Cultivating Students' Critical Thinking Through Teacher Questions And Classroom Interaction

Critical thinking is closely related to teacher questions in classrooms.The cognitive level of teachers' questions to a great extent determines the depth of students' thinking.Previous researches such as Hattie's(2009)and Yang's(2015)indicate that questions of high cognitive levels can effectively cultivate students' high cognitive abilities such as critical thinking.To yield students' critical thinking responses successfully,however,also needs an investigation into teachers' classroom interaction,which is essential to grant students learning space and thus the chance to produce effective responses.In this research,three Chinese intensive English teachers were chosen who teach intensive English reading in a foreign studies university in mainland China,and their lessons were audio-recorded and transcribed.Then an analysis of all teacher questions was conducted to identify questions of high cognitive levels,followed by a conversation analysis of these high-level questions in the light of Wen's Hierarchy Model(2008).The study showed that a slight increase of wait time and a proper use of questioning strategies such as scaffolding,appropriation and clarification are conducive to students' critical thinking responses.