Online language teaching and learning: Does class size make a difference?

This study explored how class size affects the quality of online language teaching and learning. The present study compared the experiences of instructors and students in two second semester Spanish language classes. There were 125 students enrolled in the large-scale class and 25 students enrolled in the small-scale class. Each class had one instructor and no teaching assistants. Two instruments were used to collect data, a Teacher Questionnaire and an anonymous Student Questionnaire. The results indicate that a large class size negatively impacts students' satisfaction with their online language learning experience. Further, in the large-scale course, the quality and quantity of student–student and student–instructor interaction was limited and instructor expertise was underutilized since the large class size affected the instructor's ability to create an environment conducive to learning.