By Mr. Muhammad AslamFIC Kohat

OBJECTIVESOBJECTIVES

To make the teachers aware of To make the teachers aware of the basic question types and to the basic question types and to show how they can be used for show how they can be used for different purposes.different purposes.

To show teachers how to elicit To show teachers how to elicit short and long answers from the short and long answers from the students in a natural way.students in a natural way.

To make teachers aware of To make teachers aware of different possible strategies for different possible strategies for asking questions.asking questions.

WHY TEACHERS ASK WHY TEACHERS ASK QUESTIONS?QUESTIONS? To check that students understand or to check their To check that students understand or to check their

comprehension.comprehension. To give students practice.To give students practice. To find out what students really think or know. We To find out what students really think or know. We

can encourage them to talk about their experiences can encourage them to talk about their experiences and feelings.and feelings.

To get feed back about students’ performance and To get feed back about students’ performance and teacher’s own performance.teacher’s own performance.

To check their prior knowledge.To check their prior knowledge. To make them attentive and alert.To make them attentive and alert. To elicit new knowledge.To elicit new knowledge. To make them guess or predict new information.To make them guess or predict new information.

QUESTION TYPESQUESTION TYPES

Look at the following questions.Look at the following questions.I)I) Do you like tea?Do you like tea?II)II) Can you swim?Can you swim?III)III) Are you enjoying this lesson? Are you enjoying this lesson? IV)IV) Do you prefer tea or coffee?Do you prefer tea or coffee?V)V) Will you go by bus or train?Will you go by bus or train?VI)VI) What do you study at home?What do you study at home?VII)VII) Why are you interested in Math?Why are you interested in Math?VIII)VIII) Feeling good?Feeling good?

1.Yes/No Questions1.Yes/No Questions

Look at the first group of Look at the first group of questions:questions:

Do you live in Kohat?Do you live in Kohat? What can be their answer?What can be their answer? Their answer is mostly ‘Yes’ or Their answer is mostly ‘Yes’ or

‘No’ or with short form: ‘yes, I ‘No’ or with short form: ‘yes, I do’., ‘No, I don’t’.do’., ‘No, I don’t’.

How to make and use Yes/No How to make and use Yes/No questions?questions? By using helping verbs/auxiliaries at By using helping verbs/auxiliaries at

the beginning we can form such the beginning we can form such questions.questions.

Yes/No questions are used for:Yes/No questions are used for: i) checking comprehensioni) checking comprehension ii) easy responses.ii) easy responses. iii) because students don’t require iii) because students don’t require

new language.new language. iv) to check knowledge level iv) to check knowledge level

questions.questions.

2. ‘OR’ Questions2. ‘OR’ Questions

Look at the following questions:Look at the following questions: i) Do you like ice-cream or i) Do you like ice-cream or

chocolate?chocolate? ii) Would you prefer English or ii) Would you prefer English or

history?history? They are ‘OR’ questions or They are ‘OR’ questions or

‘alternative questions'. The reply to ‘alternative questions'. The reply to such questions is normally in one such questions is normally in one word or phrase from the question word or phrase from the question itself.itself.

How to frame and use ‘OR’ How to frame and use ‘OR’ questions?questions?

They are framed just like They are framed just like Yes/No questions.Yes/No questions.

Their use is also like Yes/No Their use is also like Yes/No questions. They require limited questions. They require limited response.response.

They are used to check They are used to check knowledge level questions.knowledge level questions.

‘‘WH’ QUESTIONSWH’ QUESTIONS

Look at the following questions:Look at the following questions: What is your program today?What is your program today? Why do you prefer coffee over tea?Why do you prefer coffee over tea? They are also called information They are also called information

questions.questions. With most of the WH questions, it is With most of the WH questions, it is

natural to give a short answer. e.g.: natural to give a short answer. e.g.: Where do you live? In Kohat. Where do you live? In Kohat.

How to form and use ‘WH’ How to form and use ‘WH’ questions?questions? Some WH word is used at the Some WH word is used at the

beginning of the sentence and beginning of the sentence and followed by helping verb.followed by helping verb.

