Expatriate Teachers Adjustment To Teaching Larges EFL Classes

This study is concerned with expatriate teachers' adjustment to teaching large EFL classes in China. A content analysis methodology was employed to analyze the correspondence that the participant expatriate teachers contributed to an Email discussion listserv - TEFLChina (Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China). It studied the issues they are faced with, such as class sizes, their responses to the large classes, the strategies and techniques they use to manage and teach the class, and the effects of their efforts. A process of difficult adjustment was identified. The implication of this study is that administrators in China need to be informed about the relationship between class sizes and effective language learning in order to make better use of expatriate teachers and to optimize individual learning, and expatriate teachers may find it helpful when preparing for teaching English in China.