A Case Study On Teachers’ Questioning In English Reading Teaching Based On The Cultivation Of Thinking Quality In Junior High School

Key competencies have become a hot topic in English teaching in recent years.Nowadays,as one of the four key competencies of English discipline,thinking quality attracts much attention in English subject education and numerous research has done about this.The cultivation of thinking quality is an essential aspect of students’ all-round development and also a critical task of English teaching.In English reading teaching,teachers’ questioning is the central element that boosts classroom instruction and plays a salient role in cultivating students’ thinking quality,which is crucially significant for junior high school students who are in the critical period of cognitive development.Therefore,this paper intends to make an in-depth study of teachers’ questioning in English reading teaching in junior high school,and explores the different traits of teachers’ questioning when facing different levels of students based on the cultivation of students’ thinking quality.Meanwhile,the author tries to reveal the reasons behind them.In this research,the author mainly adopts classroom observation to observe three different-level classes in Grade Eight taught by three junior high school English teachers from Shuguang Middle School in Zigong,Sichuan province.The 12 regular reading lessons were recorded in total,and the teachers’ questions were transcribed.According to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives,the types and numbers of teachers’ questioning would be recorded and analyzed.Then these three teachers were interviewed respectively.The thesis intends to answer three research questions as follows:(1)What are junior high school English teachers’ understanding of thinking quality and their attitude towards the cultivation of it?(2)Based on the cultivation of thinking quality,what are the characteristics of the three teachers’ questioning in reading class? What are the differences in questioning different level students?(3)What are the influencing factors of teachers’ questioning on account of cultivating students’ thinking quality?The results show that:(1)Teachers take the cultivation of students’ thinking quality seriously,but they do not have a systematic understanding of its concept and connotation;(2)In junior high school English reading teaching,teachers’ questioning involves all levels of students’ thinking quality,while the frequency of questions to cultivate students’ in-depth thinking ability is relatively low,which implies that the training of critical thinking ability and creative thinking ability is scarce;The number of teachers’ questions and the proportion of high thinking level questions are in direct proportion to the students’ English level,that is the higher the students’ English level are,the more questions the teacher will ask in reading class;(3)There are some obstacles for teachers in the development of students’ thinking quality during the practice,which is related to teachers’ understanding and attitude towards it,their professional ability,students’ English level and personal character,school curriculum,current examination evaluation situation,and related training experience of teachers.All of those mentioned can affect teachers’ questioning on the basis of cultivating students’ thinking quality in junior high school.Based on the findings of this research,connecting with the practical situation of junior-high students with different English levels,the author puts forward suggestions from the aspects of teacher training,curriculum resources optimization,evaluation standards and so on.Ultimately,the author hopes that it can enlighten and promote the relevant research in this field and help to cultivate the thinking quality of junior high school students.