How to Find Out What Your English-Foreign-Language Students (EFL) Students REALLY Want to Do in Class

Sometimes I can tell during my EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classes that when one student is yapping on about something, several of the other students appear bored. The problem is: how many are bored and how many are still interested?

Or some of the students want to concentrate on grammar while others want to only speak. In my class the majority rules, but how do you find out who the majority is?

Almost inevitably EFL students--like any group of people--will often not show their true feelings or opinions in front of other students for fear of being chided in some way. If you directly ask if they want to do this thing or another thing, most shrug their shoulders or say they don't care. But believe me, they do care.

And how do I know? By using what I call the blind vote.

What is the Blind Vote?
The blind vote is a simple way of finding out what each student wants to do in a situation with no other students finding out. I ask the students to close their eyes and then raise their hands in answer to a question. You would be surprised at the number of students who say they don't care whether or not we do something--like cover grammar--who really do want to do it when they know no other students see which way they vote.

When do you Use the Blind Vote?
Use the blind vote when you feel that some students clearly do not want to continue with what's going on in class. Usually it's when one student is dominating the conversation, the class is covering a controversial topic that may be making some students uncomfortable or there's a chance to cover something that some students may want to do but are afraid to vocalize it.

How to do the Blind Vote
I find most students are intrigued by the blind vote. Take the following steps:

1. Announce that we will do a blind vote on the topic.
2. Ask the students to close their eyes.
3. Some will feel or act silly and not close their eyes.
4. Be fun but firm and tell them they must close their eyes. Eventually, even the most resistant student usually does close his/her eyes.
5. Quickly ask the question and ask for students to hold up their hands high.
6. Count the votes and decide which way to go. (If it's a sensitive issue, I will curtail the conversation even if only one student doesn't want to do it; if it's a matter of a choice of what to do next, I'll go with the majority of votes.)
7. Tell students to open their eyes and give them the results.

The blind vote is a simple, anonymous way to find out what students really want--or don't want--to do in class. The only thing you need is for the students to trust you.