Research on the Questioning Strategies in the Inquiry—based Learning Class

Abstract：Inquiry-based learning is a new kind of teaching method. Teachers questioning is a very significant part of inquiry-based classroom teaching； it is an essential activity in English class. In order to pose questions successfully in classroom， teachers must master the art of questioning. This article studies the roles， types， strategies and the like of questioning in English class.

Key words：inquiry-based learning； teachers questioning； strategies

中图分类号：H319 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1672-1578（2015）09-0002-03

1 Introduction

Not everybody has the opportunity to go abroad to further their English study. At present， most English learners learn the target language from their teacher in the classroom， that is to say， classroom interaction is their main language environment. Classroom is a place where interactions of various kinds take place， giving the English learners chance to put the theory into practice. As we all know， most classroom interaction is done by both teachers asking questions and students answering them. Questions are very important aspects of classroom interaction. They will bring the students activity into full play， exploring their learning potential and stimulating their study interest. So if we pay more attention to teachers questioning behaviors， classroom interaction is likely to be enhanced.

2 Questioning in inquiry-based English class

Inquiry-based learning is a term used to describe approaches to learning that are based on a process of self-directed inquiry or research. Students conduct small or large-scale inquiries that enable them to engage actively and creatively with the questions and problems of their discipline， often in collaboration with others.

2.1 The importance of questioning in English class

Nowadays， the main purpose of English teaching is to teach the students how to learn English and how to make full use of English， and in the meanwhile to cultivate the students ability in cross-culture communication. To approach this aim， we have to give the students more chance to get linguistic practice. And in English teaching， the classroom questioning is the best way to let the students take part in practice. Traditional English teaching is teacher-centered teaching characterized by teachers dominant lecturing and students listening and note taking. Inquiry-based learning projects are driven by students. Instructors act more as coaches， guides， and facilitators who help learners arrive at their "true" questions—the things they really care about. When students choose the questions， they are motivated to learn and they develop a sense of ownership about the project.

2.2 The problems of questioning in English class

Most English teachers raise enormous questions in

English class， but they have the following problems：

There are too many low-level questions. Just as Bloom （1956） held that 60% of the teachers classroom questioning are factual questions. Only 20%of them need students analysis， inference， synthesis and rethinking. And the other 20% is concerned with teaching procedure， such as “any more”，“any volunteers”，“are you clear” and so on. Actually most teachers questions remain the level of “read-it-and-repeat-it”，and most of their questions are low-level questions， while questions needing students further thinking are rather few. Teachers prefer low-level question to high-level questions. On the one hand， it will help to save time. On the other hand， they think they can get nothing from the students， so it is waste of time to ask them too many questions.

Most of teachers questions in class are extemporaneous. They have no preparation before class， so their questions are lacking in purpose. These questions have little effect on students interest. While the well prepared questions are quite different from them， they will get unexpected effects.

Lack of certain waiting time. Some teachers ask the students to answer their question immediately after raising it， there is no enough thinking time. There is little patient and accurate assessment on the students answer.

Problems in teachers questioning in English class will cause the students to lose passion of communication. They will make the student lose confidence in English learning. So these problems need urgent resolution. English teachers must take cognizance of these problems and correct those. Only in this way can the English teachers avoid making the above mistakes， posing successful questions in class. So teachers should have a clear idea of the standards of successful classroom questioning.

2.3 The standards of successful classroom questioning

There are six standards for successful questions：

Clarity. That is to say， the question can be understood by the students and they know how to answer it through their effort.

Learning value. The question will help stimulate the students thinking， and it is favorable to help students understand more about the relevant contents.

Interest. The question must be full of challenge and excitation then the students study interest will be stimulated.

Availability. That concerns about the degree of difficulty of the question. The question can be answered by most of the students rather than only top students.

Extension. That means the question will give raise to the extensive and diverse answers.

Teacher reaction. It is a problem touch upon the students reputation. It requires the teacher to respect the students. They should not discourage the students but encourage them. （Gall， 1984）

Only the teacher master the standards of successful questions can they pose good questions in the class. However it is not easy for a teacher to adhere to so many rules， they are unable to attend to everything at once. For example， some questions may be challenging and exciting for some students， but may be not so for others. So teachers must adopt some strategy or skills in raising questions.

3 Strategies and skills in questioning in English class

Strategic questioning can arouse the students imagination，stimulate their imagination， and motivate them to search out new knowledge. It can make the students think and help them clarify concepts and problems related to the lesson. Inquiry-based learning can foster the critical thinking dispositions and skills， for example， analyzing， classifying， sorting， prioritizing， synthesizing， correlating data and information， and reaching sound， logical conclusions. In return， the student could better learn the language and culture. On the other hand， the students self-confidence， systematization and open-mindedness were improved. Therefore， it would promote the learners English learning. Therefore， it is critical to clarify the proper strategies of question-raising.

