Teacher questioning strategies and Classroom interaction in Ly Thai To school

Part one: Introduction
1. Rationale.
Language teaching is a complex process involving many interrelated factors. Many
studies have been done to find out suitable and effective methods of teaching language.
However, many researchers have showned that teaching methods don’t play a decisive role in
language classroom. Interest in EFL has shifted away from the consideration of teaching
methods in isolation towards a focus on classroom interaction as the most vital element in
second language learning process. Classroom interaction is important because interaction is the
essential criteria of classroom pedagogy. Interaction is the process whereby lessons are
“accomplished”.
In classroom interaction analysis, teacher talk was pointed to be particular important to
language teaching. According to pedagogical theory, the language that teachers use in
classrooms determines to a large degree whether a class will succeed or not. Teacher talk is
estimated to make up around 70% of classroom language. Teachers pass on knowledge and
skills, organize teaching activities and help pupils practice through teacher talk. Teacher talk
involves many aspects, in which teacher questions have drawn much attention.
It is now generally agreed that questioning is an important methods of teaching. Aschner
(1961), for example, calls the teacher “a professional question maker” and suggests that question
asking is “one of the basic ways by which the teacher stimulates student thinking and learning”
(quoted in Gall 1970: 707). Given the importance to education, it is not surprising that questions
“have been the focus of research attention in both content classrooms and language classrooms
for many years” (Nunan, 1990:187). In content classroom, cognitive levels of questions have
been studies in relation to student achievement (Winne, 1979; Redfield & Rousseau, 1981). In
the language classroom, questions have tended to be examined as a means of eliciting more or
less linguistic output and involving students in interaction.
While these studies have shed much light on the relationships between teacher questions
and student performance, they have not exhausted the subject. In Vietnam, most people learn
English in classrooms. Classroom language is the chief source of foreign language learning. It
functions not only as the main source of language learning but also a tool by which a foreign
language is taught. However, as far as I know, there are not many researches carried out in this
area in Vietnamese EFL classrooms. Since a better understanding of the use of teacher questions

1
and classroom interaction in EFL classrooms can undoubtedly help teachers and students
improve their teaching and learning.
As an EFL teacher, this study is an excellent opportunity to help me bridge theory and
practice which otherwise remains nebulous. Observing and describing classroom events make it
possible for me to critically examine improvement needed in my teaching. Ultimately, I can
pursue more suitable ways of teaching for the enhancement of student learning.
2. Aims of the study.
The study aims at:
*Investigating the relationships among these four variables in the ESL classroom in Ly Thai
To school: (1) question types, (2) questioning strategies, (3) student attitudes, and (4)
patterns of interaction
*Giving suggestions and recommendations to teachers at Ly Thai To school.
3. Research questions.
Question 1. What is the frequency of display questions and referential questions used by
different teachers in different classes?
Question 2. What questioning strategies do teachers use?
Question 3. What are the patterns of classroom interaction?
4. Scope of the study.
To limit the scope of the study, I will investigate interactions in four class in English
periods by focusing on types of teacher questions and students’ attitudes toward these questions.
The study considers only conversational interactions as the goal is to assess the direct effects of
interactions on oral competence improvement.
5. Methodology.
The method applied in this study are both quantitative and qualitative The data which
this study draws on come from audiotape, note taking and observation of four English language
lessons by four teachers who are teaching at Ly Thai To school.
Subjects of my study are four classes in Ly Thai To School in Bac Ninh Province.
Number of pupils level Time of learning English
Class 1 45 10

th
At least 4 years
Class 2 45 10
th
At least 4 years
Class 3 50 10
th
At least 4 years
Class 4 50 10
th
At least 4 years
Table 1: Description of classes observed.
2
English is a compulsory subject and they have three English periods per week. Ly Thai
To is not a gifted school, however the quality of teaching and learning is quite high in
comparison with other schools in this area.
Part two: Development
Chapter 1: Literature review
1. 1 What is classroom interaction?
3
Brown (1994) defines interaction as “the collaborative exchange of the thoughts,
feelings, or ideas between two or more people resulting in a reciprocal effect on each other”
(p:159). In fact, at the heart of CLT, interaction is considered an important factor for CC
achievement. Having the same idea, Rivers, who sees interaction as the key to teaching language
for communication, wrote:
“Part of the teacher art is to create, or stimulate student creation of,
the types of situation in which interaction naturally blossoms and in which
students can use for actual communication what they have been learning in a
more formal fashion. In this way, they are already engaging in the central
activity for which languages is used in human relations.” (1987:4).

