Using Questionnaires in Language Training

The communicative and humanistic approaches to language training have shown us the importance of setting up genuine dialogue between learner and trainer and among learners themselves. When, as trainers, we ask a series of questions in the manner of quiz masters, where we know the answer and watch while the learner struggles to find something acceptable to us, we cannot claim to be setting up genuine dialogue; it is an unequal power game. The use of open ended questions, however, can be extremely valuable in appealing to the learner's need for real self-expression and in providing an opportunity for structural or lexical practice within the framework of what the learner wants and needs to say, rather than through an artificial exercise. I use such questionnaires frequently; sometimes giving the learners time to complete them alone; sometimes getting the members of a group to interview each other. An extension of the latter activity is to have the members of the group devise their own questionnaires for each other and for the trainer.

Below are two examples of questionnaires I use in business groups, one-to-one classes or for telephone lessons. The first addresses the daily activities in the trainees' working life and gives them the opportunity to practise the simple present tense. The second is aimed at providing material for a subsequent discussion about time management. Use the students answers as the basis for feedback on errors, new vocabulary, revision of structures. If the students work in pairs then the questionnaires can be used as an exercise in reported speech with one student giving a summary of what his or her partner said.

Questionnaire 1

What's the first thing you usually do when you arrive at work?

How often on average do you use the telephone in the course of a day?

On what occasions do you discuss work with your colleagues?

Are you ever late for work or for meetings?

Which tasks do you enjoy most in your job?

What are the main skills (technical, manual, intellectual) that you use for your work?

Which tasks do you perform most efficiently?

Do you prefer working alone or with others?

Which aspects of your job are stressful?

What do you usually do for lunch?

Does your company encourage staff to meet socially?

How do your colleagues celebrate each others' birthdays?

When do you take your holidays?

Do you ever take work home with you?

How do people dress in your company?

Questionnaire 2

How much time each week do you spend with your family and friends?

How do you decide on your priorities each week?

How often do you delegate tasks to others?

During which periods of the day do you work most efficiently?

Do you always take a lunch break?

Are your desk and filing cabinet tidy so that you can easily find things when you need them?

On the telephone, what percentage of your calls are normally taken up with non-essential matters?

Are you a perfectionist?

Do you allow people to interrupt you with telephone calls when you have work you want to concentrate on?

At the end of the week, do you feel you have done everything you wanted to?

Do you feel you have a good balance between work, leisure and rest?

Do you sometimes put off doing tasks even though they are urgent?

Do you make lists of what has to be done?

Do you ever panic about how much you have to do?