Ideal class size

[bustour]

Is there an ideal class size for teaching English abroad?
In my experience in the classroom, I find that about 10-12 students is great.
Does this figure hold for teaching ESL?

[gfell]

The smaller the groups the better. I find class sizes of 10 or so for adults and sizes of 4 ideal for children.

I feel that classes hold more value for the students when students can interact with each other rather than one-on-one classes. Having said this, I do study Japanese on a one-on-one basis and this works best for my situation.

As a teacher, it's always more enjoyable teaching group classes.

[heavery]

It depends on the age of the students. Kids and teenagers will be taught better in groups of 8 or less and adults in groups of 10 or so. Interaction between students is as beneficial as the teaching itself.

[craftewriter25]

i really prefer at least two people. more in a tutoring situation.

[bustour]

Thanks for all for all of the replies, there have been some good ideas here.

I agree that you really need to have enough students for some interaction as this can really be important for the students, especially when trying to learn a new language.

[rwall7943]

I have found that smaller groups of children and adluts. Adults really have a hard time learning new things, so the smaller groups really help them too.

[10cents]

Originally Posted by bustour

Is there an ideal class size for teaching English abroad?
In my experience in the classroom, I find that about 10-12 students is great.
Does this figure hold for teaching ESL?

I agree that 10-12 students is the ideal size for a class. You can still supervise the work of each individual and the interaction will be livelier. Let us not forget that equally important with instilling proper grammar is developing confidence in kids and this is best brought about in peer-based discussions.

[rwall7943]

Yes, either way it always going to be a better experience for the students to have a smaller class, but if you have the energy you can be just as effective with a larger class.

[reviewer]

In my experience, when it comes to language classes, the smaller the better. Each student needs the opportunity to participate personally as much as possible.

[Tutor]

Just my experience teaching in India where classes are packed with students (between 35-50 students per class)

This is really not desirable as its not possible to have control over such large number of students.