What is an interview?

In an interview, an interviewer asks probing questions of an interviewee. The aim is to find out about them, or about something they do, or have achieved, for example. Another type of more formal interview might be to do with work, such as for a job, or being called as a witness to an incident. The person being interviewed is often a public figure, or has insight or knowledge about a topic that the audience or the interviewer will find interesting or useful. The interview might want to extract the interviewee’s strong and weak points, opinions and experiences. The questions might be challenging, requiring the interviewee to explain him or herself.

The interviewer prepares questions that will draw out interesting information. The interviewer also allows for new questions that might come up due to how the interviewee responds. Depending on the situation, the interviewee may have seen the questions before and researched answers. However, the answers are not pre-written or learned or read.

The questions and answers are presented as a dialogue, in a set format (see below).

What are some of the features of an interview?

In printed text, the context of the interview will be presented. In an examination or test, the question will supply this. For example, it might explain that this is an interview by a police officer to do with an incident the interviewee witnessed.

  • The kind of language, or register (informal, semi formal, or formal) depends on the situation and the person being interviewed.
  • The questions must be carefully thought out, clearly expressed, and logically ordered to build up a picture of the person and/or their ideas. They must be open-ended questions. This means they invite a full answer. Only rarely will an interviewer use a closed question that only requires a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.
  • You follow a set format, with answer following question
  • You write about 150 words.
  • In exams at senior phase you are usually marked out of 30 like this: Content, planning and format (18 marks); Language, style and editing (12 marks). These categories tell you what you need to think about, and for example, that you must show you have planned and edited properly, using process writing.

 

The layout of an interview

You must use a set layout:

 

  • Put the name, title or designation of the speaker on the left side of the page, followed by a colon (:).
  • Begin the questions or answers with a capital letter. Leave one space between the colon and the answer or question.
  • Use a new line to indicate each speaker, preferably with a line space between them.
  • Note that you do NOT use inverted commas to show the direct speech. All the speech is direct, meaning the actual words said or written.

 

Examples of examination questions

Here are some examples of questions, including from past examinations:

 

  • Write an interview between the editor of the school magazine and a former learner who has achieved great success. Give a context at the beginning of the interview.
  • Write an interview between a police officer and learner, relating to a violent incident at a school.
  • Write an interview between the school magazine editor and a newly elected Chairperson of the school Student Representative Council.
  • Write an interview between a learner and an elder in the community. It must relate to how schooling has changed.

 

How to plan an interview

Check on the length of transactional piece required for your grade. Most longer pieces, such as interviews, are between 100 – 160 words.

Plan your content like this:

 

  • Think about the aim of the interview: what is the interviewer trying to draw out of the interviewee?
  • Decide on the right tone and register for the situation.
  • Use three to five logically-ordered question and answers.
  • Plan what natural sounding dialogue to use that gives opinions and shows emotions.

 

Should you choose an interview question in an exam?

Only choose this topic if you have several points to ask about the given topic and are familiar with it. You need to imagine the scenario and write authentic (real) sounding first person dialogue. So, if you have no experience of ‘a violent incident’ do not attempt that. If you know nothing about ‘our school in the past’ do not attempt that.