1.2 The role of classroom interaction in L2 acquisition
Language classroom can be seen as sociolinguistics environments (Cazden, 1988) and
discourse communities (Hall and Verplaetse, 2000) in which interaction is believed to contribute
to learners’ language development. The authors state that the role of interaction is very
important.
In addition, language learning is especially important. It is in their
interaction with each other that teachers and students work together to create
the Intellecture and practical activities that shape both the form and the
content of the target language as well as the processes and outcomes of
individual development (Hall and Verplaetse, p.10)
According to Allwright’s (1984, p.158) claims on the importance of classroom
interaction in language learning in FL lesson, it is “inherent in the very notion of classroom
pedagogy itself”.
The language environment needs to turn a language classroom into an acquisition-rich
setting. But how might a teacher turn a classroom into an acquisition-rich setting? One of the
4
ways teachers can do to make the classroom a rich input environment is establishing a non-
threatening environment in the classroom, which encourages meaningful learning and creative
use of English. Teacher can achieve this by establishing informal and warm-hearted interaction
between teacher and learners, as well as among learners themselves. This friendly interaction
has been approved to be the most essential factor in successful language learning in numerous
studies on classroom interaction. Wilga Rivers (1987) emphasized the importance of interaction
as follows.
“Through interaction, students can increase their language store as they listen to or read
authentic linguistic material, or even the output of their fellow students in discussions, skits,
joint problem-solving tasks, or dialogue-all they have learned or casually absorbed – in real life
exchanges …Even at an elementary stage, they learn in this way to exploit the elasticity of
language.”
Thus in order to improve students learning outcomes, it is necessary to engage students
in meaningful interactions with teachers and other students. When learners are given

opportunities to take part in conversational interaction, they have to “negotiate for meaning”.
This term refers to those modifications, which speakers make during the interaction in order to
be understood or to understand each other. This process of negotiation is thought to lead to L2
development specifically communicative abilities.
1.3 Teacher talk
For foreign language learners, classroom is the main place where they are frequently
exposed to the target language. The kind of language used by the teacher for instruction in the
classroom is known as teacher talk (TT). For this term, Longman Dictionary of Language
Teaching and Applied Linguistics defines it as “that variety of language sometimes used by
teachers when they are in the process of teaching. In trying to communicate with learners,
5
teachers often simplify their speech, giving it many of the characteristics of foreigner talk and
other simplified styles of speech addressed to language learners” (Richards, 1992:471)
Having studies the SLA for many years, Rod Ellis (1985) has formulated his own view
about teacher talk: “ Teacher talk is the special language that teacher uses when addressing L2
learners in the classroom. There is systematic simplification of the formal properties of the
teacher’s language … studies of teacher talk can be divided into those that investigate in the
type of language they use in subject lessons.” He also commented “ the language that teachers
address to L2 learner is treated as a register, with its own specific formal and linguistic
properties” (Ellis, 1985: 145)
From the definitions above, we can see that teacher talk in English classroom has it own
special style because of restriction of physical setting, special participants as well as the goal of
teaching. Moreover, teacher talk is a special communicative activity. Its goal is to communicate
with students and develops students’ foreign language proficiency. Teacher talk is used in class
when teachers are conducting instructions, cultivating their intellectual ability and managing
classroom activities (Feng Qican, 1999:23). Teachers adopt the target language to promote their
communication with learners. In this way, learners practice the language by responding to what
their teacher says. Besides, teachers use the language to encourage the communication between
learners and themselves. Therefore we can say teacher talk is a kind of communication – based
or interaction – based talk.

Teacher talk has attracted attention because of its potential effect on learns’
comprehension, which has been hypothesized to be important for L2 acquisition. There is no
learning without teaching. So as a tool in implementing teaching plans and achieving teaching
goals, teacher talk plays a vital role in language learning. Nunan (1991) points out that:
“Teacher talk is of crucial importance, not only for the organization and management of the
classroom because it is through language that teachers succeed or fail in implementing their
6
teaching plans. In terms of acquisition, teacher talk is important because it is probably the
major source of comprehensible target language input the learner is likely to receive.”. The
amount and type of teacher talk is even regarded as a decisive factor of success or failure in
classroom teaching.
1.4 Teachers’ questions
Questioning is one of the most common techniques used by teachers (Jack C.Richard &
Charles Lockhart, 2000) and serves as the principal way in which teachers control the classroom
interaction. The tendency for teachers to ask many questions has been observed in many
investigations (Chaudron, 1988). In some classroom over half of class time is taken up by
question-and-answer exchanges. Teachers’ questions have attracted considerable attention from
researchers of language classroom.
1.4.1. Definition of question
The Longman Dictionary of English language provides the following definition for a
question: a command or interrogative expression used to elicit information or a response, or to
test knowledge. Lynch (1991), however, criticizes the last aspect of it, i.e. to test knowledge.
In non–education settings, people seldom ask questions to which they already have an answer.
Although, there are a number of exceptions such as jokes (e.g. what’s the difference between –
and - ?), quizzes (e.g. Which country will host the next Olympics?) and courtroom discourse
(e.g. And what did the defendant say to you then?). Lynch characterizes a question as an
utterance with a particular illocutionary forces; and Quirk et al. (1970 and 1985) define a
question as a semantic class used to seek information on a specific subject (Lynch, 1991)
In classroom settings, teacher questions are defined as instructional cues or stimuli that
convey to students the content elements to be learned and directions for what they are to do and

