Survey projects are always a favourite because it means the students can leave the class to go out and find their data. There are infinite topics for surveys and questionnaires so put the class into groups and let them decide what they would like to survey. Give them some examples such as restaurants, entertainment, local people, and foreigners’ perception of the country.

Ensure that your students have discussed and written out their questions (usually at least 10) relevant to their survey. Once they have been corrected send them out for an hour to research their topic or to ask people.

When they are happy with the material they have collected, they can then decide how to present their information, as graphs, paragraphs, pamphlet or poster. At the end of the activity, all groups will have to present their findings to the class and discussions can be started according to the topics.

I always like to keep the best examples of previous students’ work in my classroom to show my new groups. It gives them an idea of what level of work is expected from them and gives them something to try and improve on. These projects have worked well as a finale for a departing class or as a breather when there was just no time to prepare a lesson!