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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
This chapter presents and discusses literature on teachers’ questions. It begins with examining the conceptual meaning of a question. Given the
importance of questioning as a teaching strategy, the chapter also surveys the type of questions teachers ask in their classrooms and the contributions those questions
have during classroom interactions. It then ends with a brief theoretical review of research that has been reported on teachers’ questions in foreign language
classrooms.
A. The Meaning of a Question
A question is any sentence which has an interrogative form or function. In classroom settings, teacher questions are defined as instructional cues or stimuli
that expose students to the content elements to be learned Azerefegen, 2008. It has become an essential part of instruction in that it allows teachers to monitor
student competence and understanding as well as increase thought-provoking discussion Critelli Tritapoe 2010. This deals with leading students to acquire
certain knowledge. In a teaching and learning context, question refers to any idea that requires
a response from listener. It is used to make a request for information. Furthermore, the request itself is made by such an expression and the information
is provided with an answer. The situation takes place when the teachers want to get students’ responses and the first step is to answer questions.
From these definitions, it can be generalized that the word ‘question’ refers to any idea that requires a response from the listener or audience. Above all, in
10 classroom settings, teacher questions are defined as instructional cues or stimuli
that convey content elements to be learned by students and directions for what they are to do and how they are to do it. It involves hints about what students are
about to experience and techniques that call on students’ prior knowledge.
B. The Importance of Questions
Questions are vital to acquire knowledge. People usually ask questions to one another to know something about unknown things. They are instruments to
examine new ideas, facts, in formation, knowledge and experiences Azerefegen 2008. In line with this, Brown and Wragg 1993 say that we normally ask
questions when we really want to know something and, if we already know the answer, then we don’t need to ask.
On top of that, questions play a great part in communication. It is used as a learning tool to promote interaction Ma 2008. Therefore, questions in the
language classroom enable the teacher to evaluate his or her students and motivate students to attend lessons attentively.
In line with this, Richards and Lockharts 1994:185 have stated the following as justifications for the important questions in teaching.
They stimulate and maintain students’ interest. They encourage students to think and focus on the
content of the lesson. They enable teachers to check students’ understanding.
They enable a teacher to elicit particular structures or vocabulary items.
They encourage students’ participation in a lesson.
This implies that in the teaching and learning process, questions are the core by which all communication between a teacher and pupils takes places. Also, they
are means of developing critical thinking abilities in pupils Ennis, 1996:165.
11 Questions, after all, are crucial features of the language and part of teaching
process Hamiloglu, 2012. One aspect to consider in a teaching learning context is students’
involvement in asking and answering questions, which is significant to language teaching and learning. That is why it is important to handle and utilize such
questions properly in question and answer exchanges. Nhlapo 1998 also corroborates this by saying that teachers’ questions are the quickest and the easiest
techniques for moving students toward real conversation. This confirms that questions are essential in the teaching and learning process.
Questions in the language classroom play a significant role in promoting learners’ language proficiency. They are employed to check students’
comprehension, to see if they have acquired the knowledge imparted, to focus their attention and involvement in the lesson, to control behavior, and to
encourage the students to use the target language for communication Tsui, 1995. In line with this, Klippel, 1983, as cited in Azerefegen 2008, suggests,
“Learning is more effective if learners are actively involved in the process.” Since learners’ participation is really demanding, effective questions will stimulate
learners to use the target language more. In order to promote effective teaching and learning, questions are one of the
techniques that are widely used in ESL classrooms. If they are properly handled and employed, they may facilitate interactions and bring about the necessary
changes in the students’ language proficiency. In this regard, English teachers are expected to develop the skills of asking effective questions Sadker and Sadker,
1988. As questioning is believed to be one of the tools of effective teaching
12 Perrott, 1986, it is increasingly important for teachers to avoid ineffective
questioning patterns, for the questioning process is crucial to classroom instruction.
Thus, to improve the learning opportunities for the class and to motivate students to talk more and provide responses, teachers are expected to develop
questioning skills and employ different types of questions in EFL classrooms. Besides that, students should also be encouraged to ask questions and give
responses to teachers’ questions. If students are given opportunities to talk, teachers will be able to obtain feedback on students’ problems in understanding
some parts of the lesson. Moreover, it might facilitate interactions and production of the target
language Perott, 1986. It is believed that motivating students to communicate with the language entails knowledge of the types of questions on the part of the
teacher. The teacher has to be well aware of the types of questions and the purposes of questioning. Despite the fact that teachers have a major role in
classroom questioning, students also need to practice the ways of forming different questions.
