introduction class survey

7/29/2019 Introduction Class Survey

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Introduction

A so-called "post-communicative" view of language teaching, is said to be moreeclectic. Language teaching is seen as an adaptive process rather than as the

application of an ideal method or approach. In contexts that seem to require orfavour the learning of actual abilities to use a language, it is useful for a teacherto develop a repertoire of holistic activities within which a variety of approachesmay be adopted. A teacher's repertoire often includes activities such assimulated conversations in pairs and small groups, speech making or storytelling. All of these holistic activities act as a framework for the adoption ofdifferent approaches and roles, ranging from strictly and centrally controlledteacher-fronted interaction to devolved interaction in which students structuretheir own discourse. This brief paper will consider the classroom survey asanother useful regular framework activity to be added to a teacher's repertoire.

Multiple Aims

A class survey responds to several aims. Firstly it provides practice in free butpurposeful interaction with both the teacher and with other students, encouragingsocialization and active participation in a lesson. The ability to initiate andstructure short conversations is also central. The survey can also providepractice of a more structured nature in important language such as the languageof direct and indirect questions and in important skills such as report writing. Amore general educational aim is to provide students with personal experience inusing a simple form of a common academic tool.

Flexibility

A survey activity can be adapted to almost any level of language and allows bothteachers and students to adopt a variety of different classroom roles. Lower levelgroups may need a lot of guidance, but more advanced groups can design theirown surveys with only minimal guidance. It is possible to design a survey activityas a supplementary activity for almost any unit of a language course on almostany topic. Given the effort and organization involved, it makes sense to developthe survey as a regular activity which might be used about once every five or six

lessons.

Potential Difficulties

Surveys require students to socialise and circulate freely around the classroom -not recommended in a class that is difficult to control. Considerable managementis needed to get students to cooperate sufficiently to make a survey worthwhile. It


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also requires a lot of time, at least one hour, so it has to prove itself before itbecomes a regular activity.

What the Teacher Does

During a survey the teacher frequently changes roles. The teacher sets up theactivity from the front of the class, takes part in the class-circulation activity justlike a student, assists students to plan their reports, provides examples to imitateand orchestrates a reporting back stage. Students also adopt a variety of roles.There are countless variations of the survey formula, but a possible step by stepapproach in four stages is provided below.

Stage 1

The teacher introduces the task and helps students prepare. At this stage theteacher is probably controlling all student actions from the front of the class.Some kind of sheet like the one provided below is recommended to provide afocus for preparation. The teacher can then demonstrate possible surveyquestions to students in the whole-class session and get students to demonstratetheir questions in interaction with the teacher. There is also a pre-survey optionof drilling the language that is likely to be needed or providing language supporthandouts. (See "Asking Questions" below.) It is assumed that the vocabulary ofthe topic itself has been introduced elsewhere as it is probably the topic of a unitwhich has been studied during previous lessons. Going into a survey "cold" is notrecommended. Varying combinations of reading texts, listening exercises,

teacher-led introductions or discussion, pair/group exercises will normally alreadyhave established a topic.Example Survey Sheet - usable for any survey topic

Topic Food -- Healthy Eating

General Question

(What do you wantto find out about in

your survey?)

How healthy are the eating habits of thisclass?

Specific Questions

(What are theexact questions

you will askpeople?)

Could you tell me how often you eatgreen vegetables?

(a. Every day - b. a few days a week - c.once a week - d. less than once a week)

Could you tell me when you last ate


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green vegetables?

What did you eat yesterday?

Student 1

Student 2

Student 3

Student 4

Student 5

Student 6

Student 7

Student 8

Student 9

Student 10

Stage 2

Students and teacher circulate freely round the class doing the survey, providing

a rare opportunity for one-to-one interaction of a more equal nature between theteacher and a lot of students. In this way the teacher will also become aware ofany problems. More controlled formulas for student movement can also be set upwith difficult classes. While conversations are relatively spontaneous, a surveyalso requires repetition practice of the same structures (the same questions arerepeated in each conversation) in a more natural context than a traditional drillactivity. They also often tend to require follow-up questions and questions askingfor clarification if the survey is to be done well.

Stage 3

Students return to their seats to prepare their report. The teacher candemonstrate by giving a report from his/her own survey and can then assiststudents in preparing their report notes.

Stage 4


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Several students report back to the whole class. The teacher can intervene hereto correct language or suggest improvements to the report. An optional fifth stageis to ask students to write up their reports as homework.

Class Survey Report Sheet

Introduction- report your aim andyour actual questions

Give your own position

I wanted to know how healthy my class's eating habitswere. I asked ten students how often they ate green

vegetables and when they last ate green vegetables. Ithen asked them to tell me what they ate yesterday. Imyself sometimes eat green vegetables but not every

day.

Results- General patterns and

the most strikingfindings

Almost all the students (9) told me that they eat greenvegetables every day, but only three of them had eaten

any today for breakfast or for lunch. (4 had not even hadbreakfast claiming the teacher got angry if they were late

for class.) Only half the class ate green vegetablesyesterday. Three could not remember exactly when they

last ate green vegetables.

Conclusion- answer to the general

question

Did anything surpriseyou or stand out?

According to my survey my class's eating habits arequite healthy but not as healthy as they seem to think.Only half of them ate green vegetables yesterday and

four of them had no breakfast this morning including me.

Conclusion

A survey is an adaptable activity which can provide a holistic framework forpractising different kinds of enabling skills and for practising immediatelyapplicable language both formally and informally. The approach is "eclectic" butnot unprincipled as each stage has its own pedagogical purposes and outcomes.By adopting different roles for different purposes during different stages of thesurvey, the teacher can cater for different levels of ability and learning styles

within the same class and can adapt to his/her situation by adjusting the balancebetween controlled and devolved learning.

Appendix -- Language Support - Asking

Questions in a Survey


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During your surveys, it will be important for you to ask questions. Try to learn thethree different kinds mentioned below. Notice the different grammar and when touse each kind.Type one: Polite Questions. You could use this kind of question to start yoursurvey, or to ask a "delicate" or personal question.

Examples from a survey on part-time jobs:Would you mind telling me how much you earn in your part-time job?Could you tell me what you have to do?Could you explain a bit more please?Type two: "Normal" (neutral) questions. (Use this kind for your second or thirdquestions when you just need information.)Examples:How many hours a week do you work?How did you find this job?Type three: Short questions: (Use these to avoid repeating the whole question,which sounds unnatural.)

Sample Conversation.

I'm doing a survey about part-time jobs. Could I ask you if you have a part-time job?

Yes, I do. I work in a supermarket. How about you? Yes, I work as a waiter. First, would you mind telling me how much you earn? They only pay me 600 yen per hour. What about your job? I get 800 yen an hour. What exactly do you have to do?

Useful Grammar.

Normal Questions. Check the word order.

1 2 3 4 5

WH word Helping verb Person or

thing

Suitable formof main verb

objects,

compliments,

adverbial, etc.

Where do you work?

Why don't you change jobs?

How much do you earn?

Polite (indirect) Questions. Notice the different word order.

Polite phrase Wh word person/ Main verb etc.,


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thing

Could you tell me how much you earn?

Could I ask you how many hours you work per week?I'm not sure where you work.

Reported Questions:After your survey, you will have to make a report for the class. Notice thedifferences between the question and the report of the question in theseexamples.

Examples.Question - Would you mind telling me how much you earn?

Report - During my survey, I asked 10 people how much they earned. Only twoof them refused to tell me...

Question - How many hours a week do you work?Report - Then I asked them how many hours they worked per week.

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