French IV Survey 1989-2005 

When the faculty at Price Laboratory School began preparations for updating the curriculum in the fall of 1996, the teachers of French decided to do a survey of former French IV students.  They were interested in knowing how many had continued with their study of French as well as finding out how prepared they were for studying French at the university level.

A questionnaire was created and mailed to the parents of the French students in the month of December.  The students would most likely be home at some point during the Christmas holidays to receive the letter.  This was at a time prior to email correspondence, so a parents’ address and telephone number were easily accessible from a phone book.  

The mailed questionnaire was sent to the French IV students from the graduating classes of 1989-1995. Thirty-nine students responded to the 63 questionnaires that were sent out.  With the advent of email and Facebook, students from the classes of 1996-2005 were contacted via those mediums to complete the questionnaire, with some responses added years later.

All the students were asked to respond to the following questions:

1.  Have you studied any French beyond your high school studies?  If so, how much, and at which institution?

2.  Have you traveled in a French-speaking part of the world?  If so, where, when, and how long?

3.  Have you had the occasion to use French in your studies or work?  If so, how, and where?

4.  Do your future plans include any study or travel to a French-speaking part of the world?  If so, when, and where? 

5.  Any other comments that you would like to make about your preparation for college?  In other words, were you well-prepared or not?  How could we have prepared you better for your studies?  Please be specific.

Here is a summary of the responses received. The last question was the most helpful in determining curriculum planning for the future.

Analysis of French Survey

One hundred sixty-one students responded to the survey. More than half of them indicated they took French in college. Of those about half majored in French and the other half minored in French.

Six students studied abroad in France. Others reported they did graduate study in Paris, studied in Tahiti, became an International Business major in French, became an English assistant in France after college and one received a French Certificate.

Did they feel they were well prepared for studying French in College? Here are some responses:

Steve (Class of 1991)

“I was extremely well prepared. My language abilities were vastly superior to 99% of the students that I encountered in the French department at UNI.”

Jeff  (Class of 1992)

“My preparation for French was amazing, therefore my college classes were very easy. My speaking was far superior to others in all classes. I was much more confident speaking French in class than other students. This comes from the rule that we always had to speak French in the classroom. My first two college classes did not require 100% French speaking. This became annoying to me, because I felt like people were copping out of a basic principle of learning. My reading and writing were below average in high school, but above average in college. I was even helping others in class. French classes were some of the hardest classes I took in high school, but I learned the most from them. French classes were the ones that gave me the most ideas of what college is about. CONCLUSION: French IV was the best class in the school as far as subject matter learned, and preparation for future education.”

Dan (Class of 1993)

“I was recently asked what part of France I was from. A compliment to my ability and to NU.” 

You can explore the full survey data at this link: French IV Survey