how they are to do it.
7
What are the purposes of teachers' classroom questions? A variety of purposes emerge from
analysis of the literature, including:
• To develop interest and motivate students to become actively involved in lessons
• To evaluate students' preparation and check on homework or seatwork completion
• To develop critical thinking skills and inquiring attitudes
• To review and summarize previous lessons
• To nurture insights by exposing new relationships
• To assess achievement of instructional goals and objectives
• To stimulate students to pursue knowledge on their own
1.4.2. Function of teachers’ questions
From the development of the Socratic method, to the 1860 edition of Barnard’s
American Journal of Instruction that states, “to question well is to teach well”, educators have
long known that questioning is a useful way to aid the transfer of knowledge from instructor to
pupil (Ross, 1860). Multiple –based studies have focused on the use of questioning as a
successful and universal pedagogical approach.
Questioning plays a critical role in the way instructors structure the class environment,
organize the content of the course and has deep implications in the way that students assimilate
the information that is presented and discussed in class. Question- answering is predominant
and pervasive in classrooms of most subjects, since it is the easiest way to establish oral
interaction between teacher and student. By asking students questions, teachers are able to elicit
utterances from students and guarantee student talking time, because a question “compels,
requires, may even demand, a response”(Goody 1978:23). This verbal exchange is expected to
play an important role in classroom language acquisition of students in terms of input,
interaction, and output.
8
Questions are also important, in that they represent a major source of a student's
linguistic input. White and Lightbown (1984) recorded a teacher asking 427 questions in a
single 50-minute class. Presumably this is not typical of questioning patterns in all classrooms,

but, undoubtedly, questions represent a key aspect of teacher talk. With input being widely
accepted as an essential prerequisite for language learning, it is no exaggeration to conclude that
the nature of teacher's questions, per se, has a direct impact on second language acquisition.
Research indicates that in most classrooms someone is talking most of the time.
Generally it is the teacher who talks and the students who listen. One way to switch from teacher
–centered instruction to student- centered instruction is through the use of questions. Thus skill
in questioning becomes a vital component of effective teaching (Brown &Wragg, 1993; Wilen,
1991)
Questioning is basic to good communications. However, proper questioning is a sophisticated
art, one at which few people are proficient despite having asked thousands of questions in their
lifetimes. Questions lie at the heart of good, interactive teaching. Questions must be at the
appropriate level, be of appropriate type, and above all, be worded properly. We will now look
at the different level at which questions can be asked.
1.4.3. Levels of questions.
Questions may be categorized as narrow or broad. Narrow questions usually require only
factual recall or specific, correct answer. Broad questions, however, can seldom be answered
with a single word and often do not have one correct answer. Broad questions usually require
that students go beyond simple memory and use the thinking process to formulate answer.
Although both kinds of questions are useful in the learning process, teachers traditionally rely
too heavily on narrow questions.
Effective teachers adapt the level of questions to their teaching objectives (Dillion,1983,
1990). If learning specific information is the objective, then narrow questions are appropriate. If
9
thinking processes are the objective, then broader questions are needed. Since thinking can take
place at several levels of sophistication, it is important that teachers be able to classify and ask
questions at these levels
There are many classification systems for describing the different levels of questions.
Most of them are useful only to the extend that they provide a framework for formulating
questions at the desired level within a classroom environment. The first system I would like to
focus here is the system of classifying questions as convergent or divergent.

Convergent questions are those that allow for only one right response, whereas
divergent questions allow for many right responses. Questions about create facts are
convergent, while questions dealing with opinions, hypothesis, and evaluations are divergent.
Questions about concrete facts (who, what, when, and where questions) that have been
learned and committed to memory are convergent. For example:
Who is the President of the United States?
What is 5 +3?
Where is the White House located?
Convergent questions may also require students to recall and integrate or analyze
information to provide one expected correct answer. Most alternative-response questions, such
as those that can be answered yes or no or true or false, are also classified as convergent, since
students’ response is limited. Examples are:
Is 3+2 = 5?
Is this a picture of a farm animal or a house pet?
Is this logic statement true or false?
Conversely, questions calling for opinions, hypotheses, or evaluations are divergent,
since there are many possible correct responses. Examples include:
What would be a good name for this story?
10
Can you give me an example of the use of this word in a sentence?
Why is it important to protect our environment?
Whom do you consider the greatest scientist that ever lived?
Divergent questions should be used frequently because they encourage broader
responses and are, therefore, more likely to involve students in the learning process. They
require that students think. However, convergent questions are equally important in that they
deal with the background information needed to answer divergent questions. In the classroom it
is generally desirable to start with convergent questions and move toward divergent questions.
In summary, convergent questions limit student responses to only one correct answer,
whereas divergent questions allow for many possible correct responses.
Another system of classifying questions is based on Mental Operation Systems. The

