In the first place, both small and big classes have their own advantages and disadvantages. Let’s take a small class for example. With a small number of students in one class, the classroom atmosphere would be relatively quiet and, therefore, it would be possible for students to concentrate on their learning. This can be easily understood, for, after all, the noise made by 10 or 20 people is much lower than that made by 100 or even 200 people! Also, with fewer students, the teacher would find it much easier to manipulate the class, that is, to have the whole class under complete control. If there are too many students, the teacher would be at a loss as to what to do in that controlling the situation itself would be challenging enough. Besides, in a small class, the students could have more interactive activities with the teacher and the teacher can give each student whatever instructions or help that he or she needs. When the number of students in a class is much too big, one-to-one or one-to-several tutoring is simply impossible. However, this is not to say that a small class is all good and a big one is all bad. In fact, as researches show, a small class is more likely to give rise to tiredness and boredom, which hinders learning. In this respect, a big class prevails as it places higher pressure on the teacher, thus compelling him or her to be more energetic and more humorous so as to create a more lively learning atmosphere and, therefore, having the students’ attention. Who will benefit from all these? The students! Of course! Moreover, in a big class, the students could get to know more people, thereby making more friends as they have more choices. And making friends itself is meaningful in that it makes the class a more attractive place and in the long run, this makes for students’ learning.

其次，我们应该承认：班小、班大绝对没有老师来得关键。不管班级多小，哪怕只有一个学生，但如果老师不合格，根本就不懂教学，那学生也无法专心听讲，也就无法真正学到知识。相反，如果老师好，哪怕有一千名学生，也照样可以保证老师讲得起劲，学生听得有滋味，学习的效果也就不言自喻了。我曾经参加过一个500人的班级学习，因为老师好，学生们都喜欢他，所以，我们都学得很开心，而且，为了坐得离老师近，很多学生提前1小时就去抢前排的座位。这充分说明了一点：老师是关键。

In the second place, we must acknowledge the very fact that no matter how small or big a class is, it is simply not that important as the teacher. Even in a class where there is only one student, if the teacher proves to be inefficient, not knowing how to teach at all, it would be impossible for the students to listen attentively, so there would be no way for them to really learn anything. Quite the opposite, if the teacher is good, then no matter how many students there are in one class, say, 1,000 of them, the teacher would still be able to teach enthusiastically and the students listen enjoyably, and the learning effect would be beyond any doubt. I had the experience of sitting in a 500-student classroom. The teacher was warmly received by the students and so we all learned happily. Moreover, just for the sake of securing a seat close to the teacher, many students would go to the classroom 1 hour earlier. This well confirmed the point that the teacher is what really counts.

基于以上论证，我们说，班级规模的大小本身不会对学生的学习产生什么影响，真正决定学生学习热情的更为关键的因素是教师的优劣。

From the above discussion, we can safely come to the conclusion that the size of a class does not have much influence on the students’ learning effect. What is really more crucial in this issue is the quality of the teacher.