Teacher-Questioning in the English Classroom.doc

毕业论文（设计）Teacher-Questioning in the English Classroom in Junior Middle School1 Introduction22 Literature review32.1 Overview32.2 Definition of teacher-questioning42.3 Theoretical background of teacher-questioning52.3.1 Approach of Communicative Language Teaching52.3.2 Second Language Acquisition Theory52.3.3 Initiate-Respond Feedback Pattern72.4 The studies of teacher-questioning72.4.1 Reasons of teacher-questioning72.4.2 Functions of teacher-questioning82.4.3 Categorization of teacher-questioning in English classroom92.4.4 Wait time132.4.5 Related studies on Teacher Questioning142.5 Current status of teacher-questioning152.5.1 Unawareness of aims of questioning152.5.2 Teachers controllment on the right of questioning162.5.3 Inadequate wait time172.5. 4 Inadequate the distribution of teacher questioning172.5. 5 Improper feedback and assessment183 Teacher-questioning in English classroom in junior middle school183.1 Investigation of teacher-questioning in classroom193.1. 1 Subjects193. 1. 2 Instrument203. 1. 3 Procedures203. 1. 4 Method of analysis213. 1. 5Results and Discussions213. 1. 5.1 Teacher questioning types21Percentage21Display Questions22Referential Questions22Pseudo-referential22Questions22Count223.1. 5. 2 Wait-time233. 1. 5.3 A comparison between teacher questions in the two samples253. 1. 6 Implications for Language Teaching274 Conclusions29Notes32References331 IntroductionIn recent years, more and more people learn English from their teachers in the classroom. That is to say, classroom instruction is the main media of English learning. Learners are offered a lot of opportunities to study English in the classroom, so various kinds of interactions take place there. Among the various kinds of interactions, teacher questioning and student answering is the most important aspect. As a teaching strategy, the high incidence of questioning and its consequent potential for influencing student learning, have led many investigators to examine relationships between questioning methods and student achievement. Teachers questions also provide students with opportunities to find out what they think by what they say. Many researchers had already indicated that questioning is second only to lecturing in popularity as a teaching method and that classroom teachers spend anywhere from thirty-five to fifty percent of their instructional time conducting questioning sessions. “In second language classrooms, where learners often do not have a great number of tools,your questions provide necessary stepping stones to communication”(Brown,1994:165). At every stage in our education questioning is the core element in language acquisition. Questions are one of the most powerful tools that can be used to engage and enhance the mind. Questions influence the level of student thought and have the ability to cause further interactions. Skilful questioning can lead to more efficient and improved learning. Degarmo (Jin chuanbao 1997:57) states, “To question well is to teach well.” Gooding questioning can induce students rich language output, involve students in classroom activities, and promote interactions between students and teachers in the target language. A teacher poses questions that encourage students to think in a novice ways. Questions provide the opportunity to access students learning from text. Questions help teacher understand students ongoing and their cognitive development. Therefore, teachers should pose proper questions. These questions will promote students intelligence ability and stimulate students to participate classroom activities and promote the communication and cooperation between teacher and students. For this reason, it is so important to investigate the teacher questioning in junior level students. The thesis consists of four parts. The first part is a brief introduction of the whole study. The author states the importance of teacher questioning, objective and significance of the study. The second part is concerned with the literature review of teacher questioning. The third part of this thesis presents a study of teacher questioning in Junior Middle English classroom. In this essay, two samples of teacher questions were looked into to find out the types and distribution of teacher questions and the wait time. The main devices in this study are classroom observation. It was found that the experienced teacher was better at employing teacher questions for interaction than the novice teacher. The last part is the conclusion.2 Literature review2.1 OverviewAccording to Postman (1979:140), “All our knowledge results from questions.”At every stage in our education, questioning is the core element between the teacher and students in communication. Articles on the subject of classroom questioning often begin by invoking Socrates. According to researchers and other writers thesis, we know that questioning has a long and venerable history as an educational strategy. Nowadays, questioning is one of the most popular modes of teaching.2.2 Definition of teacher-questioningThe word questioning is from the Latin verb quaere which means to seek. Words acquire, inquire and require include the meaning to get something from others, so they have the same root with questioning. According to Longman Dictionary of language Teaching & Applied Linguistics, a question is “a sentence which is addressed to listener/reader and asks for an expression of fact, opinion, belief, etc”(Cited in Ganyan, 2006:1). According to Ur, “a question in the context of teaching may be best defined as a teacher utterance which has the objective of eliciting an oral response from the learners.”