Types of questions posed by efl teacher candidates and their potential role in fostering communication in language classrooms

---

Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Yabancı Diller Eğitimi Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2018

Öğrenci: ESRA KARAKUŞ

Danışman: PERİHAN SAVAŞ

Özet:

This study investigated the impact of different types of questions used by twelve pre-service EFL teachers on fostering communication in language classrooms. In this regard, a qualitative case study was conducted. The participants were enrolled in a practicum course at a state university in Turkey. Data were collected through classroom observations based on video recordings. The types of questions posed by them during their final teaching practices in practicum schools were analyzed through two classification systems. Moreover, twelve pre-service EFL teachers, four supervisors, and two mentor teachers were interviewed regarding the definition of teacher questioning and types of teacher questions used for language teaching. The perceptions of supervisors and mentor teachers concerning the use of possible instructional strategies to improve English language teacher candidates’ questioning skills were investigated. The results of the study indicated that display questions outnumbered procedural questions which were asked for managerial purposes. However, the least frequently asked questions were the ones whose purposes were communicating with students. Teacher questioning was largely defined as a means of checking comprehension,making introduction to a topic, a means of providing active participation and guiding student learning. As regards to the types of questions, the participants mostly mentioned yes/no questions, wh- questions, display questions and comprehension questions. With respect to the prominent instructional strategies for improving questioning skills, encouraging peer feedback, giving feedback on improving the quality of questions, watching the video recordings of lessons, engaging in tasks on teacher questions and comparing question types in different transcribed lessons were suggested.