1 Introduction
1.1Background
In recent years, increasingly importance has been attached to language classroomquestioning. But a huge amount of researches has been made just on teacher questioningrather than learner questioning because most researchers hold that learners are just regarded aspassive responder to teachers’ question. Classroom teaching is just taken as one way of flowof information from teacher to learner. But in fact, teaching and learning should beinterdependent activity, which needs multiple interactions between teacher and students andstudents themselves.The important reason that why students questioning is neglected is that “researchfindings consistently show that learners have only a very limited opportunity to raisequestions” (Weinstein 1992). As a matter of fact, language teacher in the classroom ask 92%of the questions in the teaching process. Some of the teaching experts pointed out thatlanguage teacher is just a “professional questioner” (Zhang Kongyi 1998).The present situation is something like this: the pattern of the questioning in languageclassroom is teacher-initiated question → learners’ response → teacher’s evaluation/feedback,which play a rather dominant and passive role in language learning. In the teaching practice,the author of the paper discovered that in most of the cases language teacher just asks ‘fake’questions, which means that the question are not information-driven in nature. On the otherside, language learners are less motivated by one-side questioning initiated by languageteacher. There are not enough learners questioning together with huge amount of high qualityof input. Thirdly, a critical thinking of questioning should be further nurtured in the languageteaching classroom. Therefore, there are too much to be reformed in language teachingclassroom.
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1.2 Significance of the Research
The study of students’ questioning does have positive function for the comprehension ofclassroom discourse and second language learning. In the classroom participation form,students’ questioning is a higher level of cognitive involvement than answer questionspassively. van der Meij, H. (1994) considered that students questioning could increasestudents concentration, oral communication skills, ability for written and reading English andcritical thinking. The author’s basic idea is to let the learners to be the master of their secondlanguage acquisition by leading them to initiate questions in business English class. Teacherquestioning have prevailed in traditional English class, and few students could respond toquestions. Students should be spurred to be the questioning initiator in English class. Over thecourse of four and a half months, three classes were involved in the experiment in which theywere allowed to ask any questions about the text in English class. In this way they can focus their attention on the real questions than confuse them without distraction of ‘fake’ ones.Therefore, the implicit concern should be realized: why do learners seldom ask questions inlanguage class? what effects does learners questioning have on teaching results?
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2 Literature Review
2.1 Theoretical Foundation
Constructivism is a broad group of theories that explains knowledge acquisition andlearning. Ernst von Glasersfeld describes constructivism as “a theory of knowledge with rootsin philosophy, psychology, and cybernetics” (von Glasersfeld 1989). It is a theory to explainhow knowledge is constructed in the human being when information comes into contact withexisting knowledge that has been developed by experiences. Ernst von Glasersfeld claims thatknowledge is a process and product of the human brain, and that the extent to whichknowledge reflects external reality cannot therefore be determined: ‘we are responsible for theworld we are experiencing’ (von Glasersfeld 2007).Jean Piaget is commonly considered the pioneer and father of constructivist thought. Histheory is based on the idea that children’s active engagement with their environment leadsthem to the construction of meaning and learning. Piaget (1969) argued that cognitivedevelopment and conceptual change occur as a result of interactions between existingcognitive structures and new experience. Another form of learning occurs through cognitiveconflict, when children’s views are opposed by those of others. This leads to disequilibrium ordestabilization of existing constructs; learners must therefore search for new constructs, whichcan synthesize the different viewpoints and restore equilibrium. This process occurs internallyand is later manifested externally by talk and actions. It has been called an 'inside-out' theory(Garton 2004). Although Piaget’s theory has been criticized for its emphasis on the inpidualat the expense of social or cultural learning, his contribution to development and educationaltheory has been significant.
