A Case Study On College English Teacher Questioning Strategies

In China, English learners are relatively weak in listening and speaking, so it is necessary for them to improve their oral English ability. Teacher questioning is a good choice with regard to providing students with opportunities to practice oral English.Effective teacher questioning plays an important role in highly effective classroom teaching, for teacher questioning is not only a way to review what students have learned, but also to enlighten their thought and enliven the classroom atmosphere. In terms of affection, teacher questioning can help build up the friendly relationship between the teacher and the students, which can, in turn, enhance the efficiency of language teaching. So the teacher should pay special attention to questioning and regard it as an important part of language teaching. By reviewing the literature on teacher questioning and doing the classroom observation, we find that the situation of the teachers’ questioning is not ideal.After observing the video of the national college teaching contest, the author chooses four teachers as the research subjects. Then the author transcribes the classroom conversation between the teachers and the students and then analyzes the content of the teacher questioning in terms of questions, wait-time, questioning strategies and so on. Then the author draws the conclusion about the characteristics and the drawbacks of the teacher questioning. The major findings are listed as follows:1. There are more referential questions than display questions; 2. The teachers tend to ask students to answer questions individually; 3. The teachers’ feedback is not just simple praise but is often accompanied with specific comments and detailed inquiries.4. In terms of the questioning strategies, interpersonal strategy is more often used than other strategies, such as redirecting, logical strategies and so on; 5. The wait-time is relatively short.The author analyzes and discusses the above findings thoroughly and then offers the following suggestions: 1. Teachers should be good at developing their ability tocommunicate with their students; 2. Teachers should do their utmost to enhance their professional development. 3. Teacher questioning should focus on and be integrated with teaching objectives.