(Ur, 2000:229). Kissock and Iyortsuun (1982: 2) stated that “Questions are statements for which a reply is expected.” Borich (1988) once defined questioning as “verbal devices used to solicit responses from others.” Wilen defines a question as “a specialized sentence possessing an interrogative form of function. When raised by teachers, questions are instructional cues suggestion to students content elements to be learned and ways of learning or experiencing said content.”(Wilen, 1982, cited from Hunkins, 1995:32). “Learning is an outgrowth of the questions that students are asked and the better a teachers questions, the better a teachers teaching and a classs learning” (Dillon, 1988: ix).Comment: different writers hold different view on the definition of teacher questioning. The definitions vary in form, content, purpose and functions. All the definitions have their own advantage and disadvantages. I quite agree with the definition by Wilen. In classroom settings, a teacher question is that teachers use questions to prompt students to think and answer questions. Students can bring their own thoughts into expression through the answers, so teacher-questioning can be regarded as an interactive process.2.3 Theoretical background of teacher-questioning2.3.1 Approach of Communicative Language TeachingSince early 1970s, the approach of communicative language teaching has become more and more popular. One of its major principles is that students learn to use English to communicate, and the classroom interaction between the teacher and students is its marked characteristic. The effectiveness of this approach depends on the function of the teacher in classroom. The function of the teacher in classroom is mainly realized by the teachers talking. During the teachers talking, questioning is an important aspect.2.3.2 Second Language Acquisition TheoryClassroom interaction is the successful transmission of message between teachers and students. These messages are mainly transmitted through questions. Thus, questions are important in class organization and are essential in fostering classroom interaction. In other words, in the classroom, teacher questioning is an important part of interaction. Interaction is the key to second language learning acquisition. “In Second Language Learning, interaction seems to exist as the central feature. Interaction between teachers and students in inter-related with students language acquisition and can facilitate language learning.”(Xie chun-miao.2007:1). Learners are offered a lot of opportunities to study English in the classroom, so various kinds of interactions take place there. Allwright (1984:156) sees interaction as “the fundamental fact of classroom pedagogy” because “everything that happens in the classroom happens through a process of live person-to-person interaction.” Classroom is a place for researchers to observe and describe the interaction events. They could understand how learning opportunities are created in a classroom. Classroom is also a place for researchers to demonstrate the effects of different types of interaction opportunity when people learn English. Classroom interaction proves to be of vital importance, because learners can learn the language through interaction. “As is known that almost classroom interaction is done by both teachers asking questions and students answering them. Studies of teacher-questioning behavior show that questions constitute 20 to 40% of classroom talk” (Chaudron, 1988). In most English classrooms, teacher-questioning plays a major role in classroom interaction. “A study of English lessons in schools in Hong Kong found that nearly 70% of classroom talk consists of the teacher asking a question, nominating a student to answer the question, the student answering the question and the teacher providing feedback to the response” (Tsui, 1985).Therefore, questions are the very important aspect of classroom interaction.2.3.3 Initiate-Respond Feedback Pattern Questioning is prominent in present-day classroom, and it occurs most often in the Initiate-Respond-Feedback (IRF) sequence. The IRF form describes classroom practice in which teachers Initiate classroom talk by asking questions, students Respond to the questions, and then the teacher Feedback students response(Cazden,1986;Mehan,1979).Following is an example of the IRF form:Initiate (teacher): When in the National Day?Respond (student):Octbor.1Feedback (teacher): Right.IRF form often focuses on “known answer” questions. It is regarded as a means to access student knowledge. Xie Chun-miao (2007) states in her research, the initiation from the teacher serves as the input of the target language, students performance in the language is the output of language and feedback from the teacher enhances learners acquisition of language.2.4 The studies of teacher-questioning 2.4.1 Reasons of teacher-questioningEffective questioning is one of the most important skills when teachers give lessons. It is found that teacher put up many questions; they also realize the reasons of questioning. Teacher use questioning during a class to stimulate thinking, assess student progress, check on teacher clarity, emphasize key points, and many more things. The act of asking questions has the potential to greatly facilitate the learning process and foster teacher-student in interaction if done correctly. In this essay, the following reasons of teacher-questioning will be studies. (Ur, 2000:229): (1) To let learners present information like facts, ideas and opinions.(2) To make examinations about learners “understanding, knowledge or skills”.(3) To engage learners actively in participating in their learning.(4) “To stimulate thinking (logical, reflective or imaginative); to probe more deeply into issues.”