3.1 Raising different questions to different students in

different time

Gall （1984） held that raising factual question to some low-level students will help improve their sense of accomplishment. While questions which need strong thinking ability or logic are more suitable to average or high-level students. He expounded when students meet with the question they cant answer， they will feel frustrated and avoid taking part in classroom communication， they then hold passive attitude toward study， so this will cast negative influence on students creativity.

In our country students of different levels receive the same teaching process in class. It requires English teachers to be familiar with their students and understand their students. They should raise different question for different student in different time. For example， when teaching the text “college experience English” in unit one， the question “What do you expect to learn at college？”is an “open high-level question” with little relationship with the material. There are diversified answers to this question. The students can only answer it through bold and effort thinking， so it is suitable for high-level students. While the question “What do the students in the passage think they have learned after four years college study？” is an “open low-level question” based on the text. It is not hard to find the answer if they have read it although there may be different kinds of answers. This question is suitable for the students who have prepared before class if it is raised before studying the text. So the teacher should make it clear that who have read the text before class and who havent. This question is more suitable for low-level or average students， if the students have read the text before class or have learned the text. As we all know， college students are adults， they have strong sense of reputation， so the teacher should always respect the students positive sense of reputation， giving them a congenial and happy atmosphere to study.

However， the teacher should neither always raise simple questions in order to care for the low-level students， nor should he always ask difficult question to meet the demand of high-level students. They should appropriately increase some difficult questions on the base of 20% of high-level questions.

3.2 Having an intimate knowledge of the text， preparing for question

It is quite essential to know the material well in order to raise good questions in class. The teacher should have full preparation before class to raise different questions for different students. Generally speaking， there are some relevant materials after the text in college English textbook for reference， but the main purpose of these questions is to check the students understanding of the text. Most of the answers can be found in the texts. Only few need further thinking before answering it. Take the text “College experience English” for example， there are many questions in exercise “read and think” after the text， so when the teachers prepare for class， they can raise some creative questions with knowledge and interest which will give guidance to students logic thoughts.

3.3 Waiting time

Wait time is the time the teachers give the students to think about the raised questions. The teacher should give the students appropriate time to think about it. It is reported that many teachers ask the students to answer the question within a second after the question raised. Most of professors hold that the teachers should give the students about 9 seconds thinking time for different question. While for easy question， they should give at least 3-5 seconds.

If they give enough wait time to the students， they will get better effect. There will be more students willing to answer the question and the students will provide more distinctive view or complex answer. They will also offer more evidence to support their viewpoint. In this way the students will feel more confident in class interaction. So wait time is quite important in developing students potential.

3.4 Adjusting question properly

If there still nobody answer the question for a long wait time after the question raised， the teacher should not be awkward. At this moment， they can try the following methods：

1） repeat your question and stress the key point to draw the students attention.

2） State the question with other simple words to help the students comprehend the question.

3） ask the students to state the question in their own words to check whether the students understand the implication of the question.

4） Divide the question into several parts to let the students gain a clear idea of the question.

5） As for some question not clear enough， they should explain it more specifically.

6） Asking the students where the difficult point of the question is， in order to give them enlightenment.

Of course， the above are only for reference， there is no need to try them one by one. Choosing one or two of is enough. If there still nobody answers the question after trying the above methods， it shows that maybe the question is not an effective question. An effective question can be answered by most students through their efforts. So the teacher should sum up the lesson to avoid raising such unavailable question in the future.

3.5 Giving appropriate comment

The teacher should react actively to the students answer， giving them enthusiastic and accurate comments. They should try their best to avoid saying the tags“Yes”，“I see”，“Okay” or“Fine” unchangeably to any answer. It is better to say“Yes， I can understand that”，“I see what you mean”，“I even havent thought of that before.”，“That really make a lot of sense” and so on. As for correct answer， the teacher should give them positive praise to make them feel what they said is valuable， meaningful and pertinent. It will make the students more confident in participating class communication. And as a conclusion it will give students the sense of satisfactory.

4 Conclusion

Language study is a course from language input to language output. It is not reasonable to have enormous input only without proper output. And simply posing a variety of questions hardly creates a climate for inquiry. Therefore， the teachers ought to use the art of questioning skillfully according to different students， different material and different teaching purpose. They can help to stimulate the students seeking and creativity thoughts. If the teacher give them chance to express their minds， their language communicative ability will be improved through language practice.

References：

[1]Bloom，B. et al. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Handbook 1： Cognitive Domain.New York： David McKay. 1956.

http：//condor.admin.ccny.cuny.edu/～group5/carlchambers.researchpaper.doc

[2]Gall，M.Synthesis of Research on Teachers Questioning. In： Educational Leadership，1984.42.

作者简介：张秀峰（1982年-），男，山东成武人，九江学院外国语学院讲师、硕士，主要研究方向为应用语言学及二语习得。