An Investigation Into Teacher Questioning In English Reading Classes Of Outstanding Middle School Teachers

Teacher questioning is not only an integral source of language input but also a widely used form of teacher-student interaction. Effective teacher questioning in English reading classrooms could stimulate students’ learning interests, encourage participation in reading activities, improve reading skills, cultivate critical thinking, and ultimately, develop their English proficiency.This study is based on six reading classes taken form "Open Course by Outstanding Teachers" (OCOT), a joint educational program sponsored by Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Education and Hangzhou Media Group. The program features outstanding middle school teachers at municipal and provincial levels with educational specialists offering constructive ideas and suggestions on the design and delivery of different types of classes. First, six videotaped reading classes are transcribed and field notes are taken during the classroom observation. Second, based on literature review of reading instruction, teacher questioning and second language acquisition, four dimensions (question types, wait time, questioning strategies and teacher feedbacks) of teacher questioning in three stages (PWP stages, i.e., the pre-reading stage, the while-reading stage, and the post-reading stage) are carefully recorded and analyzed. Furthermore, assessments of the effectiveness of teacher questioning in these classes are made based on an adapted six-dimension evaluation form. Finally, six outstanding teachers are interviewed to further explore the underlying reasons for and patterns of their classroom questioning behaviors.Results show that low order questions outweigh high order questions in all three stages and that redirecting and probing are the most frequently used questioning strategies. However, as PWP stages advance, the amount and proportion of high order divergent questions are on the rise, reaching 20% in the post-reading stage. Also, the average wait time increases from 1.37 seconds in the pre-reading stage to 2.53 seconds in the post-reading stage. Meanwhile, in terms of teacher feedback, the ratio of repetition drops while the percentage of simple praise rises in the pre-reading stage and post-reading stage respectively. Furthermore, the study also indicates that the overall question design is effective considering students’learning conditions, interests, teacher objectives and goals of PWP stages. However, outstanding teachers’ knowledge about theories on teacher questioning and diversified methods of teacher reflection is still inadequate. Therefore, classroom observation, teaching reflection and research might be utilized to further improve the effectiveness of teacher questioning and to promote teachers’professional development.