shortage of time and energy due to number of students. They are not able to give feedback to all class members in the time limit of class. Therefore, teachers should provide students with feedback on their work out of class. This can be done partly out of classroom in free time hours. Another way for providing feedback is via e-mail i.e. students can send their homework to their teachers and receive feedback from them via e-mail messages. This is very useful especially in writing courses.
Use portfolios for students' works
Because of time limit in large classes, teachers do not have enough opportunity to learn students' names and also their academic abilities. Nunes (2004: 327) argues that using portfolios in EFL classrooms, the teachers diagnose learners’ skills, performances, styles and their learning strategies. This helps them to adopt a more learner centered practice.
Delete et all (2001) believe that portfolios depict what students know and what they can do. As such, teachers can track students' learning over time and provide them with appropriate feedback.
Don't forget peer feedback
Some people think that feedback should be given only by teacher; however, students also can help teacher by grading work of their peers or other groups. So, let your students provide feedback to their partners. This is mostly efficient in writing classes because it is very demanding and time consuming for teachers to grade works of the entire class.
Receive anonymous feedbacks if necessary
Since the students sometimes could not be open to their teachers due to some underlying problems within the class, teachers can allocate a mail box to students' suggestions regarding the class, course, and methodology or ask the students to send their opinions via e-mails in order to receive feedbacks that may promote the learning situation.
This paper addressed the problem of large English language classes and introduced a set of techniques to be used by teachers for tackling this problem. It is noteworthy that the set of techniques presented in this article is far from comprehensive. There are many aspects which should be considered in managing large classes. As such, teachers can use their creativity and devise some other techniques suitable for their classes.
Alavi, M. S. & Keivanpanah, S. (2007), Feedback Expectancy and EFL Learners’ Achievement in English. Journal of Theory and Practice in Education. 3(2), pp. 181-196.
Alley, C. D. (2005), A Study of Spanish II High School Students' Discourse During Group Work. Foreign Language Annals.38(2), pp. 250-259.
Brown, H. D. (2000), Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Englewood Cliffs, JC: Prentice Hall.
Delett, J. S., & Barnhardt, S., & Kevorkian, J. A. (2001), A framework for portfolio assessment in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 34(6), pp.559–68.
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jacobs, G. & Hall, S. (2002), Implementing cooperative learning. In Richards, J. & Renandya, W. (Eds), Methodology in Language Teaching: an anthology of current practice
(pp.52-58). London: Cambridge University.
Harmer, J. (2001), The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman, Harlow, Essex.
Scrivener, J. (1994), Learning Teaching. Oxford, U.K.: Macmillan Heinemann.
Smith, R. A. (1987), A teacher's view on cooperative learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 68(9), pp. 663-666.
Thanasoulas, D. (2007), What is Learner Autonomy and How Can It Be Fostered? Internet Tesol Journal. VI (11), http://iteslj.org/Articles/Thanasoulas-Autonomy.html
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