Survey activities - Games and activities for all levels

39 ESL Vocabulary Activities: For Teenagers and Adults - Jackie Bolen, Jennifer Booker Smith 2015

Survey activities
Games and activities for all levels

Skills: Speaking/Listening/Writing/Reading

Time Required: 15-30 minutes

Materials: Survey handout

Give the students a sheet of paper with some questions and have them find one classmate who fits each slot. My general rule is that one question equals around two minutes for intermediate to advanced students so ten questions would equal a twenty-minute activity. It's one minute per question for beginners because they will not be as good at asking follow-up questions. Of course, you can always end the activity before students have filled in the slots and it's not a big deal.

The kinds of questions you could put in your survey depends on the unit you are teaching. “Around the house” and, “Around the city” are two subjects that work particularly well. An example question is, “Do you share a bedroom?” Then, if their partner answers yes (encourage students to answer in full sentences!), they write down their partner's name and ask him/her one (beginner) or two (intermediate to advanced) more questions to elicit some extra information. For example, “Who do you share your room with?” Or, “Do you wish you had your own room?” If their partner's answer is no, he/she should choose another question to ask them from the original list. The goal is to talk to as many students as possible in the class as well as practice making follow-up questions.

Prep the activity well before you turn students loose by saying what you’re looking for: only speaking English, everybody standing up, talking to everybody in mostly full sentences, writing the answers in English. Get a student to ask you one of the questions first and then ask a student one of the questions so your students have two models of what they need to do.

Around the house survey

Name

Question

Extra Information


Is your bedroom closet neat?



Do you have a computer in your bedroom?



Do you have a TV in your bedroom?



Do you have more than 5 rooms in your house?



Do you have less than 5 rooms in your house?



Does your family eat dinner together at the kitchen table?



Do you do most of the cleaning at your house?



Do you live with 3 generations at your house?



Do you enjoy decorating your house?



Does your kitchen have all the latest gadgets?



Do you have at least one really comfortable chair in your house?



Do you rent your house?



Are you neighbors noisy?



Do you know all your neighbors names?



Do you share a bedroom with someone?



Do you live alone?



Do you want to move?


Here is another survey that you can do if you're talking about holidays or celebrations:

Celebrations Survey

Teaching Tips:

Along with partner conversation starters, this is my other favorite ESL speaking activity that I regularly use in class (at least once a month). It's perfect for beginner to advanced students and it's one of the most student-centered activities that I know of.

Surveys are an excellent way for students to practice some important speaking sub-skills, especially responding appropriately based on what their partner tells them. For example, if they are surprised they could respond with, “Really?” If in agreement, they could say, “Yeah, me too.” If in strong disagreement, they could say something like, “Wow! Why do you think that?” You could even put three categories on the board for “Agree,” “Disagree” and “Surprise” and elicit a few ideas from the students about appropriate things they could say in response to a statement.

Another important speaking sub-skill is turn taking. I emphasize to my students that there are times when in-depth and lengthy discourses are necessary (a presentation) but doing a survey activity like this mimics small talk. In small talk, the keys are to listen well, ask some interesting questions and follow-up questions, give short, concise answers and avoid usually find it really funny, but I hope that they get the point too!

Procedure:

1. Prepare the survey, based on whatever you are teaching.

2. Hand out surveys and write up one or two of the questions on the board, making it look the same as the handout. Do two example questions with students, one with you asking a student a question and vice versa for the second one.

3. Students stand up and talk to one classmate asking them one question (any order is okay). If the answer is “yes,” they write in the name and ask a follow-up question. They can write one or two words in the appropriate slot based on the answer their partner gave them.

4. If the answer is no, they must ask another question from the survey until they get a “yes.”

5. The pair splits up and each student finds a new partner to talk to.

6. The activity continues until the allotted time is finished.