Quality of questions

A productive environment

In order for dialogue between teacher and pupil to be more productive, the type of questions asked by the teacher need to be well thought out. This involves creating a climate within the classroom where pupils are encouraged to volunteer ideas, think out loud, explain their reasoning and explore their understanding. Teachers need to develop the use of higher order questions and learn to paraphrase and prompt for their pupils.

Practical ways to improve questioning

In the Guide for Teachers and Managers: Modern Languages 5-14, the skilful use of questions is described on page 35:

• use a variety of questions: in the early stages, closed questions requiring a yes or no answer can do much to build the confidence of young learners and provide an effective model for asking similar questions; offering alternative answers gives additional listening input to the learners, gives time for reflection and is useful in developing problem-solving skills
• use open questions, giving learners the opportunity to experiment - to give extended answers going beyond simple sentences
• allow adequate thinking and answering time.          

Well-focused questions help pupils explore ideas, promote discussion and thinking; the interactions that ensue provide feedback for both the teachers and the learner.

In most classrooms, research has revealed that teachers rarely go beyond knowledge or comprehension questions (the first two rungs of the ladder). In order to promote better thinking and learning you can read more about questioning in this short online summary of Bloom's Taxonomy.