A Study On The Correlation Between Teacher Questioning And Student Participation In Senior High School English Classes

Teacher discourse is a significant component of comprehensible language input for students in English classes,as well as a tool for teachers to arrange classroom teaching(Nunan,1991).With the deepening of the new curriculum reform,teachers,as the guides and organizers of students’ learning,play a crucial role in guiding students’ classroom interaction,and their questioning is an important medium.Moreover,students’ mastery of knowledge can be tested and students’ thinking ability can be cultivated through teachers’ classroom questioning.Therefore,conducting a study of teacher questioning and students’ classroom participation is of great practical significance.Based on comprehensible input,output and interaction theory,this study uses three research instruments: questionnaire,classroom observation and interview to explore the correlation between teacher questioning and student participation in senior high school English classes.The samples of the study are three English teachers from a high school in Kunming and all the students are from grade one.The main research questions are:(1)What are the main problems with senior high school English teachers’ classroom questioning?(2)What are the correlations between senior high school English teachers’ questioning and students’ behavioral,cognitive and emotional participation in class?(3)How do English teachers promote senior high school students’ class participation by means of effective questioning?Based on the results of data analysis,the following research conclusions and pedagogical insights have been drawn from this study:(1)Broadly speaking,senior high school English teachers tend to use too many display questions and few referential questions in classes.Teachers’ questioning is primarily knowledge-based,and less attention is paid to the cultivation of students’ thinking ability.Teachers give students insufficient waiting time in classroom questioning,which affects students’ participation.(2)High school English teachers’ classroom questioning is highly correlated with students’ classroom participation,especially in cognitive and emotional participation.No apparent relationship exists between teachers’ questioning and students’ behavioral participation.(3)English teachers should improve their questioning strategies and skills to better present questions and promote effective questioning.They should also create a classroom environment conducive to students’ self expression,give students more time to think,and finally promote student participation in class.