A Study Of The Relationship Between Students’ Reticence And Teachers’ Questioning In EFL Classrooms

Class questioning is the main method for the teachers to access to the students’studying status and get the feedback of the teaching and it is also essential for theeffective teaching. Some classes even can not be processed without class questioning.So teachers’ effective questioning is directly related to the proper interaction betweenteachers and students also among the students. The observation shows that the properclass interaction can improve the capability of students efficiently. In the traditional EFLclass, teachers and students focus more on reading and writing while ignoring thelistening and speaking. This leads to the problem that the students rarely communicatein English in their daily life. The students have less eagerness and capability to expressthemselves and this leads to students’ reticence. That is, the students remain silent in theclassroom: students perform reticence or silent behavior in the classroom (e.g. Studentsare unable, unwilling or avoid to participate into the class interaction). Therefore, theeffective questioning from teachers in EFL can raise the interest in learning and promotethe class interaction. Obviously it is important to study whether teachers’ effectivequestioning can improve students’ reticence. The author holds that the teachers’effective questioning can satisfy the needs of students in different levels, create a goodinteractive atmosphere and urges students to use their head and give response. Thenteachers can give corresponding evaluation based on the reply from students.In this thesis the survey about the students’ reticence and teachers’ questioning inEFL class is done through class observation and questionnaire. There are112studentsand2teachers involved in the survey. They all agree that students’ reticence commonlyexists in EFL class. So, the following main points are studied in this thesis:1. Does students’ reticence exists in the English class of Middle Schools?2. What are the causes for students’ reticence in Middle Schools?3. Will improper teachers’ questioning cause the students’ reticence?4. To eliminate the students’ reticence, what kind of effective questioning should bechosen by the teachers? Based on the first stage of questionnaire, the author assumed that there are sixproblems in the teachers’ questioning. They are:(1) the problem of too many teachers’questions;(2) the problem of improper cognitive level for the questions;(3) the problemof improper students being asked;(4) the problem of improper waiting time;(5) theproblem of inappropriate feedback to students’ answer;(6) the problem of improperquestioning manners. The survey shows that the above six problems lead to theteachers’ ineffective questioning. In the second stage of questionnaire, the author triedher best to avoid the unfavorable problems, and turned them into positive factors whichattracted the students to answer the questions. Then students become more active inclass.Through the comparison between the first and second questionnaires, the authorfinds out that students more frequently to answer the questions than before, and morestudents participate in the class interaction. That is to say, the solution of the aboveproblems can improve the efficiency of teachers’ questioning in class, and effectiveteachers’ questioning can indeed promote students participation in classroom interaction.Generally speaking, teachers should try to improve the efficiency of class questioningand encourage the students to be more active and in class interaction by effectivequestioning. This will eliminate the class reticence and improve the efficiency ofteaching and learning in class.