A Comparative Study Of Classroom Questioning Strategies Of Novice And Experienced High School English Teacher

Since "thinking quality " is included as one of the four components of "core competences" in the Standard of Ordinary High School English Curriculum(2017 edition),how to cultivate students’ thinking quality has become one of the focuses for the high school English teachers.We believe that an effective classroom questioning strategy is an effective way to cultivate students’ thinking quality,because it can stimulate students’ interest in English learning,encourage students to actively participate in class activities,so as to improve the students’ language ability and cultivate students’ thinking quality.The thinking quality of English subject emphasizes the students’ logical,critical and innovative thinking.Specifically speaking,students should be able to express intention meaningfully in English,or collect evidence in English to prove their own opinions and judgments,and evaluate whether others’ opinions are reasonable.On the basis of the first two points,students can achieve the innovative thinking in the process of using English to solve problems.As an important part of classroom teaching,the effectiveness and pertinence of classroom questioning are directly related to the teaching effect.In order to explore better strategies of classroom questioning and better play the role of classroom questioning,we intend to compare the similarities and differences in classroom questioning between novice and proficient English teachers,and explore the urgent problems that high school English teachers need to solve in classroom questioning,so as to improve the effectiveness of classroom questioning by teachers,achieve the mutual benefits of teachers and students,and ensure the quality of teaching.Based on the interaction hypothesis and humanistic learning theory,we adopt literature method,questionnaire method,classroom observation method and interview method.We take 6 high school English teachers(including 3proficient teachers and 3 novice teachers)in Wanzhou District as the objects of interview and classroom observation,and take 50 high school English teachers(including 25 proficient teachers and 25 novice teachers)from three schools in Wanzhou District and 240 students as the subjects of questionnaire survey.The following four aspects are discussed: first,the similarities and differences between questioning strategies of novice English teachers and proficient English teachers in high school classrooms;second,the factors affecting the classroom questioning strategies of novice teachers and proficient teachers;third,students’ opinions on the questions asked by their English teachers in class;fourth,the suggestions to optimize questioning strategies of English teachers in high school classrooms.The results show that the similarities between the classroom questioning strategies of novice and proficient teachers are as follows: first,the two kinds of teachers put forward more low-level questions than high-level questions;second,the waiting time given by the two kinds of teachers is generally 3-10 seconds for questions of general difficulty;third,the two kinds of teachers use paralinguistic and nonverbal skills to help students understand questions;fourth,when students answer correctly,the two kinds of teachers mainly give positive feedback.However,the differences between them are as follows: first,compared with novice teachers,proficient teachers pay more attention to the effectiveness of classroom questioning;second,proficient teachers can put forward high-level questions better to develop students’ critical thinking ability than novice teachers;third,novice teachers give longer waiting time than proficient teachers;fourth,in terms of call-answer methods,proficient teachers mainly use the ways of "roll call" and "voluntary answer",while novice teachers mainly use the ways of "collective answer" and "voluntary answer";fifth,proficient teachers are better at using inquiry strategies to help students understand and answer questions than novice teachers;sixth,compared with novice teachers,proficient teachers can give more specific evaluations according to students’ answers,and the feedback content is more comprehensive;seventh,in terms of reflection after questioning,the proficient teachers can reflect the classroom questioning from the perspective of students,while the novice teachers usually do that from the perspective of teachers themselves.Based on the above research results,we put forward the following suggestions to novice teachers and proficient teachers about the classroom questioning strategies in high school English teaching.On the one hand,for novice teachers: first,attention should be paid to the design of questions before class and reflection after class;second,more high level questions should be asked;third,questioning strategies should be used flexibly;fourth,teacher’s feedback should be effectively improved.On the other hand,for proficient teachers: first,more attention should be paid to the level and diversity of the questioning types;second,the waiting time should be extended appropriately;third,the concept of lifelong learning should be established.