Abstract

This paper mainly focuses on the types, the current situation, the problems and solutions of EFL teachers’ classroom questioning. It gives suggestions for teachers to design questions properly and ask questions effectively. The three research questions are: 1. What are the characteristics of teachers’ questioning in terms of promoting students’ thinking skills? 2. What difficulties exist in the procedure of EFL teachers’ questioning? 3. What are the factors that influence EFL teachers’ questioning? To solve the three questions, this paper takes the interviews and observations methods to do the research. By interviewed and observed the 80 students in Class 5 Grade 8 and 5 EFL teachers in Grade 8 in Guang’an Middle School, the research result is: EFL teachers should have the consciousness to cultivate students’ thinking skills. Know the teaching efficiency that different kinds of questions can achieve so that teachers can design questions correctly. In the classroom teaching, teachers should ask less closed, display and lower-order questions but more open, genuine and higher-order questions to cultivate students’ thinking skills. Teachers should be clear of two things: 1. Have the consciousness of cultivating students’ thinking skills. 2. Design and ask questions properly.

Keywords：questioning  thinking skills  awareness  design questions

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-- 1 -

1.1 Research background-- 1 -

1.2 Research purpose-- 1 -

2. Literature review-- 3 -

2.1 Theoretical framework-- 3 -

2.1.1 Different kinds of classroom questioning-- 3 -

2.1.2 The functions of different kinds of questions-- 3 -

2.2 Students’ thinking skills-- 4 -

2.3 Students’ responses to teachers’ different types of questions-- 4 -

3. Methodology-- 6 -

3.1 Research questions-- 6 -

3.2 Participants-- 6 -

3.3 Research methods-- 6 -

4. Findings and discussion-- 9 -

4.1 Teachers’ consciousness on cultivating students’ thinking skills in class-- 9 -

4.2 Teachers’ behavior on cultivating students’ thinking skills in class-- 12 -

4.3 Teachers’ problems on cultivating students’ thinking skills in class and the solutions-- 14 -

4.3.1 Problems-- 14 -

.4.3.2 Solutions-- 15 -

5. Conclusion-- 16 -

5.1 Implications of the research-- 16 -

5.2 Limitations of the research-- 16 -

5.3 Suggestions for future research-- 16 -

Bibliography-- 18 -