The teachers questions can be considered as the most powerful device to lead, extend, and control communication in the classroom. Actually, the style of
interaction between the teacher and students can be seen as a recycling process: “a teachers question, students responses, and feedback” Dillon, 1990; Westgate
Hughes, 1997; Yang, 2002, as cited in Yang, 2006. This illustrates the dominant role the teachers questions play in classroom interactions.
13 Students’ skills in questioning, critical thinking, and negotiation of meaning
and interaction abilities can be promoted if language teachers are well aware of the students’ right to ask questions. Allowing students to ask questions can
motivate, initiate, and engage them in various language activities to discover answers to teachers’ questions and find out solutions to problems posed by their
teachers and classmates. Thus, it is essential for language teachers to acquire questioning techniques which encourage students to reply.
1. The Importance of Questioning in English Classes
Questioning is a common technique used in English language teaching. The goal is to check if the students understand what they have been taught, and to
enhance students’ involvement and to promote students’ creative thinking in classroom interactions Ennis, 1996. Questioning is considered as one of the
most essential and important techniques during instructional processes since Socrates’ time Sadker and Sadker, 1988. Questioning takes up most of teacher
talk, and it has been improved to have a great influence on classroom interactions. Questioning has always been the most ubiquitous phenomenon observed in the
classroom, as well as one of the most frequently-adopted devices favored by most teachers Ellis, 2012. This implies that questioning sessions are unavoidable in
the teaching and learning process. Questioning is one kind of active teaching procedure. It is one way of
teaching through teachers’ and students’ interactions in checking learning, promoting thought, consolidating knowledge, using knowledge, and achieving
teaching goals. Questioning is usually used as one kind of mutual exchange
14 teaching skill between the teacher and students. It has been used widely in
teaching till now. Thus, it can be understood that classroom questioning is the main part of
classroom teaching, and it is one of the teaching methods to get the aim of classroom teaching. Teachers want to get students’ responses and the first step is
to answer questions. Through consistent dialog and communication, teachers can get the answers they want and evaluate the students accordingly.
Questioning, as a general way used by teachers in the class, plays an important role in classroom teaching. Questions are used to evaluate students’
knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. Questions can help to review essential content in a subject. Questions can be used to control the social behavior
of students.
2. Teacher Questions and Language Acquisition
Acquiring a new language means being able to use the language in any given situation. In language classroom, communicative competence has become a
goal that best achieved by giving attention to language use, to fluency, and to students need to apply the language in classroom context as the rehearsal in the
real world Brown 2002.
C. The Purpose of Questioning
Research indicates that questioning is one of the most familiar techniques used by teachers in their classrooms Lewis, 1990. Different researchers provide
various reasons why this is so. For example, Ellis 1992 proposes two reasons why teachers ask questions in their classrooms.
15 First, questions require responses and, therefore, they serve as a means of
obliging learners to contribute to the interactions. Learners’ responses also provide the teacher with feedback which can be used to adjust content and
expressions in subsequent teacher-talk. Second, questions serve as a device for controlling the progress of the interactions through which a lesson is enacted. It
has been found that questions can also be used to motivate students, to revise, control, test or assess, explore, explain, encourage students to focus on a particular
topic, elicit information, check understanding, and control behavior Young, 1992; Richards and Lockhart, 1994.
Brown Wragg 1993 list several functions of questions, such as “to arouse interest and curiosity concerning a topic, to focus attention on a particular
issue or concept, to develop an active approach to learning, and to stimulate pupils to ask questions of themselves and others.” However, with reference to language
teaching, Nunan Lamb 1996 state that teachers ask questions mainly to check learners’ understanding, to elicit information, and to control their classrooms.
Peacock 1990, in Ezerefgn 2008, says that, “More often than not teachers appear to ask questions either to find out what pupils do or do not know and understand,
or to remind them about work completed in a previous lesson, or perhaps to challenge, stimulate, and develop their thinking.” Morgan and Saxton 1991 cited
in Brualdi 1998, add that teachers ask questions for several reasons. They ask questions to keep their learners involved during lessons, to express their ideas and
thoughts, to enable learners to hear different explanations of the material, and to help teachers evaluate their learners’ learning and revise their lessons when
necessary.
16 However, Nunan and Lamb 1996 warn researchers that, “Questions do not
necessarily serve one function.” Nunan and Lamb point out that a question to elicit information may be directed for purposes of control to a student whose attention
is wandering, and only an extended context would show whether a question was designed to elicit information or check understanding. What is more crucial though
is that the type of question asked might determine the nature of information the teacher would like to elicit from students.
D. Types and Classifications of Questions
Kategori