(5) “To get learners to review and practice previously learnt materials.”2.4.2 Functions of teacher-questioningTeacher use question to develop interest and motivate students to become actively involved in lessons. Teacher can gain teaching information from students answers so that teacher knows their learning difficulties. Questioning can stimulate students to pursue knowledge on their own. They can be used to allow the learners to keep participating in the discourse and even modify it so that the language used becomes more comprehensible and personally relevant.” (Richards and Lockhart 1996:185). According to Kauchak and Eggen (1989:104), these functions can be divided into three areas: diagnostic, instructional and motivational. “As a diagnostic tool, classroom questions allow the teacher to glimpse into the minds of students to find out not only what they know or dont know but also how they think about a topic”(Ibid). “The structure of students existing knowledge is a powerful determinant of whether and how novice information will be learned and that often students misconceptions and prior beliefs interfere with the learning of novice materials” (Mayer, 1987; Cornbleth, 1985; Champagne et al., 1980). So the teacher can examine students knowledge through questioning.Ellis (1994) consider that teacher questioning provide students with opportunities to use target language and find out what they think by what they say. Questioning helps students to learn novice knowledge and integrate old knowledge, which is the instructional function. Questioning makes students explain their thinking. Once ideas are under discussion, it enables correct language to be used to talk. Teacher sometimes stopped periodically to ask questions to ensure that the students were on task. Besides, questioning serves as a way of maintaining discipline and develops an appropriate study environment. As for motivational function, the teacher can involve students actively in the lesson by questioning, encouraging students to think and raise problems. Questioning stimulates students to think. When teachers ask questions, students are encouraged to master knowledge to form their answers.2.4.3 Categorization of teacher-questioning in English classroomThere are many different ways to categorize questions, all of which have both advantages and disadvantages. Different scholars make categorization of questions from different perspectives. In one of the earliest, Barnes (1969, 1976) divides questions into four types:1) Factual questions (“What?”), 2) Reasoning questions (“How?” and “Why?”), 3) Open questions (questions that do not require any reasoning), 4) Social questions (questions that influence students behavior). Following Barnes, other scholars enrich the categorization of questions. Long and Stato (cited in Ganyan, 2006:11) divides questions into three types: 1) Display questions: teacher already knows the answers.2) Referential questions: those to which the questioner does not already know the answer.3) Pseudo-referential questions: those to which the questioner does not already know the answer, but is still testing the students knowledge of a specific point. According to Hargies (1981), questions can be classified into the recall/process questions and the closed/open questions.(1) Recall and process questionsRecall questions largely focus on the retrieval of knowledge, i.e. peoples recollection of previous experience or knowledge. The answer to a recall question is particular information that has been learnt by the respondent, whether it is correct or not. E.g. whats the main ideal of the passage? Recall question help students review knowledge. It will improve students abilities to organize their own learning. Learners do not need to apply their high cognitive capacity.Process questions ask students to explain the procedures, for example, “Could you tell me how to go to ” In process questioning, the teacher can ask learners to make a decision, to voice out their opinions. Therefore, learners exploit their reasoning skills, judging skills as well as higher mental competence and more time on questions may be required.(2) Closed and open questionsClosed and open questions are the most frequent types and are easily identified. There are some distinctions between closed question and open question. Closed questions are often with only one acceptable answer, or answers in a few words or a short sentence. Cole and Chan state(1994:176), “Closed questions encourage convergent thinking and allow only a narrow range of prescribed responsesThese kinds questions demand specific and unambiguous responses. Open questions stress divergent or creative thinking and allow a wide range of acceptable responsesThese kinds of questions do not haverightand wronganswers in the way that closed questions do” (1994:176). Closed questions can be subdivided into three types:a. Selection questions. E.g. “Which subjects do you like best, Chinese or English?” b. YES/NO questions. E.g. “Do you come from England?”c. Identification questions. E.g. “What time do you go to school?” Open questions are for the respondent to provide all possible answers to the questions. Open question is for checking students understanding of knowledge or skills. There are several advantages while teachers ask open questions. First, open questions can help students participate actively in learning English. Second, open questions also offer opportunities for teachers to know students background. Besides, if the students know they would be asked to answer questions, they would increase their attention in class. The two basic types of open questions are description questions and comparison questions. For example, “What were you doing at 4:30 p.m. yesterday?” which is an open question.According to Blooms (cited from Ganyan, 2006) famous work, the “Taxonomy of Educational Objectives,” (1956), questions are categorized into six levels, ranging from knowledge level to the evaluation level.1) Knowledge: Ask pupils to remember information they have previously learned.2) Comprehension: Ask pupils to express ideas in their own words or to interpret the major elements in a piece of writing to make them more accessible to himself or someone else