IELTS Student Questionnaire

Hello! As part of a Diploma programme, I am doing a project on the IELTS exam.

The purpose of this project is to find out something about typical student attitudes
to the exam and then to see how the course can be taught in a way that reflects
these attitudes. It is not a study of you or your class specifically – any information
you are kind enough to give me is absolutely private and will only be used to
create a general picture. In exchange, you will get a warm feeling of satisfaction,
knowing that you have helped in some small way to make IELTS classes even
better for the students of the future (you’ll probably get some free chocolate too).
Many, many thanks for taking a minute to look at this, I really appreciate it!

John Foster

Part One: The Background Stuff

Your Name (you can use a fake name):

_____________________________________

Your Age (use your real age):

_____________________________________________

Your Nationality (again, real):

_____________________________________________

Your First Language (real):

_______________________________________________

What are your reasons for doing the IELTS exam? (e.g. to go to a
British university; to make friends with other, very intelligent
people; my Mum made me do it)

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

If your reasons are primarily academic, do you have a specific

course and/or university in mind? Do you have a target score?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Have you done the exam before? If so, when and what score did you
get?

_____________________________________________________________________

IELTS Student Questionnaire April 2009 1

Do you have an exam booked? If so, when? If not, do you have an
approximate date?

_____________________________________________________________________

Part Two: Your Delicious IELTS Pie

Please divide up the pie below into sections according to the

aspects of the exam you feel you need to work on. Make six pieces:
Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, General Vocabulary, and
General Grammar. So if you think you need most work on Speaking,
make that the biggest piece of the pie and so on.

Are there any big differences between your pie and the amount of
time you spend on each aspect in class?

IELTS Student Questionnaire April 2009 2

Part Three: Learning Styles

Please read these statements and give each a score from 0 to 5: 0

means ‘totally, absolutely untrue for me’, 5 means ‘totally, 100%
true for me’, 3 means ‘quite true for me’, etc.

1. I like learning grammar rules

2. I enjoy reading activities
3. When I learn a new word in English, I usually translate it into
my own language
4. I find it difficult to improve my listening skills
5. Seeing how a word is written helps me remember it
6. I learn better when I work alone
7. I learn new vocabulary or grammar by speaking with it
8. I like to work with a partner or in a group
9. A dictionary is important for studying English
10. I need to have a lot of breaks when I’m studying

Last Questions:

1. What IELTS coursebook are you using/have you used? Is there

anything you particularly like or dislike about it?

2. Do you think the score you get on your IELTS exam is a very
good reflection of your overall English ability? Why/why not?

3. What percentage of class time do you think should be spent

on specific IELTS tasks? For example, 100% means everything
you do in class should come from an IELTS preparation course
book.

IELTS Student Questionnaire April 2009 3

 4. Finally… if you wouldn’t mind having a chat for ten minutes or
so maybe in the canteen at lunch time or in Costa in the
afternoon about your opinions to do with IELTS, please write
your email address here.

IELTS Student Questionnaire April 2009 4