Pre – teaching Questions

Have you ever answered a survey Questionnaire?

Have you ever made a Questionnaire? Have you ever written a Questionnaire Do you remember what it looks like? How many parts are there? Do you like answering a Questionnaire?

Questionnaire

What is in this lesson: - Advantages and disadvantages - Considerations in administering a

questionnaire- Analysis of questionnaire data

Obj. 3.1, 3.2 & 3.5

What are Questionnaires and what do they measure?

Questionnaires are any written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or statements to which they are to react either writing out their answers or selecting from among existing answers”

Brown (2001,p6)

Obj. 3.3

Three types of data in questionaires1. Factual question:

(classification/subject descriptors)=> who are the respondents?

- Age/gender/race- Residential location/ marital and

sicioeconomic status, level of education, occupation

- Other background information- ***years of learning English, text books

used… if that is research on ELT

Obj. 3.4

2. Behavioural Questions

Ask what respondents are doing or have done in the past

- people’s action, life-styles, habits**** in L2 studies, these ask about the

frequency of using a language learning strategy

Obj. 3.4

3. Attitudinal Questions

Find out what people think- Attitudes- Opinions- beliefs- Interests- values

Obj. 3.4

Advantages of Questionaires

Easy and fast way to collect data Cheap Versatile (multi-functional): with people

of different genders, at different ages, in different locations..

Obj. 3.4

Disadvantages

Too simple questions , answers Unreliable and unmotivated

respondents Little or no opportunity to correct

the respondents’ mistakes Fatigue effects

Obj. 3.4

Constructing the Questionnaire

5 steps and procedures to construct the questionnaire:

1. Deciding on the general features of the questionnaire: Length, format and the main part

2. Writing effective items/questions and drawing an item pool

3. Selecting and sequencing the items4. Writing appropriate instructions and examples5. Piloting the questionnaire and conduct item analysis

1. General Features

Length be short and takes short time to answer

Layout booklet format Appropriate density Orderly layout Sequence marking

Anaminity

Obj. 3.6 & 5.1

Examples of sequencing marking

Obj. 3.6 & 5.1

I. ATTITUDES TOWARD LANGUAGE LEARNING

1. Language learning is an exciting activity

2. Language learning often makes me happy

II. LANGUAGE CHOICE3. If you could choose, which foreign languages would you choose to

learn next year at school? Please mark three languages in order of importance

(a)…………………………………………………

(b)…………………………………………………

(c)………………………………………………..

Main parts of a Questionaire

TitleQuestionaire for English learnersQuestionaire for Teachers of English

Main parts of a Questionaire

Instruction The general instruction should cover the

following things: - What the study is about and why it is

important or socially useful- The organization responsible for

conducting the study- Emphasizing that there are no right or

wrong answers (honesty is the most important)

- Promising confidentiality- Saying ‘thank you”

Main parts of a Questionaire

Sample general instruction

Obj. 3.7 & 4.1

We would like to ask you to help us by answering the following questions concerning Foreign language learning. This survey is conducted by the Language Research Group of The University of X to better understand… This is not a test, so there is no “right” or “wrong answers and you don’t need to provide your name….

Main parts of a Questionaire Specific instructions:

Tell respondents what they have to do in order to answer the questions

Obj. 3.7 & 4.1

Sample instructions for numerical rating scales

In the following section we would like you to answer some questions by simple giving marks from 1 to 5

1 = not at all 2 = not really 3 = so-so 4= quite a lot 5 = very much

For example, consider the following item. If you like hamburger very much, write 5 in the space in front of the question:

-------------- How much do you like a hamburger?

Please write one (and only one) whole number in front of each question and don’t leave out any of them. Thanks

Main parts of a Questionaire

Questionaire ItemsThese come after the instruction- Rarely take the form of actual questions (?)- Be separated from the instruction (font

style…)

Obj. 3.7 & 4.1

Main parts of a Questionaire

Additional Information and Thank you

Obj. 3.7 & 4.1

Questionaire Content

The appropriate sampling of the content=> Find the short list of specific content Using multi-item scales(Likert 91930s)

Obj. 3.8 & 5.1

Types of Questions: Open-ended and closed ended Closed ended questionsA range of possible responses is determined by

the researcherEg: Foreign languages should be compulsory in

high school Agree Neutral

Disagree Open ended questions

Obj. 3.8 & 5.1

Closed- ended questionnaire itemsYoung a (1986, cited in Bell (1987) categorises questions as follows:

Question types

Example

List Indicate your qualifications by circling any of the following: Diploma B.A M.A Ph.D

Category Indicate your salary range by circling one of the following: Lest than 20,000 40,000-60,00020,000 – 40,000 more than 60,000

Ranking Rank the following from 1 to 4 in order of preference“I like to learn best by studying’: - with the whole class - in small groups - in pair - independently

Scale Circle one of the following to indicate your attitude to the following statement: “I like to learn through interacting with native speakers”Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree

Question types

Example

Quantity/ Frequency

Circle one of the following: How often did you practice English outside class last week? 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, more than 10

Grid

How many NESB students are there in the following classes

0-5 5-10` 10-15 15+

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Dorney (3003) classified closed questions as rating scale items, rankingItems, multiple choice items and checklist

Rating scale:

Likert scale

Multiple choice item:

If there were a French Club in my school, I would

Ranking order items

Numeric Items

Checklist

Open- ended questions

Specific open questions- Asking about concrete pieces of

information, such as facts about the respondent, past activities

Eg: What languages have you studied in the

past?

OPEN – ENDED QUESTIONS

Classification questionsEg.If you rated the course-book you are using

as “poor” or “very poor”, please briefly explain why. Write your answer here:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

OPEN _ENDED QUESTIONS

Sentence completion items: Eg. One thing I like about this activity is

………..