table below offers a review of the Mental Operation System for classifying questions.
Levels of Classroom Questions.
Category
Factual
Empirical
Productive
Type of thinking
Student simply recalls
information.
Student integrates and
analyzes given or recalled
information.
Student thinks creatively and
imaginatively and produces
something unique
Examples
Define …
Who was …?
What did the text say …?
Compare …
Explain in your own words …
Calculate the …
What will life be like …?
What’s a good name for …?
How could we …?
11
Evaluative
Student makes judgment or
expresses values.
Which painting is best?

Why do you favor this …?
Who is the best …?
Table 2. Mental Operation System for Classifying Questions
The Mental Operation System of classifying questions will give you the needed
framework for improving your questioning skill. You should be asking questions at all levels of
the system instead of at only the factual level, as many teachers tend to do. It is especially
important that you ask more productive and evaluate questions than is common practice. These
questions give students the opportunity to think.
1.4.4. Types of teacher’s questions
As said above, effective teachers adapt the level of questions to their teaching objectives.
Besides that, they must also ask the right type of questions. For example, you may want to ask
questions to determine the level of your students’ learning, to increase their involvement and
interaction, to clarify understanding, or to stimulate their awareness. These purposes all call for
different types of questions. Teachers ask a great number of questions in their lessons and each
question can be seen as setting up a mini-learning task. For this reason, the type of questions we
ask impact heavily on the learning process.
Like the classification of level of questions, there are many way to identify the types of
questions. With the growth in concern for communication in language classrooms, a further
distinction has been made between “display” and “referential” questions by Long and Sato
(1983).
In Long and Sato’s terms, display questions refer to those that teachers already know the
answers, while referential questions are ones to which the teachers asks for information he or
she does not know.
12
Display questions
Suppose you ask your students something you already know. The answer coming from
the students will not satisfy the basic criterion of providing information. For instance, if you
hold up your pen and ask learners “What is this?” the answer will not solve a problem, which is
required for learning to take place.
Of even less are those questions to which the answers are provided beforehand. Some

teachers give their students the information and then try to ask them questions. For example,
“This is a pen. What is this?” Such questions, at best, test something of the students’ memory,
not their comprehension. In addition, such questions are not harmony with conversational
maxims.
Examples of typical display questions include:
What is the past tense of the verb to come?
What does the text tell us about the man?
Can you use since with past simple?
Is true the answer to question 3?
As these examples show, display questions can be closed (the answer is yes or no) or
open. Their purpose is exclusively pedagogical, they are intended to check learning, and, for this
reason, they are rarely found in discourse outside the classroom. In answering such questions,
the student has limited scope. Specific information is expected in the reply, and in linguistic
terms, many display questions are answered with a word or phrase, especially those of the
closed variety. Display questions normally require the respondent to produce the right answer,
and as Tsui (1996) points out, this itself may generate more anxiety and less participation.
Referential questions
13
However, real language does not consist solely of questions from one party and answers
from another. Real language circles around referents or world knowledge in order to create
messages and therefore is not form based but meaning based. Thus, questions in the language
classrooms should be referential or meaning based, and not focuses only on form. The following
examples are meaning – based questions:
1. Suppose you win $50,000. What are you going to do with it?
2. How do you usually spend your weekends?
Teachers may give students contexts. Teacher (holding up a pen): “This is my pen.
Where is yours?” (Pointing to a student)
In this situation, students may either hold up his pen and answer “Here’s mine!” or “This
is my pen”, or at least show that he understands by making an appropriate gesture. These
answers will be acceptable in real situations. The teacher then has clearly created an information

gap which has been filled by the learner. This is how real communication takes place.
The answer to these questions would be difficult to predict as they refer to personal
experiences, attitudes, opinions and so on. However, it should be noted that referential
questions can also be closed and quite possibly answered with one word. Later reference will
be made to whether this does in fact happen.
In answering a referential question, learners may be pushed to use language at the limits
of their competence in order to make their output comprehensible (Swain 1985). Additionally,
listeners frequently request clarification and ask questions to check understanding in an effort to
make input comprehensible (Long 1983). Both processes are regarded as particularly helpful in
promoting language acquisition.
Display vs. referential
14