TYPES OF QUESTIONS USED IN EFL CLASSROOMS: A REFLECTIVE STUDY ON A TURKISH EFL TEACHER’S PRACTICES
İNGİLİZCE’NİN YABANCI DİL OLARAK ÖĞRETİLDİĞİ SINIFLARDA KULLANILAN SORU TİPLERİ: BİR İNGİLİZCE ÖĞRETMENİNİN UYGULAMALARI ÜZERİNE YANSITICI BİR ÇALIŞMA

Author : Elçin ÖLMEZER ÖZTÜRK
Number of pages : 164-173

Abstract

Following a reflection-in-action approach, this study reports on the reflective practices of an EFL teacher regarding the types of questions she uses while interacting with the students in classroom atmosphere. The participant, also the researcher, was an instructor in the English preparatory program of a state university. The data were collected through four hours of audio-recording in the spring semester of 2014-2015 academic year. In the data analysis process, the data obtained from these recordings were transcribed verbatim, and the questions were identified and classified based on the framework of Richards and Lockhart (1996) as procedural, convergent and divergent. The classification was cross-checked with a colleague holding a PhD in English language teaching to ensure the reliability of the findings. The results revealed that most of the questions the teacher used during these four hours were convergent, seeking yes/no or short answers. She used such questions so extensively that the lessons get too loaded with them and became teacher-fronted ones. It was also found that although the teacher sometimes used procedural questions to attract the attention of her students and prepare them for the content of the course, she mostly asked them just for the sake of asking and they served as conversational routines and gap-fillers during her interaction with the students. It was also clear in these sessions that the teacher could not provide effective transitions between these questions types during the interaction. Based on these findings, the study highlights, as a conclusion, how important and significant reflective practices are in developing one’s skills as a teacher.

Keywords

Question types, language teachers, EFL classrooms, reflective practice

Read: 1,470

Download: 618