QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

Dear colleague teachers,

This questionnaire aims at collecting data for the study entitled “Perceptions of English teachers at
SAS language center towards teaching weak forms in listening comprehension”.
Please read the instructions carefully before answering the questions. Your answers are very
important for the success of the study. All of them are kept confidentially and used for research purposes
only.
Thank you very much for your participation.
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PART 1. PERSONAL INFORMATION

Please put a tick in the box  or fill in the blank

1. Gender: Male  Female 
2. Age: 18-25 26-40  Over 40 
3. How long have you been teaching English? _______ years

PART 2. YOUR PERCEPTIONS OF WEAK FORMS IN LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Please put a tick in the box  or fill in the blank

4. In your opinion, what are the causes of learner’s difficulties in listening comprehension?
(You can choose MORE than one answer)
Vocabulary size 
Grammar 
Pronunciation 
Topics 
Speakers’ speed 
Weak forms 
Others (please specify): ________________________________________ 
5. How well do you know about English weak forms?
Very well  Fairly well  Neutral  Not very well  Not well at all 
6. To what extent do you agree with the following statements about weak forms?
(1=strongly agree, 2=agree, 3=neutral, 4=disagree, 5=strongly disagree)
To what extent do you agree with the following statements about weak forms? 1 2 3 4 5

6.1. Weak forms are essential features of English pronunciation.

6.2. Weak forms are syllable sounds that become unstressed in connected speech and are
often then pronounced as a schwa.

6.3. Weak forms are function words (do not have a dictionary meaning in the way that we
normally expect nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs to have.)

6.4. Learning weak forms will help improve learners’ listening skills.

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6.5. Learning weak forms will help learners avoid misunderstandings in listening
comprehension.

6.6. Failure on weak forms will affect learners’ English listening comprehension.

PART 3. YOUR PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHING WEAK FORMS IN LISTENING

COMPREHENSION

Please put a tick in the box  or fill in the blank

7. Which of the following description best describes your reality of teaching weak forms in listening
comprehension?
I have taught weak forms in my class 
I have addressed weak forms in my class when they have come up in context 
I have addressed weak forms with respect to student’s pronunciation 
I have addressed weak forms with respect to student’s listening comprehension 
I have never taught weak forms in my class 
8. Which of the following weak forms have you known so far?
(You can choose MORE than one answer)
The ə vowel (“schwa”)

For example: ‘forget’ ➔ /fəˈget/
Close front (ɪː ɪ) and close back (uː ʊ) vowels

For example: ‘easy’ ➔ /ˈi:zi/; 'to' ➔ /tʊ/
Syllabic consonants (l̩ m̩ n̩ ŋ̩ r̩)
For example: ‘cattle’ ➔ /ˈkaetl̩ /; ‘threaten’ ➔ /ˈθretn̩/; ‘uppermost’ ➔ 
/ʌpm̩əʊst/ ;‘thicken’ ➔ /ˈθikŋ̩/; ‘Hungary’ ➔ /ˈhʌŋgr̩i/
Not any weak forms mentioned above 

Please put a tick  for answering question 9 and 10

Not important all all
Not very important
Fairly important
Very important

Neutral

PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHING WEAK FORMS IN

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

9. How important do you find the role of weak forms in spoken

English?

10. How important do you consider weak forms as an important

element in teaching listening comprehension?

11. How helpful do you feel weak forms instruction might be for learners’ listening comprehension?

Very helpful Fairly helpful Neutral Not very helpful Not helpful at all
    

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 12. In any given class session (for example 45-minute class period), how much time do you think that
you will use for weak forms instruction?

0-25% 25-50% 50-75% 75-100%

   

PART 4. FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN DECIDING TO TEACH ENGLISH WEAK FORMS

IN LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN EFL CLASSROOM

Please put a tick  the box  or fill in the blank

13. In the following, what factors do you consider in teaching English weak forms in listening
comprehension? (You can choose MORE than one answer)
Time available in the course 
Less of a need from learners 
Lack of available materials for teaching weak forms 
Not being included in the curriculum 
The complication of weak forms 
Lack of experience in teaching weak forms 
Others (please specify): ________________________________________ 

14. Would you like to apply weak forms instruction in your EFL classroom in the future?
Yes 
Neutral 
No 
15. Do you have any suggestions for teaching weak forms in listening comprehension effectively in the
future?
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(Please check if you have left out any questions)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRECIOUS CONTRIBUTION!