Special Issue on TEACHING LARGE CLASSES
Language teaching in Japan, as in many EFL situations, often takes place in classes of 40, 50 or more. In that situation, it is easy to get discouraged. The feeling that it isn ‘t possible to accomplish much is, for many, a most realistic and tenable position.
A closer look at the situation, however, reveals that there are, in fact, exciting developments in the pedagogy of teaching large classes. This special issue is an attempt to sample and share some of the ideas and the excitement.
The lead article, You try doing it in a class of forty!, is a report on a teacher training project that took place in Morocco. In this reprint from the ELT Journal, Rob Nolasco and Lois Arthur report on the steps they used to assist teachers attempting a more communicative approach, in a situation where the objections were strikingly similar to those we hear in Japan.
An exciting project taking place in Tokyo is described in The British Council/Koto-ku Project. Sheila Brumby and Peter Sturman report on a cooperative effort by the local Board of Education and the Council to teach the Mombusho-approved materials more communicatively and effectively while still meeting (and perhaps surpassing) the goals prescribed for Japanese junior high school students.
Any discussion of teaching large classes needs to include a consideration of classroom management, and most of the writers in this issue mention pair- and group-work as workable, even necessary, components in any large classroom. In Varieties of Pair-work, Bill Gatton suggests that the impact of pair-work can be maximized by giving thought to the phase of the lesson in which a given type of pair activity is introduced, as well as various possibilities for using the technique.
The “new methods” (Community Language Learning, Silent Way, Suggestopedia, and Total Physical Response) are often overlooked as possibilities for large classes. In a series of four short articles, Japan-based experts in each (Carl Adams, Fusako Allard, Charles Adamson, and Dale Griffee) consider their applications in large classes.
Dave Mosher offers several Sure-fire ideas for large classes in this month’s “My Share. ” The activities are among those that he and Lonny Wiig have been using in their classes, and that have received a positive response not only from their students but also from teachers at JALT ‘85 and at chapter meetings around Honshu and Kyushu.
Finding appropriate textbooks is sometimes a problem for teachers in large classes. Torkil Christensen has provided a contrastive review of four text/tape series that are marketed for large classes. In a companion piece, Barbara Hoskins conducted mail interviews with the authors of those texts and reports on the related issues.
Finally, the guest editor considers a few specific problems that often arise in large classes and offers some techniques to deal with them.
- Marc Helgesen, Guest Editor
