A Comparative Study On Classroom Questioning Types Between Novice And Proficient Teachers In Higher Vocational College

Classroom questioning is an essential part of teaching,a major means for the interaction between teachers and students,and an important source of learners' language input.Studies on teachers' classroom questioning are of significance.However,the author finds that many previous studies focused on teacher's questioning in primary and middle school or universities,those in Higher Vocational Colleges were rare.And many scholars discussed questioning types,questioning strategies,wait-time,teachers' feedback etc.while they paid little attention to the questioning content and questioning forms between novice and proficient teachers in Higher Vocational Colleges.To improve questioning effectiveness and teachers' professional ability in Higher Vocational Colleges,the comparative study on classroom questioning types between novice and proficient teachers in Higher Vocationalal College is conducted.The research methods of this study are literature analysis,classroom observation,questionnaire and personal interviews.The subjects are 4 teachers from different colleges.This paper attempts to find answers to 3 questions:1.What are the differences of quantity and ratio of questions between novice and proficient teachers in Higher Vocationalal Colleges?2.On questioning content,what are the differences and similarities between novice and proficient teachers?3.On questioning types,what are the differences and similarities between novice and proficient teachers?The major results are surmmarized as follows:1.Novice teachers(hereinafter referred as NTs)raise more classroom questions than proficient teachers(hereinafter referred as PTs)in Higher Vocational Colleges.In 180 minutes,2 NTs raise 217 questions while 2 PTs raise 165 questions.More questions from NTs do not result in more flexible classroom control or accelerating more thinking for students.On the contrary,some of the questions restrain students' thinking development.2.Both NTs and PTs raise more display questions,then managerial questions and least referential questions.It shows that NTs and PTs pay attention to the check up and consolidation of acquired knowledge,but they neglect the questions that trigger students' thinking and accelerate high-level thinking activities.In a word,their classes are still teacher-centered.3.On managerial questions,the total questions from NTs are more than those of PTs'.The study shows that NTs raise high proportion of teaching procedure questions and attention-captured questions,which indicates that NTs pay more attention to ensure successful teaching activities;while PTs raise more questions to support students' feelings and maintain classroom atmosphere,which indicates that PTs are more familiar with teaching content,proficient in teaching procedures,and they are able to adjust teaching timely according to teaching practice and students' reflection.4.On display questions,the total questions from NTs are more than those of PTs',which shows that NTs mainly raise questions to check up and learn about students' understanding,to review and consolidate the acquired knowledge,and to encourage students to take part in classroom teaching and learning.Nevertheless,NTs neglect the use of referential questions,thus cannot improve students' thinking development.NTs raise more knowledge questions and comprehension questions than PTs do,while PTs have more applied questions than NTs,which shows that,compared with NTs,PTs attach more importance to trigger higher-level thinking,encourage thinking,interaction,language output and teaching effectiveness.5.On referential questions,both NTs and PTs do not raise any evaluation questions,which shows that teachers do not offer students opportunities to engage in high-level thinking.On the proportion of analysis questions and synthesis questions,PTs are higher than NTs,which indicates that PTs lay more emphasis on triggering thinking,the development of higher-level thinking,the interaction of thinking and language output and students' synthetic application ability.6.On questioning forms,similarities and differences can be seen in both types of teachers.NTs and PTs use more translation questions and Wh-/How type questions than Yes/No type questions,and least seducing questions and or… type questions.NTs apply more translation questions,then Wh-/How type questions,followed by Yes/No type questions,least or… type questions and seducing questions.While PTs use more Wh-/How type questions for acquiring information,then translation questions and Yes/No type questions,followed by seducing questions and or… type questions.7.Distinct differences are seen in the proportion of open questions and closed questions in Wh-/How type questions for different teachers.PTs raise more open questions than NTs;while NTs have more closed questions than PTs.Too many closed questions from NTs are unfavorable for the active thinking of students;PTs keep a good balance of open and closed questions to both check students' knowledge and encourage them to think more.8.Distinct differences can be seen in the proportion of vocabulary translation and sentence translation in translation questions for different teachers.The number of NTs' questions is twice that of PTs' in vocabulary translation,while no big differences in sentence translation.For NTs,they check,review and consolidate acquired knowledge by vocabulary translation,and most of which are from English into Chinese;for PTs,they help students develop thinking ability,encourage students to seek for answers,but most of which are from English into Chinese as well.Both two types of teachers stress the review of knowledge understanding while neglect the practice and application of language,which is unfavorable for language acquirement and production,and reduce teaching effectiveness in English class.The study suggests both two types of teachers should enhance theoretical study on classroom questioning types,create student-centered class,and design questions for different classes;For NTs,they should lower the proportion of display questions and low-thinking-level questions,as well as vocabulary translation.Two types of teachers should both increase Chinese to English translation questions.For NTs and PTs,they should learn from each other.