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Table 4.3: Functions of Questions
Functions of Questions 1. Check learners’ understanding
2. Elicit information 3. Control the classroom
4. Arouse interest and curiosity concerning a topic 5. Focus attention on a particular issue or concept
6. Develop an active approach to learning 7. Stimulate students to ask questions of themselves and others
Taken from Brown and Wragg, 1993. Here, I analyze the functions of teachers’ questions based on the types of
questions. There are the functions of display questions and the functions of referential questions. Number 1-5 serve as the functions of display questions,
whereas numbers 6-7 serve as the functions of referential questions. The first analysis in this section starts from the functions of display questions.
a. Functions of Display Questions
This section discuss about function of asking display question. It is divided into checking learners understanding, arousing interest and curiosity concerning a
topic, focusing attention on a particular issue or concept, and controlling classroom. Each function will be presented accordingly in every class.
1. Checking Learners’ Understanding
Since display questions are ones in which the asker already knows the answer, the first function of a display question is to check learners’ understanding.
The understanding is related to the subject matter, of what is being learned about a certain topic. In this research, the students in class A learned about animals. They
already knew about the kinds of animals and their places to live. Many of the teachers’ questions served this first function. It is presented in the table below.
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Table 4.4: Checking Learners’ Understanding Class A No.
Question Students’ Responses
1.
Ok, please mention the name of this animal?
Dog.
2.
What kind of animal is this? Lizard.
3.
Ok, next… Bee.
4. Next?
Tiger 5.
Next? Duck, dog, kodok
6.
Now, please mention the name of picture number 1?
…
7.
What is the name of this animal? …
8.
The next picture? Horse.
9.
The next, what is the name of this animal?
Lion
10.
The next, number 4? …
11.
Number five? Bear.
12.
Six? …
13.
Ok, please mention the name based on the description?
Horse, zebra, lion.
14.
How many legs does this animal have? Four, empat.
15.
What is the name of this animal? Monkey.
16.
It can swim in a river. What is the name?
…
17.
Based on the text, how many puppies are in the text?
Four.
18.
What is its name? Robin, Rubby, Oscar, and
students Giggle
19.
The next puppy? Oscar
20.
What is the color of Oscar’s ribbon? …
The table shows that from the 30 display questions posed to students during the class, there were 22 66.7 questions asked to check the learners’
understanding. The lesson learned in class A was about animals. The students learned the types of animals which were wild animals and tame animals. There
were questions about the names of animals as students were given pictures of animals. Here they were asked questions like Please mention the name of this
animal? What kind of animal is this? Another question asked to check students’ understanding of the lesson was related to the physical appearance of the animal.
49 Students were given a description of a certain animal, and they were asked to
mention the name of that animal. For example, Ít can swim in a river. What is its name?How many legs does this animal have?
The next table presents a list of questions that served as tool to check the learners’ understanding in class B.
Table 4.5: Checking Learners’ Understanding Class B
No. Question
Students’ Responses
1.
What organ do you use for tasting food? …
2.
For seeing something? Eyes
3.
For holding something? Hand, nose, ears, shoulder
4.
For walking or running? Foot
5.
Number 1? Eyebrow
6.
Number 2? Lip
7.
Number 3? …
8.
Number 4? …
9.
Number 5? Moustache
10.
Number 6? Chin
11.
Number 7? Tongue
12.
Number 8? Teeth
13.
Number 9? …
14.
Number 10? Ear
15.
What is your answer? …
16.
Number 3? …
17.
Number 4 you close it when you sleep? Eye
18.
Number 5? Eyebrow
19.
Number 6 you smell with it? Hidung
20.
Number 7 you wear watch on it? Wrist
21.
The last number? …
22.
Can you mention a kind of job? Teacher, doctor, nurse, students
23.
What is the workplace of a teacher? School
24.
How about a doctor? Hospital
26.
What is the responsibility of a teacher? Teach students
27.
