Assignment 3: Aspects to consider when asking questions in the classroom

This third assignment deals with an article we read called "Classroom Pedagogics", in which an important aspect in the classroom setting was analysed: What do teachers have to bear in mind when asking questions to students? Which is the best way to ask students about something?

According to the article, one of the aspects teachers should take into account is that they should increase the proportion of referential questions, that is, questions in which teachers do not know the answer. Normally, display questions are the ones used in class, which are those in which the teacher already knows the answer. Therefore, s/he knows the kind of answers students are expected to say and interaction diminishes.

Moreover, teachers should also increase the number of open questions used in class, since they make students think about their answers and they increase teacher-student interaction by promoting further talk on the topic. The article also suggests that teachers can use, at first, yes/no questions to foster students' confidence using English, since they require limited responses and, afterwards, use Wh- questions to promote longer utterances.

It is also important to direct questions to a particular student once they have been presented to the whole class so as to avoid silence. The teacher can use volunteers or select different students to answer the question, so that all the members in the classroom can participate during the whole lesson.

When responding to learner's answers, the right answer should not be given immediately. The teacher can first ask another student or ask the whole class for different opinions and, once some students have participated, s/he can give the correct answer. While doing this, the teacher should avoid giving hints about the correct answer through body movement, gestures or intonation.

Furthermore, the teacher should provide students with wait-time: time for them to think about their answers and reply. According to the article, when students are given wait-time, they produce longer and more complex utterances. Thus, the teacher should avoid giving the correct answer straightaway or answering the question his/herself.

It is also true that sometimes students do not understand the question and, consequently, they do not produce an answer or they do it wrong. In this cases, the teacher should rephrase the question to make it clearer. This rephrasing can also be used when correcting learners' errors so as to avoid embarrassing the student and discouraging him and to promote his/her critical thinking and understanding of the mistake made.

This article also covers other aspects related to the classroom setting such as how to repair breakdowns, varying the input and the kind of activities carried out in the lesson, setting the challenge (not too easy, not too difficult), establishing and keeping rapport in the classroom atmosphere, how to provide feedback and tips for getting students' attention.