WHAT ABOUT ENGLISH? A SURVEY

In our school every student studies English. We study it because it is compulsory in our syllabus but we also know it is the most-widely spoken language in the world. So, compulsory or not, we need it.

But what do students think about English? And how do they study it? We arranged a survey with the help of all the English teachers who work in our school and we asked all the students in the 3rd and 4th year (16/17 – year-old) to answer our questionnaire. (HERE)

On the whole 179 students  participated in the survey. They are from 14 different classes : liceo classico (1);  liceo delle scienze umane (3) liceo scientifico (3), liceo linguistico (2), tecnico per il turismo (1), tecnico informatico (2), perito elettrotecnico (2). 

We read all the questionnaires and made graphic charts to share the results here on our blog. Are you curious to know more? Go on reading :-)

1. Do you like English?

As we said before we all study English, not only in our school but in all schools all over Italy, from the age of 6 to the age of 18. So, the students involved in the survey have been studying it for many years. But do they like it at all?

 

Question 1

Unexpectedly 64% of students like English. Isn’t it a good result?

          

                                                                       

2. During  your English lessons what skills do you practise more?

Every teacher has his own teaching style, method and strategies. But they all focus on improving the different skills. So which are the most practised?

Question 2

Boom! N. 1 is listening as the most practised skill. Followed by grammar,speaking and writing

3. What do you like practising the most?

As we’ve  already said the  majority of students in our school like English. But what do they like practising the most?

Question 3

The winner is speaking. For the second time writing is the last in the chart. Clearly the majority of them find it unpleasant.

4. How often do you practise English outside school?

So many like English . They practise it at school but what about at home? Do they practise English enough  outside  school?

Question 4

The majority of the students practise their English outside of school only sometimes. That isn’t the best way to improve, is it? Remember: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!

5. Have you ever watched a film in English at school?

Of course one of the ways to learn English is watching films and we think that's something students may enjoy. But how many students have ever watched a film in English in their lessons?

Question 5

According to the survey the majority of the students have watched a film in English at school. Almost a quarter of the students instead (23,24%) never did.

6. When your teacher speaks English, do you understand him\her?

Out teachers  speak English during their lessons. But how many students can understand them?

Question 6

According to the chart above we can see that just few students (8 out of 179) never understand. There are also those who understand just sometimes but...That's a good result, anyway, isn't it?

7. How often do you listen to English materials during the lesson? (podcasts, CDs, songs, interviews, videos…)

Another way of teaching  English is to make students listen to English materials during the lesson. How often do teachers do that? What did the students say?

Question 7

Few students said they never or they always use English materials like podcasts, or CDs (13% in total).  The majority of them  use those materials only sometimes.

8. Have you ever studied English in a foreign country?

The best experience while  studying  English is travel to  and study in an English-speaking country. Well, how many of our students had the chance to do it?

Question 8

What a pity! Only  35 students out of 179 had the opportunity to  study English in a foreign country.

9. What skill/s do you think is the most important to be good at English?

While learning English there are several skills to develope. But what do the students think? What's the most  important for them? Let's see...

Question 9

And the winners are …SPEAKING  and  LISTENING, with respectively 115 and 100 out of 179. Can we say we’ve got the impression that reading and writing are not very appreciated?

10. How do you find English? Easy or difficult? Useless or useful?

Well, let’s see what’s English like for students. Easy or difficult? Useless or useful?

Question 10

Useful! The majority of us think English is a useful language. 23,2 % find it difficult. Not bad! We can say student think English is useful and not so difficult.

11. Have you ever used English while travelling?

Usually while travelling abroad we use English, because it is the most – widely spoken language. But how many students have used it in a foreign country?

Question 11

Almost half of the students have used it (99 out of 178) abroad.  

12. How would you like to learn English? What's the best way, in your opinion?

And now the final question. We couldn't get a graphic chart for this question, so we decided to read all the answers and write down what the most frequent suggestions were.

Apparently, the majority  of the students would like to learn English listening to music, watching films and travelling abroad. Dear teachers, you’ve been kindly informed! ;-)

Lucrezia M. & Benedetta