„Let us...make the study of the art of question-asking one of the central disciplines in language education“(Postman 1979: 140).
In order to show how the importance of questions as part of classroom interaction, I try to evolve a scheme to present numerous types of questions and how they are being used by teacher and student. Depending on the didactic intention there are quite a number of different ways to classify a question. In order to give a general overview I decided to divide my classification into three main parts.
First I am going to give an explanation of the three different types of categorising questions and display what the respective central key points are. Then I explain the difference of questions being asked by the teacher or the student and how they are being used during class. The third section is a practical analysis of questions with the help of the data description followed by a short evaluation displaying whether my framework is useful in analysing the data or if the need of further specification is required. And finally I am going to give a brief summary and try to come to a conclusion.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Typology of classroom questions
2.1 Display and referential questions
2.2 Open and closed questions
2.3 Other terms of questions
3 Data
3.1 Data description
3.2 Data analysis
4 Discussion
5 Conclusion
6 References
Research Objectives and Focus
The primary objective of this work is to explore the significance of question-asking within classroom interaction by evolving a classification scheme for various question types and examining their practical application in a language learning context.
- Theoretical classification of display and referential questions.
- Distinction between open and closed question functions in a pedagogical setting.
- Analysis of meta-cognitive and content-based questioning techniques.
- Practical observation of teacher-student discourse dynamics.
- Evaluation of the role of questioning in supporting 'dialogic teaching'.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1 Display and referential questions
One of the most influential typologies is that which distinguishes between display and referential questions. The distinction between display and referential questions is based on the status of the information being sought (Dalton-Puffer 2007: 95). This means that in case of the display questions the teacher knows the answer and the student is supposed to know the answer as well. So basically this kind of questions serves to check the previous knowledge of the pupils or to test what they have already learned so far. In order to make it more concrete, I want to give an example of a classroom situation where the teacher asks a display question (Nunn 1999: 23): (To the teacher is referred to as T and to the student as S)
T: And then we know that Mr Archer came on his own before ... What does this house consist of? Tell me about this house. Yes, Mohammed.
S: It’s a villa with a large garden.
T: Yes…
Furthermore, Dalton-Puffer (2007) points out that display questions aim at putting a specific topic or point at “center stage”.
This aspect of putting a concept or item at “center stage” (Dalton-Puffer 2007) is also true for the second type of questions, the referential questions. But in contrast to the display questions, “referential questions request information not known by the questioner” (Brock 1986: 48). In other words the teacher asks something to which s/he does not know the answer. An example for a referential question would be: “What is your personal opinion towards the re-election of George W. Bush?”
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter establishes the theoretical importance of question-asking in language education and outlines the scope of the study's classification framework.
2 Typology of classroom questions: This section details various categories of questions, including display/referential and open/closed types, while discussing their didactic functions.
3 Data: This chapter provides the practical context of the study and analyzes specific examples of teacher-student interactions in a mining company language course.
4 Discussion: The author evaluates the utility of the proposed classification framework and its contribution to achieving the goals of 'dialogic teaching'.
5 Conclusion: This final section summarizes the challenges of categorizing classroom questions and reinforces the idea of questioning as a central teaching technique.
6 References: A list of academic sources and literature used to support the theoretical arguments throughout the work.
Keywords
Classroom interaction, language education, display questions, referential questions, open questions, closed questions, meta-cognitive questions, dialogic teaching, pedagogical discourse, teaching techniques, teacher-student communication, learning effect, question classification, second language acquisition, classroom methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this publication?
The work focuses on the art of questioning in the classroom, specifically analyzing how different question types are utilized by teachers and students to facilitate learning and dialogue.
What are the primary themes discussed?
Central themes include the distinction between display and referential questions, the functional difference between open and closed questions, and the application of these techniques to foster "dialogic teaching."
What is the research goal?
The main goal is to create a classification scheme for classroom questions and test its practical application to see if it aids in analyzing and improving pedagogical interaction.
Which methodology is employed?
The author uses a qualitative approach, combining a review of existing educational theory with a practical analysis of classroom data derived from an adult language course.
What is covered in the main body of the text?
The body chapters categorize various question types, describe the specific data set (an English course at a mining company), and provide a detailed analysis of how these questions function in real-world dialogue.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include classroom interaction, dialogic teaching, pedagogical discourse, display/referential questions, and language acquisition strategies.
How do display and referential questions differ in their function?
Display questions are used to check existing knowledge where the teacher already knows the answer, whereas referential questions ask for information the teacher does not know, often inviting more complex student input.
What did the author observe regarding language usage in the data?
The author noted that students often revert to their mother tongue when they encounter vocabulary limitations, but effective questioning techniques can motivate them to attempt complex responses in the second language.
- Citation du texte
- Michelle Becker (Auteur), 2009, Classroom questions, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/166424
