Advice for teaching intermediate college students

dssdog · Post by **dssdog** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 12:50 am

Dear ESL teachers, I am a TEFL certified teacher living in the US. I have accepted a teaching position at a college in China. The students according to the DOS (who is Chinese) are suppose to be at an intermediate level, some undergraduate English majors and some post-graduate engineering students.

The class size is suppose to be around 30-40 students. I have never taught a class of this size and frankly am concerned as to what I can teach to such a large number of students. The main English classes to be taught are; conversational English, literature, North American culture.

I could sure use some guidance on how to setup lessons for such a large number of students. I am used to teaching groups of 8-12 maximum where you can give individual attention and break the class up into small groups of 2 or 4.

markphillips_helsinki · Post by **markphillips_helsinki** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 9:34 pm

bloody hell, that sounds like a challenge. Do you have an hour before class to do the photocopying???

As a starting point I would recommend McCallums 101 Word Games Oxford University Press, as it has a number of word game activities aimed at larger class sizes, and plenty of others that can be adapted.

I'm have been in Finnish classes where there were that many students and the teachers generally used a text book with some additional materials. Students were still given lots of pair work activity and reviews of exercises were done by the whole class working clockwise. It worked OK. Larger classes are probably good for debating and discussion forums, where you split them up into groups of 8 or 10 and give them a particular dimension of a topic to work on and then open it up to larger discussion later in the session.

I would ask the students during the needs analysis what they hope for in a teacher (helpful to see what they expect), and what they think about studying in large classes. They might give you an insight into what problems they've encountered before, and what you might try to avoid or repeat if they tell you what worked well.

Looking forward to seeing what others write about this...

Mark

Glenski · Post by **Glenski** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 2:50 pm

Needs analysis? In a college class setting? Not likely. dssdog is going to be told where and when his class meets, maybe be given a textbook to use as peripherally as possible, and thrown to the wolves.

Good luck, dssdog. I suggest you post some questions in the job forum China section. I have a sneaking suspicion your 30-40 students will suddenly blossom into 70-100. Just a guess.

Get your hands on as many books by Penny Ur as possible, and work out plans for the conversation lessons.

For literature and N. American culture, plan on lots of homework and tests to correct.

Roger · Post by **Roger** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 9:43 am

Be prepared for the input given to you by the DOS on the students' abilities and levels is utterly misleading.
The class size is not abnormal by Chinese standards, but it can easily swell to triple that (happened to me). As a matter of fact, schools have a tendency to combine separate classes into one so as to maximise the exposure of their students to an expat teacher (however stupid that may sound).
You will no doubt have to help them acquire some speaking fluency. I have of late come to the conclusion that it's best to give students individual tasks. I split them up into small groups or even single students that do a job according to instructions. Transform the whole school into a shopping mall with different departments where they have to shop for certain items according to individual lists.
Put directories on staircase walls with pix of the items they might find there. Have them move around. If your class is no larger than 40, the administration might go along with your style. Mine did anyway, and it was a rousing success.
Games are of utmost importance in oral practice. Try to get hold of some good book with ideas. I have a "101 Games" book (or some such title), and I have plenty of ideas up my sleeves too.
A novelty for your students might be that they should use their own dictionary rather than depend on you for new vocabulary. I require my students to acquire their own vocables according to their individual needs. And get them to bring a notebook every time and write down what they learnt in every lesson.

will mcculloch · Post by **will mcculloch** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:12 pm

Hi Roger,

It's amazing to me that you've been confronted with such big classes. I can only send sympathy - that's what I call a tough job !! - but it sounds like somehow, as always, people adapt to such situations with some degree of success. Make the most of it etc.

Anyway ... did you get my pm?????

Best wishes

Will

Roger · Post by **Roger** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 9:39 am

Hello, Will,

in your post on 13 August re Chinese middle school students you asked at the end whether I received any PM from you?

I am not sure. I received one PM asking me to enter into a penpal friendship with one 'William', who might be a nonnative English practitioner. I assume that's not you.

I often receive PM's on the other forums, especially on the Employment Forum. SOmehow, they are in separate accounts, so I have to apologise to you for answering so late.
This is because I was on holiday until a few days ago, and have only accessed this forum on this Thursday.
Would you care to send me another PM?

Have a nice day,
Roger