The Effects of Large Classes on EFL Students at An-‎Najah National University‎

The Effects of Large Classes on EFL Students at An-‎Najah National University‎

Muna Thaher

mona_thaher@yahoo.com

Department of English, Faculty of Arts, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine

Received : 02-06-2004 , Accepted : 07-11-2004

Language: English

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to determine what effects (instructional, psychological or social) large classes have on students by investigating and analyzing EFL students' attitudes toward large classes at An-Najah National University in Palestine. A questionnaire was distributed among El0103 students who were learning English as a university requirement. The sample of the study consisted of (230) non-English major EFL students. The findings of the study revealed that the instructional effects have the highest mean over the social and the psychological effects. It appeared that despite the negative aspects of learning English in large classes, there can be some positive aspects that teachers could make use of. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations to cope with the problems of large classes for future application in teaching EFL students.

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