Notes for Instructors

Successful interview projects have been carried out with school children at the grade two level. Collecting information by doing interviews has also proven to be a good way to motivate reluctant learners in high school. For the adult learner, a project based on interviews may seem more immediate, and less intimidating, than book-based learning. Yet the challenge of creating a list of questions, doing the interview, processing the tapes and creating a booklet or display will call many basic language skills into play.

An interview project may be carried out by classes working as a group, in pairs, or as individuals. The topic should be simple and focused. Even if students are to work alone, it is a good idea to brainstorm to develop a common list of topics or questions, and have students practice using the tape recorders and doing interviews together before they set out to do actual interviews. It is often good for students to begin by interviewing family members or acquaintances, especially if self-confidence is an issue. For a more detailed look at interview-based projects and how to design them, see The Voice of the Past: Oral History, Paul Thompson, (Oxford University Press, 1978). Thompson gives examples of simple, successful projects, detailed instructions on interviewing and sample questions on many topics related to everyday life.

For students in St. John's who are interested in the idea of learning from interviews, it may be worthwhile to arrange a field trip to the Folklore and Language Archive at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Contact Philip Hiscock at 737-8401.

Interviews are everywhere in our mass media. You may wish to have students look at interviews in newspapers and magazines and on TV. In media interviews, the interviewer will often lead the person being interviewed to say something that fits the "angle" of the news story. Sometimes, interviews seem designed to provoke a certain emotional response as well. Understanding this is a part of "media literacy." You may ask your students to study the interviews they see on the news, and try to decide what the interviewer was trying to accomplish.