Effects Of Teacher Questioning On Classroom Interaction In Senior High School English Reading Class

Classroom interaction refers to the pattern of teaching organization which includes teacher-student's communication,exploration and promotion.Questioning was the most common technique used by teachers in EFL classroom settings to elicit students' reflection and encourage deeper understanding.A lot of empirical research both at home and abroad studied interaction from various perspectives which focused on the communicative process of interaction.Based on the previous studies,this research aimed at investigating the relationship between question features and classroom interaction in senior high school English reading class,and the effective strategies to improve classroom interaction by using the analysis scale designed by Al-Zahrani and Al-Bargi in 2017.Three questions were listed below:1.What are teachers' question features in senior high school English reading class?2.What are interaction levels in senior high school English reading class?3.What is the relationship between question features and classroom interaction in senior high school English reading class?To answer these three questions,the researcher recorded ten English reading classes from a middle school in Jinan,Shandong province.Through classroom observation of ten English reading classes,transcription,and interviews of the ten English teachers,the major findings were shown as following:Firstly,question features in senior high school English reading classes were mainly reflected in the following aspects.In terms of cognitive level,teachers questioning mostly checked students' the remembering,analysis or application abilities.As for the questioning complexity,teachers often asked students to respond with short and simple answers.With regard to questioning type,teachers preferred to use display questions.Regarding the communication pattern,it was controlled and directed by teachers and in a didactic way.Secondly,there were all the four kinds of interaction levels in senior high English reading classes,and lower interaction level was most frequent.In addition,the higher the interaction level,the lower frequency it had.Teachers' pedagogical aims,personalities,teaching ideas,and students' proficiency could influence the level of classroom interaction.Thirdly,in most cases,the higher level of the question features,the higher level of interaction.Questions with high complexity level required students' high proficiency to answer and interact fluently.Due to the lack of teaching competence,questions in high cognitive level could result in the lowest interaction level.Referential questions and conversational communication pattern led to the high interaction level.In addition,there were also individual characteristics in English reading classes,for example showing the various classroom activities and strategies to facilitate classroom interaction.English teachers are aware of the importance of classroom interaction,and this study hope to shed light on how to design interactive strategies according to the different levels of question features and interaction,so as to improve students' English learning through classroom interaction.