Job Discussion Forums

Drizzt · Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 229 Location: Kyuushuu, Japan

Hi everyone,

Well I finally landed my very first ESL job. It is in Baoding, China teaching at a university. Although I am CELTA certified, I am a little nervous about the fact that the classes are 30-40 students. I understand that this is pretty normal for China, however, but I could use some advice on what approach is most suitable to use when classes are this large? I'm assuming lots of pair work, but in general I will appreciate any advice when dealing with classes this large.

Thanks.

Voldermort · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 597

Hey Drizzt,

Welcome to China. I have never tought university level but I know a teacher who is now into his fifth year at the same uni. I have adapted some of his techniques to my High school and it seems to work very well.

He asked for his own classroom. Here in China you travel from one room to another, he brought the students to him. He arranged his room with maybe 6 or 7 tables and had the students sit around them. It works very well when the students actually face each other, they are more inclined to speak. Also he had a computer with an OHP, shelves full of teaching aids and a DVD player in the corner.

He turned his room into a western classroom. The walls were covered with grammer charts, maps, idioms... Instead of that blank greyed whitewash with a sole Chinese flag over the blackboard.

The students were relaxed which made it a hell of a lot easier to get feedback from them. There were no common distractions (piles of books in front of them, sleeping students in the back), they were forced to take part in the lesson without even knowing it. Worked very good for him, and a similar method works well for me.

Each to their own though. Hope it helps you out.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

You are lucky in having classes of 30 to 40 students; 50 or 60 is more common.
I don't know what you are going to teach, but from your account it would seem it is going to be conversation English aka "oral English".
I think pairing is not at all a good idea. It's actually possible to pair them up, contrary to the opinions of many frustrated teachers; but I don't see any benefit in this. If it is done to give them maximum time to use English among themselves, well, why does it need a FT? Just to rehearse those textbook statements? I hope you make them do something more imaginative that requires a more intellectual participation!

Their biggest problem is not with speaking per se, but with understanding spoken, quasi-disembodied English, the Englishthat floats towards them through the air.
I would recommend you train them to LISTEN carefully and learn to understand whole sentences without the help of a translation. That's going to be their biggest challenge.
To succeed at this, you will need to drum some discipline into them so that they even listen to their peers as they speak in front of them.
Force them to make presentations, and their classmates must be able to repeat what has been said.
You might benefit more if you take your question to the appropriate forum that deals with teaching questions; there are an elementary education, a secondary education, and various other forums.

Drizzt · Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 229 Location: Kyuushuu, Japan

Ok, thanks for the advice guys.

journeyeast · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 12:11 pm Post subject:

If you calculated the time to give each student individualized attention, you'd have something like less than 1 min for the 40 min period. Break students into groups, have them engage themselves in situational dialogue, and moderate the groups.. 40 students is 4 groups of 10, or 10 groups of four..

Depending how old they are and their proficiency, you might want to have them role play situational scenarios.. Engage them in debates.. Have them prepare for the debate for homework.. I love teaching college level because usually, the students have enough proficiency and interest to do the homework for great classroom arguments..

good luck!

Sheep-Goats · Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 527

You'll have to find a way to break them into groups (of 12 or so, which you can further subdivide later if need be) and alter the row-stock seating you'll be provided with. I advise grading them into ability groups as there may be a great amount of disparity in ability levels and as this will allow you to embellish or simplify tasks as need be so that everyone gets something out of the class.

Don't station yourself at the front of the room and stick there.