An Analysis of Teacher Questioning from the Perspective of Speech Act Theory—Based on a Demonstration Lesson

刘斌　何昆仑

【Abstract】There is no doubt that teacher questioning is one of the most crucial components in English classroom teaching.It is an essential and effective channel for teachers to interact and communicate with students.More importantly， it plays an extremely part in inspiring students to think critically and fostering their problem-solving capabilities.Given that teacher questioning is so significant in English classroom teaching， the present paper will make an analysis of teacher questioning from the perspective of speech act theory with an aim to giving some constructive pedagogic implications to English teachers.

【Key words】Speech act； teacher questioning

1.Introduction

It is well-known that classical Greek philosopher Socrates proposed a world-famous teaching method titled “Socratic method” which is a form of inquiry and discussion between individuals based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas.Besides， It is specially mentioned by scholars that teacher questioning makes a magnificent difference in the cultivation of students communicative competence， such scholars as Xufang （2006）， Huo Lina （2013） etc.It is safe to say that communicative competence， to a large extent， is more important and useful than linguistic knowledge.Nevertheless， not much importance has been attached to communicative competence in English classroom teaching.The speech act theory proposed by Austin and developed by Searle can serve as a theoretical foundation for the fostering of students communicative competence.Hence， in the following sections， the present study will present an introduction to speech act theory， and then make an in-depth analysis of the teachers questions and his comments on students responses based on a transcript of open class clip with an attempt to explore the characteristics of the teachers speech act.

2.Speech Act Theory

It is claimed that the British philosopher John Langshaw Austin （1962） firstly came up with Speech Act Theory which provides philosophical insights into the nature of linguistic communication.He elaborated the Speech Act Theory in a lecture named “How to Do Things with Words？” in 1955 at Harvard University.He held that we perform actions when we speak.Meanwhile， he assumed that sentences can be divided into performative sentences and constative sentences.The former refers to those sentences which perform certain actions while the latter is mainly concerned with the description of facts.For instance， “I apologize”， the speaker makes such an utterance so as to perform the action “apologize”； while in such utterance as “I am watching TV”， and the speaker just wants to emphasize the fact that “He is watching TV”.Later on， Austin further claimed that three speech acts might be implemented when a speaker makes speeches which are locutionary act， illocutionary act and perlocutionary act respectively （Austin， 2007： 94-101）.A locutionary act refers to utterance itself and its literal meaning.An illocutionary act is the act of implying the speakers communicative intentions or giving implications beyond the lines.A perlocutionary act is concerned with the effect or results generated by the utterance.

A distinguished linguist John Searle （1969） developed Austins speech act theory.Searle argues that there are still a lot to be desired about Austins speech act theory.Searle assumes that Austin pays too much attention to direct speech while ignoring indirect speech.Hence， one of the most important contributions Searle has made is his indirect speech act theory.Searle insists that a distinguish can be made between a sentences literal meaning and the implications beyond the lines， namely the speakers intentions， which is the benchmark for Searle to divide speech acts into two categories： direct speech act and indirect speech act.As is mentioned above， speech act theory is a fairy appropriate theoretical foundation for the analysis of teacher talk， especially for teacher questioning.Therefore， in the following section， the present paper will focus on the analysis of teacher questioning based on speech act theory.Besides， it should be clarified that the corpus used in this paper comes from the transcript of a demonstration class video footage.

3.An Analysis of Teacher Questioning

The paper summarizes the following characteristics and features of the teachers questioning through a profound analysis of the transcript： First and foremost， more divergent questions can be seen than convergent questions.For instance， such divergent questions as “What is the major security problems on campus？”， “What can be done to better the situation？” etc.Of course， there also exist some convergent questions as “Can you put the sentence into Chinese？”， “Now whats the meaning of carbon dioxide？” Secondly， the teacher tends to repeat the students responses to express his intention that he has already understood what the students mean or confirm the responses with “all right”.For example：

（1）T： What is responsible for the over air pollution？ What is the best way to reduce air pollution？ Ok， you please！

S： I think the government should fix a rule of the emission.

T： How to？ An emission rule

S： No， not exactly， and settling equipment or device

T： OK！ There is sophisticated equipment or devices， all right！

（2）T： OK， sit down please， all right！ So it can be called modern library.OK， go on.Do you believe in afterlife？ OK， you please！

S： I dont believe it.

T： Oh， you dont believe in afterlife， sit down please， all right！

Thirdly， such words as “OK”， “now”， “all right” which serve as topic or sentence starters can be frequently seen in the transcript.The teacher use these words and phrases to express his intention that he would like to start another topic and remind students of the upcoming topic， which is the indirect speech act proposed by Searle.For instance：

（3）T： Never enter into woods.Why？

S： Because there are some trees in the woods.I think something dangerous may happen.

T： OK， very good！ Thank you very much！ Now any other tips？ Ok， you please！

Fourthly， it can be easily noticed in the transcript that such imperative sentences as “OK or now you please”， “Lets go/move on”， “sit down please”， “Think it over” etc.are frequently used by the teacher to give commands to students.This is the vivid case of what Austin said “We perform actions when we speak”.Last but not the least， the teacher tends to provide such positive and monotonous feedbacks as “Very good”， “OK， very good”， “Yes/Yeah， very good” which are too mechanic and general for students.Take a look at the following examples：

（4）T： Now the third part is we called the conclusion.Now you please！ From where to where？

S： Paragraph sixteen to nineteen.

T： Paragraph sixteen to nineteen.Now what is the main idea of this part？

S： Locking thieves out.

T： Yeah， very good！ By locking thieves out， we become prisoners of our own maybe.

（5）T： OK， very good！ Thank you very much！ Now any other tips？ Ok， you please！

S： Maybe you can show off your Gongfu

T： OK， very good！ To learn Gongfu， Chinese Gongfu.All right！ Thank you very much！

4.Conclusion

The present paper is mainly concerned with an analysis of teacher questioning from the perspective of speech act theory.At the very beginning， it introduces the important role teacher questioning plays in English classroom teaching， and then it deals with speech act theory briefly.Eventually， the characteristics of the teachers questioning are listed with specific examples from the transcript of an open class video clip.

Reference：

[1]Austin J.How to Do Things with Words[M].Cambridge： Cambridge University Press，1962.

[2]Searle J.Speech Acts[M].Cambridge： Cambridge University Press，1969.

[3]霍俐娜.言语行为理论在交际法外语教学的运用[J].教学实践研究，2013（2），211-212.

[4]许芳.言语行为理论与外语教学[J].长沙铁道学院学报， 2006（2），216-217.