‘‘Who’ or ‘What’ questions some Who’ or ‘What’ questions some times have the same structure as a times have the same structure as a normal sentence. They are called normal sentence. They are called subject questions because they ask subject questions because they ask about the subject of the sentence. about the subject of the sentence. e.g. What happened? Who wrote this e.g. What happened? Who wrote this letter? Etc.letter? Etc.

Eliciting Long AnswersEliciting Long Answers

‘‘WH’ questions are used to elicit long WH’ questions are used to elicit long answers for the purpose of practicing answers for the purpose of practicing language structure.language structure.

They should be asked in such a They should be asked in such a manner so that the long response manner so that the long response look natural not a forced one like the look natural not a forced one like the following:following:

What do you eat in dinner? Give full What do you eat in dinner? Give full answer.answer.

‘‘Question prompt’ can be used for Question prompt’ can be used for long answer. E.g. Tell me about your long answer. E.g. Tell me about your day? What about lunch? Etc.day? What about lunch? Etc.

QUESTIONING STRATEGIESQUESTIONING STRATEGIES

Apart from question types a Apart from question types a teacher should know how to teacher should know how to organize question/answer work organize question/answer work in the class.in the class.

There are different ways of There are different ways of asking questions.asking questions.

Asking QuestionsAsking Questions

Questions can be asked in following Questions can be asked in following ways:ways:

Teacher can ask each student turn Teacher can ask each student turn by turn.by turn.

He can let any student call out the He can let any student call out the answer.answer.

He can choose a student to answer.He can choose a student to answer. He can get the class to answer in He can get the class to answer in

chorus. And So on.chorus. And So on.

Common Questioning Common Questioning StrategiesStrategies There are four strategies commonly used by the There are four strategies commonly used by the

teachers:teachers:A. Teacher asks question and simply lets the A. Teacher asks question and simply lets the

students call out answers in chorus.students call out answers in chorus.B. Teacher asks a question then pauses to give the B. Teacher asks a question then pauses to give the

whole class a chance to think. Then he chooses whole class a chance to think. Then he chooses one student to answer. No one is allowed to call one student to answer. No one is allowed to call out the answer or raise his hands.out the answer or raise his hands.

C. Teacher first chooses a student then asks C. Teacher first chooses a student then asks question.question.

D. Teacher asks a question and lets students raise D. Teacher asks a question and lets students raise their hands. Then he chooses one student with their hands. Then he chooses one student with raised hand to answer.raised hand to answer.

Which one is the best strategy Which one is the best strategy and why?and why? Which one can help to do the Which one can help to do the

following:following:A.A. Help the teacher to control the Help the teacher to control the

class.class.B.B. To keep the attention of the whole To keep the attention of the whole

class.class.C.C. Give good students a chance to Give good students a chance to

show their knowledge.show their knowledge.D.D. Give weak students a chance to Give weak students a chance to

answer. Give lazy students a answer. Give lazy students a chance not to answer.chance not to answer.

Advantages of these Advantages of these strategiesstrategies There is single best strategy There is single best strategy AA which which

suits large classes. It can be effective suits large classes. It can be effective for short answers.for short answers.

Strategy Strategy B B keeps the class involved but keeps the class involved but still under control. It gives chance to still under control. It gives chance to weaker as well as able students to weaker as well as able students to answer. It is a good strategy for routine answer. It is a good strategy for routine easy questions.easy questions.

Strategy Strategy CC is highly controlled but is not is highly controlled but is not a good way of keeping attention of the a good way of keeping attention of the class.class.

Strategy Strategy D D encourages bright students encourages bright students to answer and weaker ones tend to to answer and weaker ones tend to remain silent.remain silent.

A ReminderA Reminder

All the strategies and techniques All the strategies and techniques are weapons in the hands of a are weapons in the hands of a teacher. It is up to him which teacher. It is up to him which one to use , when to use and one to use , when to use and how to use.how to use.