The English Class System - or time is money. · Nov 5, 07:54 AM
There has been a strict class system in the UK for centuries: Upper Class, Middle Class and Lower Class.
However, today I am going to talk about the effect of large class size on teaching and learning English. English is the most widely spoken language in the world and, with more and more globalisation, the language of commerce.
Students have been learning in classrooms since schools were invented. It is all a matter of economics and resources. Which country could afford to have one teacher for every five students? Or even better, one teacher per student? But when you are choosing to learn English part-time
Right now the Hong Kong Government is paving the way towards reducing the class sizes from 40 students per class down to 20 or less. But what about the typical English Language school? 20 students is more normal; Again its a matter of economics and resources. The Hong Kong Government also implemented a Native English Teacher system (NET) and this has helped improve standards, but the size of classes continues to be a problem.
So how effective is large class style teaching? Many teachers complain that large classes produce all sorts of problems. All classes, even the ones that are “level tested” have a range of abilities and so teachers find monitoring of students progress difficult to being able to give attention and instruction to the individuals who need it. The differences in ability also make classroom management difficult as well. How can you effectively arrange students to work together in groups or pairs if they have very different levels of proficiency? The better students will finish the tasks more quickly than the less able and therefore get bores. And the less able will be left behind.
In Japan, English is taught for at least six years in junior and senior high school though Japan is notorious for having a low English speaking proficiency. Whats the reason for this? Japan is not a poor country but, for economic reasons presumably, chooses to have English classes with 50 students or more.
What is the solution? Reduce the size of classes! Its simple but true. And for those busy people trying to improve their English after work one-to-one tutoring with a native English speaking teacher is the most effective and efficient way to learn English, improve confidence, fluency and pronunciation in speaking and listening and to be able to write better.
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— Charles
