This paper discusses the ecology of the Jamaican English language classroom based on data drawn from an English language class-size survey and a subsequent ethnographic study of a number of English language classrooms. Situating class size considerations within the broader framework of classroom ecology, the paper reviews the extensive literature on class size and then explores how key elements of the language-external ecology affect the quality of the teaching learning interaction in English language classrooms.

In this paper the 'subjective consciousness' of 'Bettina' (who begins from a place of self-conscious obedience to the edict that teachers should always 'speak proper English' and battles cognitive dissonance as she attempts to use the students' home language, Jamaican Creole as the medium of instruction) is interwoven with the subjective consciousness of students participating in her JC/SJE bilingual project. This dialogue of perspectives exposes some of the complexities of the classroom as sociolinguistic and emotional psychological space.

The articles which form part of this special issue of the Caribbean Journal of Education are the proceedings of a Staff Research Day of the Department of Language, Linguistics and Philosophy at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, held in the summer of 2015. At this event, members of all three sections of the Department presented the findings of research which they were conducting at the time.