Part of my action plan for professional development was to talk to people who have learned English as a foreign language about their English learning experience. Since people in Israel who learned English as a foreign language are not exactly thin on the ground, the difficult part involved coming up with the right questions. I know what I want to know...but how do I elicit that knowledge from the people I'm surveying? (Anyone commenting "CCQ" - I will find you.)
Luckily I have a precious resource right in my own home. My husband, Eyal, learned English as a foreign language. I asked him to read over my survey. He suggested a few changes, and I wrote the final draft. Now I'm finding folks willing to spend a few minutes telling me about their English language learning experience. To simplify matters, I put the whole thing into Google Forms. Very useful, Google Forms. My next project will be a survey to give to English language teachers.
This probably won't be a one-off, either. Professional development is a continuing thing, and I need to learn what prospective students need and want. I also need to know what teachers are saying and experiencing.
It's funny that I spent about half my life - literally - focused on formulating answers. Now I'm focused on asking questions.
Questions are harder.
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