And a driver? Car
50 The lesson discussed in class B was parts of the human body and their
functions. There were 27 65.85 questions asked to check students’ understanding. The teacher began to ask the functions of certain parts of the body
as in What organ do you use for tasting food? What organ do you use for seeing something? What organ do you use for holding something? After that, students
were given pictures of the human body and they were asked to name each part of the body. The teacher posed questions like Number 1? Number 2?And so on.
There were also questions asked when the teacher mentioned the function of a certain part of the body. For example, Number 4, you close it when you sleep?
And Number 6, you smell with it? Thus, it is clear that by asking those questions, the teacher wanted to check whether the students really understood what was
learned that day. Another list of questions that served the same function is presented in the
table below.
Table 4.6: Checking Learners’ Understanding Class D
No. Question
Students’ Responses
1.
Can you mention the name of a part of your body? Hair, ears
2.
The next? Eyes
3.
What organ do you use for seeing something? Eyes
4.
What organ do you use for hearing something? Ears
5.
What organ do you use for tasting something? Tongue, mouth
6.
What organ do you use for holding something? Hand
7.
Ok Christin, do you understand what I mean? quiet
The seven 24.1 questions above were asked to review the previous material learned by the students. They were asked at the beginning of the class.
These questions were posed to check the learners’ understanding of the lesson taught in the previous meeting. There was no time to deliver that day’s lesson
because at the time, the teacher had only 45’ teaching time from 90’ where she
51 was supposed to teach. Thus, she spent the rest of her time in the questioning and
answering session. Moreover, in class E, there were 31 display questions asked to the students.
All the questions functioned to check the learners’ understanding of the lesson. Here, the teacher gave the students an exercise to work on. The exercise was
about medical equipment and kinds of medical experts. The questions function as a tool to check the learners’ understanding of that lesson. The list of questions can
be seen in the table below.
Table 4.7: Checking Learners’ Understanding Class E No.
Question Students’ Responses
1. What is the meaning of health?
Kesehatan 2.
What is the meaning of pediatrician in Indonesian language?
Ahlianak 3.
What does a pediatrician deal with? Children
4. Nutritionist. What is the meaning of
it? Ahligizi
5. What does a nutritionist deal with?
Lack of
food and
vitamins answered by the teacher
6. What is the meaning of internist?
Ahlipenyakitdalam? 7.
And what does the person deal with? Internal organ
8. What about neurologists. What do
they deal with? Neuro problem
9. What does a psychiatrist deal with?
Mental illness 10.
What do dermatologists deal with? Skin disease
11. What problem does an optician deal
with? Eye problem
12. What do cardiologists deal with?
Heart problem 13.
What problem does a dentist deal with?
Teeth 14.
If we get a skin disease, where should we go?
Dermatologists 15.
If we have eye problems, where should we go?
Optician 16.
If we have teeth problems, where should we go?
Dentist 17.
If we have an internal organ problem, where should we go?
Internist 18.
If we have a lack of food and vitamins, where should we go?
Nutritionist
52 19.
If we have a problem with our neuro, where should we go?
Neurologists Students work on exercise.
Ok, we start from number 1. 20.
It is used to measure a patient’s temperature?
Thermometer 21.
She helps the doctor in taking care of the patients. She is a …?
Nurse 22.
Who is a nurse? …
23. It is a kind of occupation. It deals
with a toothache? Dentist
24. Who is a dentist?
… 25.
It is to inject a patient. What is that? Suntik
26. It is a kind of device used to detect
detak jantung? Stethoscope
27. What is a stethoscope?
… 28.
What is the name of this medical tool?
Stethoscope 29.
What is the function of a stethoscope? …
30. What is the name of this medical
tool? Injection
31. What is the function?
…
The teacher tailored the questions above when she gave the lesson about animals, parts of the body, and medical equipment. The purpose of the questions
was to check the students’ understanding. It is because the teacher wanted to test the students’ understanding of each topic by asking related questions about what
she had explained previously. All the questions asked information related to the worksheet the teacher discussed with the students. For some incorrect answers, the
teacher was open-minded and gave them positive responses to their answers. In the end, although the students’ answers were not perfectly true, the teacher still
appreciated them.
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2. Arousing Interest and Curiosity Concerning a Topic
