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Guide > Core: The Modules > Introduction: Analysing the questionnaires

ANALYZING QUESTIONNAIRE 1: WORD ASSOCIATIONS

Assignment before class
Once the answers to questionnaire 1 are posted on the Web, tell your students to go to the site and choose three words from the list (students do not need to look at every word) and to print them. Note: it is much easier and much better for students to work with printed material. Students should also bring to class the printed copy of the three words they have selected. Task for students: Tell them to:

• look up in their dictionary or on an on-line dictionary the meaning of words or references they don't understand.
• compare the American and French responses, for each of the words they have selected: are they similar or not? What words appear more frequently on one side and on the other? What words appear only on one side and not on the other, etc...Do these words generate positive, negative or neutral associations on both sides, etc..

Give students sufficient time.

1. Work on language (this can be done either at the beginning or the end of the class)
   The following example is based upon the Fall 99 answers to the word association "individualisme/individualism" (look at the Archives))
2. Work on vocabulary
   Ask students to say aloud words they don't understand and see if another student can provide the answer (either a translation or an explanation in French, depending on the level of your students and/or your own wishes). Elaborate if necessary. If students have not been able to find the meaning of a word or a reference, either tell them or ask them to send a query on the forum later.
3. Work on grammar
   Work on nouns and adjectives (one possibility among others).
   Print from the Web (ahead of time) the responses to one word association (ex: individualism) and distribute them to all students. You can ask students - in groups - to:
   
   • separate the nouns from the adjectives and make a list of each.
   • connect the adjectives and the corresponding nouns (if they appear . Ex: "seul" and "solitude")
   • provide all the corresponding nouns and/or adjectives which do not appear (ex: individualisme and individualiste or vice and versa)
   • group the nouns by similar endings: ex: -- isme; -- ité; ---ude; --ion, etc...
   • have them provide other words that end with those endings (ex:
   • have them guess the gender and create general rules (ex: words ending in "--- ité" are always feminine; have them provide others (ex: égalité; fraternité; beauté, etc...
   • If there are spelling or grammar mistakes made by the French, tell them to look for them.
4. Work on content
   • Ask students to find 1 or 2 other partners who have worked on the same word or words and share their findings: did they make similar observations? After students have worked together on one word for a while, ask them to work on another word: they will automatically change partners.
   • Ask students to now group themselves with other students (3 or 4 per group) who have worked on a different word (any word) and share their observations. In one group, there will be, for instance, one student who has worked on "individualism", another on "authority", another one on "success". Students share with each other what they have observed about one of their words and the others will say whether they saw any correlation or similarities across these different words (ex: more abstract words on one side; similar concepts emerging, etc...)
   • Reunite the class as a whole and ask groups to share their observations with the rest of the class.
   • At the end of the class, tell students to then post their observations on the forums. Tell them these observations can be their own or can summarize what they, as a group or the class as a whole, saw and discovered.
   You may also have a discussion on how a word might be construed as "positive", "negative" or "neutral".