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2.2 Research Background
2.2.1 Research Background Abroad
In the past few decades, researchers abroad have begun to realize the significance andvalue of learners’ questioning. Some researches focus on the effect of student questioningupon learning, and the findings show that developing students’ ability of generating questionsis significantly helpful in learning achievement, especially in reading comprehension(Taboada 2004; Wang 1985). Sheena Hervey (2006), the past president of the New ZealandReading Association, commented on the role of questioning in reading like this, “Questioninglies at the heart of comprehension because it is the process of questioning, seeking answersand asking further questions that keeps the reading going. For students to become criticalreaders, we need to help them engage with texts through a range of different kinds ofquestioning.”Francis Bacon, an English famous philosopher and educationalist, claims that learnershould keep thinking and questioning, exploring the beginning and end, which stresseslearners’ attitudes to and skills of finding, promoting, and answering questions. However,Bacon just states demands of persons’ quality, without mentioned how to guiding students toquestion.Norah Morgan and Juliana Saxton (2006) in their book Asking Better Questions providesa comprehensive picture of the pressure that obstruct the teaching of questioning skills tostudents from the teachers’ perspective. They include right-answer pressure, classroomenvironment pressure, curriculum pressure, standardized testing pressure and personalpressure and control pressure that the teacher wants to be seen as “in control” by him/her orothers.
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3 Methodology ......... 13
3.1 Research Questions ........ 13
3.2 Subjects ........ 13
3.3 Research Methods and Instruments........ 14
3.3.1 Class Observation and Recording ...... 14
3.3.2 Interview......... 15
3.3.3 Questionnaire Survey ....... 15
3.3.4 Data Collection..... 16
4 Analysis and Discussion......... 17
4.1 Present Situation of Learners’ Questioning and Reasons .... 17
4.2 Application of Questioning in Business Classroom....... 20
4.3 Relational Studies between Learners’ Questioning .... 22
4.4 Manipulations and Modifications of Learners’ Questioning ...... 34
5 Conclusion....... 36
5.1 Major Findings ......... 36
5.2 Limitations of the Study....... 36
5.3 Implications........ 37
4 Analysis and Discussion
4.1 Present Situation of Learners’ Questioning and Reasons
Recently, Tsinghua University Education Institute, collecting samples more than 20,000from 23 undergraduate colleges and universities including Tsinghua University and other 985universities, issued a research report which made a comparison between 985 college in Chinaand American research universities. The report shows that there are more than 20% of 985college Chinese students choose “never” in the item of “the class questioning or participate inthe discussion” while only 3% American college students choose “never”; only 10% ofChinese students choose “often ask questions” or “very often ask questions” but 63% ofAmerican students choose this option. Teaching experts and researchers have taken it forgranted that Chinese students are more likely to ask less questions than their westerncounterparts do. The reason of college students rarely ask questions are deemed to be thedevoid of good questioning atmosphere, the weakness of consciousness of initiating questionsin class and the insufficiency of classroom interactive link, which means the failure tomobilize students to think independently or desire to express their opinions in the public. Thisis what the situation is in China.In a traditional classroom, the teacher is the center of attention, the owner of knowledgeand information. Teachers often ask questions of their students to gauge comprehension. Inmost of the cases students’ questioning does rarely occur. It is the most common phenomenonthat students give responses to questions raised by their teacher. Based on the four-monthobservation in DLPU, the figure below shows the average percentage of the number ofteacher and students questioning respectively in the Business English classroom.
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Conclusion
In the light of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of this research which is guided bythe following theoretical frameworks of constructivism, interaction theory andcommunication theory. Listed below are the major findings of this paper.
1) In most business English classes, students rarely take the initiative to ask question to theteacher. Students’ inactive participation in classroom is mainly influenced by two majorfactors which are external factor and internal factor. They play an important role instudents’ questioning.
2) Students’ questioning behavior in classroom has been greatly improved with the teachers’guidance and help. The frequency of students’ questioning has greatly increased.Meanwhile, students question types have multiplied. There is a dramatic improvement inthe quality of students’ questioning which is more meaning-oriented.
3) Students are positive in the teaching activities. The lively atmosphere has an apparentinfluence on their learning efficiency.
4) From the analysis of data, the conclusion can be seen that students’ questioning has a greatinfluence on teaching consequence which can be reflected in the aspects such asquestionnaires, interviews and observations and all of direct and indirect influences helpstudents develop their classroom questioning strategies, learning initiative and learninginteresting and eventual improve their English proficiency.
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Reference (omitted)