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authentic communication going, and it is good for people to help each other. Do watch out for
one person overpowering a quieter or less comfortable person; this would defeat the purpose of
the exercise and be counter to the egalitarian structure of the class.
5. Discuss the information with the class. Using the information from the surveys (see Sample
Surveys, page II–45), you can ask questions such as, “How many people are from El Salvador?
Bosnia? China?” or: “How many people watched TV more than 10 hours last week? What shows
were watched the most frequently?” You can have learners work in small groups to categorize
information, create graphs, or write sentences summarizing the information.
Evaluation: Circulate and listen to the questions and answers. Collect the information sheets to look
for writing issues.
Note: The sample survey on the next page would typically be used at the beginning of a class cycle.
Not only is it important for every student to know all the other learners’ names (and at least an
approximation of the pronunciation), but asking each other the question “What is your first name?”
helps learners begin to navigate first name, family name issues, as a real life skill. Furthermore, in
all facets of life learners must spell their names so they need to be familiar with the phrase “spell it,
please.” As learners spell their names and hear others spell theirs, they may solidify their alphabetic
knowledge. Particularly with native Spanish speakers, understanding and applying the changes in
vowel sounds from Spanish to English may take some time, but this survey provides a good start.
After the learners have written down all the names (including their own names), there are several
ways to process the information:
1. The teacher can pass out another blank list and ask learners to work in pairs or small groups
to alphabetize the first names and then to transcribe them again in alphabetical order. As the
teacher demonstrates the process using several examples, the learners are continuing to
memorize their classmates’ names at the same time they are working on the basic skill of
alphabetizing. Learners will be much more interested in this activity than if they were asked
to alphabetize a list of words that had no meaning for them.
2. As an alternative, the teacher and the class can work through the alphabetizing as a group
activity at the board or on an overhead or poster.
In the same class period or in the next class session, the teacher can demonstrate that she knows
everyone’s first name (a teacher needs to know all of the learners’ names and be able to pronounce
them by the end of the second or third class meeting). Then, teacher can ask for volunteers to see if
they can say each classmate’s name. This can be challenging, but several learners usually do
volunteer and successfully remember all the names. This is an important activity because it validates
skills that many literacy-level learners employ—careful observation and good memory. Follow-up
activities might include conducting the survey using the last names, often a slightly more difficult
task or reviewing questions in a line dialogue (page II–48).