Skip to main content

The Frenchteacher.net survey results are in

Every few months I carry out a subscriber survey using Survey Monkey. This is to help me know which resources are being used, receive feedback and suggestions on how to improve the site. This time 77 subscribers responded over the four weeks the survey was live. That's roughly 5% of members.

There were ten quick questions. This is what I learned this time:

Have you used any of the Y10-11 instant listening tasks (not video listening)?

40% said yes.

Have you used Y7-9 PowerPoints?

43% said yes.

Have you used any sentence builder tasks?

70% said yes. This reflects the current enthusiasm for sentence builder tables (aka substitution tables). Some teachers are putting the Y10-11 examples together as a GCSE revision booklet.

Have you used any Y7 parallel reading resources?

57% said yes. I am aware that some teachers put these texts together and make a booklet of them for pupils.

Have you used Y10-11 video listening, e.g. Peppa Pig?

53% said yes.

Have you used the grammar explanation handouts (not worksheets)?

67% said yes.

Which sections do you often use? (More than one answer possible.)

As usual, the most used pages, in order of use, are: A-level, GCSE, Y9, Y8, Y7/Primary. 75% included A-level as an option, 62% the Y10-11 page.

Have you used the situational dialogues in the Y8 section?

19% said yes.

Which worksheet types do you make most regular use of? Choose up to 3.

The most popular resources of the options I gave were:

Written texts with exercises (78%)
Translation tasks (58%)
Grammar worksheets (49%)
Video listening tasks (40%)

Finally, I asked for specific feedback and suggestions. Here is a selection. (I keep all of these in mind and respond as far as I feel able to - e.g. I have already more adult learners resources.)

"Your website is precious to me as a teacher - you can rely on the quality of the exercises so it is a real time saver. I have used it for years and it represents amazingly good value for money. The wealth of authentic texts covering all of the exam topics is not matched by any other site. Thank you for all of your hard work!"
 
"I love the sentence builders and use them all of the time. I find some of the activities for Y7/primary too advanced." 
 
"I would like to use the crosswords, but they are rather small." (I know the crosswords are popular, but I had not had this feedback before.) 
 
"I would welcome more resources for adult learners, situational dialogues for tourists and reading exercises on topics of cultural interest for adults . Thank you Steve for an excellent site which is always my “go to “ when planning." (See above.)

"Well worth subscribing, your work is much appreciated!"

"The resources on the site are fantastic. Only criticism would be that the search feature doesn’t really work very well. I still have to look through everything to find what I need." (Yes, it's a standard Google-based search button which can be hit and miss.)

"Just wish that the answers were supplied with ALL worksheets (I know they are with some). It would save me even more valuable time. Thank you for a fabulous service though- love it!!!!" (Yes, older worksheets don't always come with answers. Sorry!)

"I work with the NZ curriculum now and still find your resources great. Use less translations than I did in the U.K. but dip I to it all from time to time. I love your listening resources. Merci."
 
"Fantastic resources. You can use them, recycle them and inspire yourself from them. There is nothing as good for other languages."
 
"I love Frenchteacher.net Could we please have some more resources on Un sac de billes?" (Sorry, but the huge time that would take for a very few users make it not worthwhile from my point of view. I'd look at dolanguages.com by Stephen Glover.)
 
"Fab site - probably some of the KS3 stuff is a bit too hard for a mixed ability comp. Great quality resources though." (Yes, when I first set up the site it was for the resources I used at my selective school. Over recent years I have been attempting to provide a greater, more accessible range.I should do more!

Thank you to those who responded. I am delighted that the site is thriving with around 1400 schools. individual teachers or tutors who subscribe, often year after year. I shall continue to keep the site refreshed with new resources and I welcome ideas for any new types of resource.

Steve





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What is skill acquisition theory?

For this post, I am drawing on a section from the excellent book by Rod Ellis and Natsuko Shintani called Exploring Language Pedagogy through Second Language Acquisition Research (Routledge, 2014). Skill acquisition is one of several competing theories of how we learn new languages. It’s a theory based on the idea that skilled behaviour in any area can become routinised and even automatic under certain conditions through repeated pairing of stimuli and responses. When put like that, it looks a bit like the behaviourist view of stimulus-response learning which went out of fashion from the late 1950s. Skill acquisition draws on John Anderson’s ACT theory, which he called a cognitivist stimulus-response theory. ACT stands for Adaptive Control of Thought.  ACT theory distinguishes declarative knowledge (knowledge of facts and concepts, such as the fact that adjectives agree) from procedural knowledge (knowing how to do things in certain situations, such as understand and speak a language).

The 2026 GCSE subject content is published!

Two DfE documents were published today. The first was the response to the consultation about the proposed new GCSE (originally due in October 2021) and the second is the subject content document which, ultimately, is of most interest to MFL teachers in England. Here is the link  to the document.  We are talking about an exam to be done from 2026 (current Y7s). There is always a tendency for sceptical teachers to think that consultations are a bit of a sham and that the DfE will just go ahead and do what they want when it comes to exam reform. In this case, the responses to the original proposals were mixed, and most certainly hostile as far as exam boards and professional associations representing the MFL community, universities, head teachers and awarding bodies are concerned. What has emerged does reveal some significant changes which take account of a number of criticisms levelled at the proposals. As I read it, the most important changes relate to vocabulary and the issue of topics

La retraite à 60 ans

Suite à mon post récent sur les acquis sociaux..... L'âge légal de la retraite est une chose. Je voudrais bien savoir à quel âge les gens prennent leur retraite en pratique - l'âge réel de la retraite, si vous voulez. J'ai entendu prétendre qu'il y a peu de différence à cet égard entre la France et le Royaume-Uni. Manifestation à Marseille en 2008 pour le maintien de la retraite à 60 ans © AFP/Michel Gangne Six Français sur dix sont d’accord avec le PS qui défend la retraite à 60 ans (BVA) Cécile Quéguiner Plus de la moitié des Français jugent que le gouvernement a " tort de vouloir aller vite dans la réforme " et estiment que le PS a " raison de défendre l’âge légal de départ en retraite à 60 ans ". Résultat d’un sondage BVA/Absoluce pour Les Échos et France Info , paru ce matin. Une majorité de Français (58%) estiment que la position du Parti socialiste , qui défend le maintien de l’âge légal de départ à la retraite à 60 ans,