| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 外國語文研究所 === 99 === This study aims to investigate questioning practices of a teacher who instructed in a graduate class in Taiwan. The teacher questions were identified and classified in terms of form and function; moreover, the modification of previous question, namely, questioning strategies for eliciting more students’ responses was examined when students gave no response or unsatisfied answers. The researcher attempted to gain a better understanding of how teacher questions elicited students’ responses in a graduate class.
One teacher and 15 graduate students from a graduate institute in central Taiwan participated in this study. The class was observed and 22.5 hours of the lessons were audio-taped from October 2009 to January 2010. The data sources consisted of classroom observations, field notes, and questionnaires concerning the background information of the participants. The data from audio-tapes were transcribed verbatim as the main basis of analysis. The analysis of the data included identifying the teacher questions in terms of form and function and calculating the frequency distribution of each type of question; besides, the questioning strategies were also examined, and ranked with the frequency. All of the types of teacher questions and questioning strategies were discussed thoroughly.
The results first revealed that the most frequently asked question form was WH-questions, followed by Yes/No questions, Serial questions, Intonation questions, Incomplete questions, and Alternative questions; in addition, the most commonly used question function was Know Information Demanding, followed by Classroom Management, Being Rhetorical, Speculation Requesting, Confirmation Checking, Clarification Requesting, and Comprehension Checking. Secondly, six questioning strategies were frequently adopted by the teacher for eliciting more students’ responses when they gave no response or unsatisfied answers. The findings revealed that the most commonly used was Repetition, followed by Scope narrowing, Rephrasing, Giving Clues, Paraphrasing, and Exemplifying.
This study concludes that the teacher’s questioning plays a significant role in classroom interaction. The teacher questions occurred in various forms and served different functions based on diverse contexts. Moreover, the teacher would employ various questioning strategies to encourage the students to respond when no reply or unexpected answers were given. Through effective teacher’s questioning practices, teachers may provide students with scaffolding on their learning and further promote their critical thinking.
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