Study Of Classroom Questioning In Senior High School English Reading Class Based On Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is one of the core qualities concerned by both domestic and foreign educational circles.The Basic Education Curriculum Reform Outline(2001),Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards(2011)and National English Curriculum Standards for general High School(2018)all put critical thinking as one of cores of English curriculum.Reading course,as the main carrier of English courses,bears the heavy responsibility of cultivating students’ critical thinking.This research tries to study the classroom questioning of teachers in English reading class from the perspective of critical thinking,and mainly answers three research questions:(1)What is the general situation of classroom questioning in English reading class of senior high school?(2)What is the critical thinking skills level of senior high school students?(3)Is there any correlation between question types of classroom questioning and students’ critical thinking skills?Based on Bloom’s(1956)Taxonomy Theory of Educational Objectives,Piaget’s(1970)theory of Cognitive Development and Vygotsky’s(1978)theory of Zone of Proximal Development,this study adopts classroom observation,questionnaire survey and interview methods.The subjects of classroom observation are five English teachers in grade two of NO.H Senior High school in Yining City.According to the classroom questioning observation scale,this paper explores the general situation of classroom questioning from four aspects:question types,questioning strategies,wait-time and teacher feedback.During the classroom observation period,the students taught by five English teachers’ classes receive a critical thinking skills questionnaire.The subjects of the interview are five English teachers.The purpose of the interview is to assist in the analysis of classroom questioning and the results of students’ critical thinking skills.Finally,SPSS20.0 education statistics software is used to make statistics on classroom observation results and questionnaire survey results.The classroom observation and questionnaire survey data showed:The results show that:(1)In the actual classroom questioning process,the questions raised by teachers focus on low-level questions,such as knowledge questions and comprehension questions.When teachers adopt questioning strategies,they tend to use repetition strategies and probing strategies.In terms of wait-time for students to answer,the time range of teachers waiting for students to answer is too short or too long.Finally,the teacher’s feedback is mainly positive.(2)The overall level of critical thinking skills of senior high school students is lower-middle-level.The average scores of critical thinking skills of senior two students are15.26.The proportion of students’ critical thinking level in middle level is very high,while the proportion of students’ critical thinking skills level in the low level is small.In the critical thinking skills test,most of the students’ scores of the analysis sub-scale are at a moderate level,while the students’ scores of the evaluation and reasoning sub-scale are low.(3)There is a positive correlation between classroom questioning and students’ critical thinking skills,and the correlation coefficient is 0.895.The question types of classroom questioning have an impact on the development of students’ critical thinking skills.Pedagogical Implications as follows:Teachers should seize the advantages of English reading class to cultivate students’ critical thinking through classroom questioning.Teachers should also reflect on classroom questioning in English reading class from four aspects: question types,questioning strategies,wait-time and teachers’ feedback.Students are the subject of learning,and students need to actively think,analyze,and evaluate questions in order to form critical answers and opinions.