Presented By Fauzia Shamim

Session Details

Teaching and researching English in large classes

Large classes are a hard reality in many developing countries such as Pakistan. More important, it seems that large classes are here to stay in these countries. Even though findings of some class size studies about the relative merits of small classes have led to substantial reduction in class size in early grades and for disadvantaged students (for example in the state of California in the US), reducing class size is identified as one of the most expensive reforms in education; hence it may not be a priority for many governments with limited resources for education. Keeping this in view, several research studies undertaken by English language teachers and teacher educators in recent years focus on investigating teachers’ difficulties in large classes; the practical aim is to develop strategies for maximizing learning in large classes (e.g. Coleman (1989), Lancaster-Leeds Language Learning in Large Classes Research Project reports 1-12; Sarwar, 2001a, 2001b; Shamim, 1993, 1996). What is a large class? Why do we have large classes? What are teachers’ perceptions and experience of teaching in large classes? How do teachers manage teaching-learning in large classes? The paper will address these questions in the light of a) class size studies conducted over the last two decades both in countries in the North and the South; and b) teachers’ efforts to enhance teaching-learning in large classes reported in local teacher journals and newsletters of professional organizations such as SPELT and JALT. In-service teacher education programs offered by the British Council and local teacher organizations will also be reviewed briefly to see if and how they prepare teachers for large class teaching. Finally, a recent project set up to support large class teachers working in challenging circumstances, in particular, will be shared.

About Fauzia Shamim

Dr Fauzia Shamim is a Professor in the Department of English, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan. She has vast experience of teaching, curriculum design, language teacher education and research in a variety of settings in Pakistan and abroad. She was an advisor to the Ministry of Education, Islamabad for the development of the new English Language Curriculum (2006). Currently, she is the convener of the Higher Education Commission’s National Curriculum Revision Committee in English. In 2004, Dr Shamim received the scholarship of teaching award from the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development, Karachi, Pakistan.
Dr Shamim completed her doctoral research on “Teacher-learner behavior and classroom processes in large ESL classes in Pakistan” in 1993 from the University of Leeds, UK. She served as the Director of the Hornby summer school on Teaching English in large Classes, held in Ethiopia in 2006. Her recent book ‘Maximizing learning in large classes’ (2007), co-authored with the course tutors and participants of the Hornby school, was published by the British Council, Ethiopia. Currently, she is the joint coordinator (with Dr Richard Smith) of the ‘Teaching English in Large Classes’ project.
Dr Shamim is a founder member of two professional organizations in Pakistan, i.e. SPELT, Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers, and PARE, Pakistan Association for Research in Education.

View The Session

Support Material