Teach English in Zhaogong Zhen - Baoji Shi

As the need for teaching English as a foreign language continues to grow worldwide, both teachers and learners always experience various forms of teaching and learning. Some of this include teaching or learning as a group or on a one to one basis. However, every form of teaching or learning has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore there are many differences between teaching one to one and groups. Below I will bring out just a few. Firstly, there are many English Foreign Language (EFL) courses and materials designed to be used for teaching students as a group, and there is a lack of English language teaching materials available for one to one teaching. In this case, teaching a group becomes easier than teaching one to one. More so, activities are very important in teaching EFL. However, a majority of the good activities available can only be used to teach students in a group, or to be practiced as a pair. The decrease in range of activities a teacher can use could take the fun out of the learning for the students on a one to one basis and more fun for group learning. Secondly, in a one to one setting, the student will benefit a lot because all the teacher’s attention is focused on the individual student and all the student’s need are directly addressed unlike a group setting with many students with different abilities, It becomes difficult for the teacher to address individual difficulties or needs. Moreover there is no syllabus for a one to one teaching and it becomes very difficult to measure and understand the progress of the students and also there are no other students to be compared with, meanwhile in a group teaching with a syllabus, it’s very easy to record the progress of the students and each student’s result can be compared with the others. Thirdly, learners acquire language best through the modified input of the teacher according to Natural Method suggested my Stephen Krashen. Here, the teacher adapts their language to the level of the student and in a one to one class, the amount and type of input can be maximized by the teacher to benefit the individual student greatly compared to group teaching of many students with different abilities and background. The teacher can easily adjust or modify his lesson plan to meet the need of the individual student, which is not very easy with group teaching whereby the teacher has a course or curriculum to follow. Therefore weaker students are expected to learn more from the stronger ones or are given more homework to practice. Another important difference is the level of motivation. In a one to one class, we often meet individuals who have made the decision to study, and then seek out a teacher. Some students even organize the materials to be used, agree on a scheduled time and even on the cost in the case of private learning. These students are greatly motivated making teaching easier and interesting compared to group teaching where some students will be present because they were asked to come as it is a company’s requirement or it is one of the subjects of the day. Moreover, the fact that both the teacher and student are alone in a one to one class can also exert pressure on both the teacher and the learner. Both of them are always on, i.e. if the teacher is not talking then the student is. Also the can be a much greater need for the teacher to achieve results, meanwhile the learner will experience less pressure because he or she is alone in the class. However in group teaching, the teacher will experience less pressure and the students will have more pressure because they have others to compare with. Above are just a few differences between teaching one to one and groups. Certainly, the both have advantages and disadvantages for both teachers and students. It is therefore important for us teachers to adapt our skills to make both one to one and group learning interesting and fun.