Module 3:
Effective Question and Answer
"The wise man doesn't give the right answers, he poses the right questions." - Claude Levi-Strauss
Start Here
Questions and responses are used daily in the classroom and they are also fundamental to classroom teacher talk. When you model good questioning and responding approaches using English, students will be encouraged to learn and follow. From the easiest interrogative sentence formation to systematic scaffolding of an activity, you can use questions and responses to increase the interaction and student learning. In this module, you will explore the different ways of asking questions and getting students responses using English in your communicative language classroom.
By the end of the module, you will be able to:
understand how different types of questions are used in teacher talk
form beginner friendly questions
scaffold students’ response in more comfortable and effective ways
practice basic question forms and answers with students
Click here to download the Module 3 Packet.
Explore
3.1 Watch
Explore ideas for effective question and answer by watching two videos.
Video 1. Asking Questions during Listening Tasks
This video will introduce you different types of questions for different learning goals in listening activities. Click here for a PDF of the script for Video 1.
Video 2. Practicing Wh-Questions Using Information Gap Activities
This video will show you an example of how to lead your students to form and use basic wh-questions in classroom activities. Click here for a PDF of the script for Video 2.
3.2 Read
Explore ideas for effective question and answer by reading at least two articles.
Articles
Article 1: Questions and Responses
This article presents various ways that teachers can scaffold questions and responses for their beginner learners. Simple response strategies are also offered to engage students and check their understanding.
Source: U.S. Department of State, American English. (n.d.). Scaffolding part one: Questions and responses. https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/september_teachers_corner_week_3_final_1.pdf
Article 2: Display Questions vs. Referential Questions by Hyunsun Chung
This article shares how teachers and ask questions to students so that they can "display" their knowledge or share their opinions about a topic.
Source: Chung, H. (2021). Display questions vs. referential questions . English Speaking Nation for Uzbekistan Program.
Additional Resources
Do You CCQ? Using Concept Checking Questions in the ESL Classroom by Jalena Johnson
Source: Johnson, J. (2020, March 10). Do you CCQ? Using concept checking questions in the ESL classroom. Bridge Universe. https://bridge.edu/tefl/blog/ccq-using-concept-checking-questions-esl-classroom/
Exploring Teacher Questions and Feedback By Christoph Suter
Source: Suter, C. (2001, January). Exploring teacher questions and feedback. University of Birmingham. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/cels/essays/languageteaching/suter1.pdf
3.3 Search
Explore more teaching resources about effective question and answer. You can also search these websites for more teaching resources:
(Hint: Try using these keywords: comprehension check in English, ESL feedback )
Do
3.4 Think
Do you use English when you ask questions in your classroom? If yes, what are some examples of the questions that you ask? If not, what are some challenges that prevent you from asking questions in English?
When you ask them questions, do your students try to answer in English? What might help them to answer in English during the lesson?
3.5 Create
Choose a part (reading or listening) in your textbook and create a set of questions that fits for the learning goal of the part you’ve selected. Think about a possible question and answer situation that might happen in that learning sequence. Use the tasks and languages for different goals you have watched and read in the module such as an information gap activity.
Note: This will be added to your Portfolio.
3.6 Share
Share in the group chat your mock classroom sequence that you have created.
Example
Hello, Colleagues! The (activity/video/routine/ instructions) I want to share is called _____________________________________________________ . I chose this activity(part) to create the classroom dialogue because__________________________________________________________________________________________. (Be sure to attach your activity file).
3.7 Apply
After you share your example dialogue, read through your colleagues' posts in the group chat. Find at least one or two that you can use in your next class.
Consider these questions when selecting your colleagues examples to apply in your classroom instruction:
Which of the suggested ways of giving questions do you think can be adaptable to your teaching context? Why and why not?
How did the other teacher use it and what made these strategies effective?
OR
If you already had a chance to practice in your classroom what you learned in this module, then use the self-check chart in the Article 2 to examine how the questions and responses were used in your lesson.
3.8 Reflect
Write 1-2 paragraphs to reflect on Module 3 (300-500 words). You may use what you have created, shared, and applied in the previous tasks.
Note: This will be added to your Portfolio.
Completion Checklist
During this module you should have finished the following tasks:
I watched two videos.
I read two articles.
I searched for a few new web resources to help my teaching.
I thought about my practice of asking and answering questions in English and wrote down some reflections.
I created a question and answer sequence in English that fits the learning goal for a part of my textbook/lesson.
I shared my question and answer sequence with my colleagues on Telegram.
I applied at least one new question and answer sequence from my Telegram group in my teaching context.
I wrote 1-2 paragraphs to reflect on my learning in Module 3.
I began creating my digital portfolio.