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It has been always a question, whether it is better to teach individuals or groups. To answer this, many differences between them is discussed and pointed out in the following. Firstly, the size is one of the most important point separating the concept of teaching one to one or a group. It can also vary in the size of groups, whether it is a small (~7 students), whether it is a large (~more than 7 students). For example, as the group size grows, the harder it gets to keep the discipline. Secondly, one on one lessons are usually available at private teachers, which, unfortunately, can be expensive, but more intensive, while a grouped English lesson is typical at language schools and takes less money, but less intensive. Teaching individual has many advantages, for example, he can get the teacher’s full attention and focus all the time, although the teacher should be aware not to be too overwhelming, which might take away the confidence and motivation of the student. The teacher can monitor the student’s improvement and performance and can adjust the lesson to the student’s needs easily, while this is more difficult to do with a group. Despite these advantages, there are also disadvantages. The teacher talk time is high, because there are no other classmates, so the teacher at pair work needs to pick up their role. This can often lead students to confusion, because they might not be able to distinguish the changing roles of the teacher. While the student is filling the worksheet and the teacher is constantly monitoring, the student can feel frustrated and overwhelmed. Dealing with a group of students challenges the teacher to split his attention and makes him to keep equal amount of focus on each student. This is important, because if one student gets bored, then loses motivation. This can cause him not to take part in the lesson, maybe causing discipline problems, which can make the teacher to reprimand the student in front of the class or after lesson. The students in the group need to be on similar level of English proficiency, so it will be easier for the teacher to organize and write the outline of the lessons. The teacher can change his roles easier, because there is a “distance” between student and teacher. For example, during paired works, the teacher can walk around from one pair to another and monitor them, or when playing a game, he can participate, but still not be disrespected by students. I used to go to a private teacher alone and I used to be frustrated by being focused on too much, because I didn’t have my own personal space. When I started to attend a class with my friend, only two of us, it was way easier, because non of us were under pressure, we could also do pair works together and the teacher could monitor without interrupting us. All in all, teaching both individuals and groups have their own upsides and downsides. Non should be degraded or praised, each should be treated with critical eyes and the teacher should always work on making the best out of what he has.
