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How to make questioning more efficient

Abstract： Questioning is used by all teachers in class and its an important method to promote efficiency of teaching. Good questions can arouse students learning interest. This article provides three useful ways of questioning to discuss.

Key Words： questioning， concept checking，

different right answers

Questioning is a very important teaching method in class， especially in English class. Teachers often use questioning to help students to get information and deal with them， make students understand the passage further， even make them express their own opinions. Students improve their thinking and speaking by answering questions.

Enistein ever said “Asking a good question is more important than answering a question.” From it we know the importance of questioning. As a teacher we often ask all sorts of questions in class， but have you ever thought about these questions that are suitable or effective？ Here are some ways that maybe help you make your questions efficient.

1. Concept checking

When I first started teaching English， I often asked Ss “Do you understand？” or “Have you got it？” or other similar questions. But after a long experienced time， I found this kind of questions useless and nonsense. It was a big mistake. Ss in the classroom will always answer with a choral “Yes” when asked by a teacher， “Do you understand？” Even though Ss havent understood， they will lie and tell you that they have. So now when I introduced some new language or skills， I try to avoid asking such stupid questions， I often ask Ss closed questions requiring a simple “Yes” or “No” answer

For example： Mary： Bob， you should stay in bed.

When teaching the modal auxiliary should for giving advice， I will usually ask the following concept questions：

1） Is Bob in bed now？

2） Is Bob sick？

3） Does Mary think it is okay for Bob to stay in bed？

4） Does Mary want Bob to get some rest？

Another example： Its too heavy to carry.

I can give the following concept questions：

1） Is it heavy？

2） Can you carry it？

3） Why not？

Remember， our concept checks are not really meant to trick or fool Ss but for them to just demonstrate that they have understood the new language or skill. Hopefully teachers can avoid asking “Do you understand？” and have fun concept checking.

How to make concept questions：

First reduce the target structure to a number of simple statements （usually two or three） which describe the meaning of that structure.

Then turn those statements into questions， and ask the students.

Remember， when you are constructing concept questions， the target structure must not appear in the concept questions. For example， the concept for “Ive lived here for three years” is not “have you lived here for three years？” or “how long have you lived here？” You cant check that a student understands a structure with a question that includes that structure.

2. Different right answers

In English class， its very important for students to think and speak. “Different right answers” is a strategy to extend thinking and improve student learning.

Allowing for different right answers is the opposite of insisting on the questions that require one right answer， such as “How many legs are there on a spider？” When students hear an acceptable answer， brains shut down. When one student answers this question， other students may not think about it further. They think thats probably the answer. This kind of questions stifles students thinking. So teachers can engage the whole group in looking for answers by asking， ‘What is an aspect of spiders to you？” or “How are spiders different from other insects？” Teachers encourage all students to contribute their ideas when you respond to answers with a nurturing nod， a paraphrase of the answer， and the challenge， “Who has a different answer？” These questions give students the opportunity to be experts and to share their knowledge.

The advantages of ‘Different right answers

（1） Different right answers enhance creativity by encouraging fluency and flexibility of thought. This means that a variety of ideas is offered； more possibilities are considered. Creativity flourishes when children are free from the fear of being wrong.

（2） Different right answers enhance students self-esteem when they realize that they are valuable members of the group. Students feel proud when the teacher and classmates learn from them.

（3） Different right answers help students become cooperative problem solvers. They develop the talent of looking for more than one solution， and they learn to look to each other for supportive ideas and alternate points of view.

So ‘Different right answer is a good way that may work for you， especially in English class. Teachers should think of more questions that require different right answers. And students also enjoy this kind of questions.

3. Self-check questions

In class， its very common that teachers always ask questions and students answer them. Sometimes students may feel bored because they are so familiar with teachers that they even know what kind of questions teachers are able to ask. After teaching Go for it several years， I find there are some easy passages that are interesting and are easy to understand. For this kind of passage its not necessary for teachers to ask questions. So I change the way that teachers always ask questions， instead let students ask questions by themselves， and they pick out the classmate to answer the questions. I call it Self-check questions. In fact this way is suitable for students in Junior 8 and 9.Because they have learned English at least for one or two years， and have mastered some basic language knowledge. They really have the ability to ask questions. And the questions they ask are often some descriptive question. That means the answers to these questions can be found directly from the reading material. The descriptive questions that emphasize on students comprehension are always some wh-questions， such as “What does it look like？ How is it？ Where…？ When…？ Who…？ How long…？” Students can answer these questions using the word or sentence in the reading material.

The advantages of ‘Self-check questions

（1） It helps to enhance students self-learning. If students want to ask questions， first they should try to understand the passage， then they should think about how to ask questions.

（2） It changes the role of teachers and students. Students control the class， and they play an important part like teachers in class， teachers only are listeners that give some help when necessary. Students get more time and chance to think and speak.

（3） It makes class more active. Students are so interested in asking the questions that they would like. Students who ask questions are enjoying the feeling of success， especially when other students think questions difficult.

References：

1.《新課程課堂教學技能與學科教學—初中英語》

2.MPI-Bell Centre of English

3. Teachers Talk