I.1. Rationale As English is the official language of over 55 countries and utilized mostly in transaction and international cooperation, it is considered as the key to access to human’s scientific and technological advances as well as keeping up with the world. As a result, globally, the burning desire for learning this international language is overwhelming. Being aware of this urgency, The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has introduced English into the national curriculum as a compulsory subject. However, the question of how to teach English effectively is always a matter for debate. As we have entered the area of information technology, many educators try to keep up with recent changes in teaching and learning process. Those can be named as, Nomass B. B. (2013) discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using technology in teaching English as a second language, Muhanna (2012) described how to apply online games to teaching vocabulary. At the same time, others still continue do researches on traditional techniques and skills such as organizing group work, designing and piloting games activities. Among those skills teachers need to master, questioning technique always attracts a lot of attention, because it plays a vital role in teacher’s talk and directly affects the effectiveness of every lesson. Many researchers such as Cotton K. (1988) agreed that teacher’s questions are closely related to classroom participation, student’s performance and academic achievement. Although a large number of linguists carried out researches related to this topic, they only addressed the skills of teacher’s questioning (Ma, X, 2008), the way to develop fluency through questioning techniques (Aliponga J. 2002) or suggesting some tips in general. Hardly was a research designed to discover real situations of questioning techniques employed by trainee teachers who often lack experience of working with students and do not have many chances to practice this skill. During my fieldtrip in Yen Hoa High school, by observing other trainee teachers’ lessons, I realized that the failure of asking questions likely resulted in student’s inappropriate responses or even student silence. Hence, this study will focus on investigating the way trainee teachers adopt questioning skills and suggesting some strategies to help them enhance the effectiveness of questioning techniques. This topic is worth researching for several reasons. First, it cannot be denied that asking questions is one of the most common teaching tactics in classroom context; nevertheless, there is no course in the Faculty of English’s curriculum designed to equip students with comprehensive knowledge of questioning techniques. As a result, senior students who are lacking in both theory and practical experience might get confused and easily make mistakes when working with learners. Thus, a detailed research is needed to provide them with some basic knowledge along with solutions to tackle those problems. Second, because the study‘s subjects are lastyear students who will be teachers in a very soon future, the findings will directly show them their weakness and how to put it under control in a shorter time. The data investigated in this graduation thesis will provide an insight into the application of teacherstobe’s questioning techniques in the reality. To be more specific, initially, the trainee teachers’ viewpoints on the use of questioning techniques in language classrooms and the types as well as functions of those questions will be revealed. Then, the researcher intends to discuss some factors that make trainee teachers’ questions inefficient so as to propose some solutions to tackle the problems.
1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the people who helped me accomplish this study First and foremost, my deepest appreciation goes to Ms Dao Bich Nguyen, M.A from Faculty of English at Hanoi National University of Education for her careful supervisor, invaluable suggestions and considerable patience through my study I am also grateful to the four trainee teachers and their students of grade 10 and 11 who provided vital information for the data collection process My grateful appreciation is owed to my teachers in Faculty of English at Hanoi National University of Education whose lectures and experience inspired my thesis It is no doubt that I would not be able to finish this study without the great support from my family and the constructive comments and encouragement from my friends at Hanoi National University of Education Lastly, my thanks go to the authors of the materials used in this study which widened my vision of the field of language teaching ABSTRACT This study attempts to investigate the use of questioning techniques among last- year students at Faculty of English at Hanoi National University of Education in their second field trip To be more specific, the study concentrates on trainee teachers’ attitudes towards the use of questions in English classrooms, types of questions and questioning techniques, functions of those questions, and some suggestions on how to help the trainee teachers use questions more effectively In order to achieve that goal, the study uses the integration of quantitative and qualitative research methods including classroom observations and individual interviews The collected data suggest that questions are made for various functions but to check students’ knowledge of specific data most of the time As there is an intimate link the learning objectives and the types of questions employed, the trainee teachers tend to utilize some types of questions more regularly Moreover, when the initial questions fail to elicit the students’ responses, the trainee teachers use a variety of questioning techniques Among those, repetition is employed most frequently Basing on the findings, some suggestions on how to help trainee teachers improve their questioning techniques are made TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES I List of figures: Figure 4.1: Frequency of higher-level cognitive questions and lower-level cognitive questions employed by four trainee teachers in four lessons Figure 4.2: Frequency of open-ended questions and close-ended questions employed by four trainee teachers in four lessons Figure 4.3: Frequency of display questions and referential questions employed by four trainee teachers in four lessons Figure 4.4: Types of questioning techniques employed by four trainee teachers Figure 4.5: Linguistic components that trainee teachers pay attention to when making questions Figure 4.6: Frequency of applying types of questioning techniques II List of tables: Table 1: Bloom’s taxonomy: examples of skills and cue words Table 4.1: The number questions employed by four trainee teachers in four lessons according to Bloom’s taxonomy of questions Table 4.2: Purposes of using questions in four lessons CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION I.1 Rationale As English is the official language of over 55 countries and utilized mostly in transaction and international cooperation, it is considered as the key to access to human’s scientific and technological advances as well as keeping up with the world As a result, globally, the burning desire for learning this international language is overwhelming Being aware of this urgency, The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has introduced English into the national curriculum as a compulsory subject However, the question of how to teach English effectively is always a matter for debate As we have entered the area of information technology, many educators try to keep up with recent changes in teaching and learning process Those can be named as, Nomass B B (2013) discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using technology in teaching English as a second language, Muhanna (2012) described how to apply online games to teaching vocabulary At the same time, others still continue researches on traditional techniques and skills such as organizing group work, designing and piloting games activities Among those skills teachers need to master, questioning technique always attracts a lot of attention, because it plays a vital role in teacher’s talk and directly affects the effectiveness of every lesson Many researchers such as Cotton K (1988) agreed that teacher’s questions are closely related to classroom participation, student’s performance and academic achievement Although a large number of linguists carried out researches related to this topic, they only addressed the skills of teacher’s questioning (Ma, X, 2008), the way to develop fluency through questioning techniques (Aliponga J 2002) or suggesting some tips in general Hardly was a research designed to discover real situations of questioning techniques employed by trainee teachers who often lack experience of working with students and not have many chances to practice this skill During my fieldtrip in Yen Hoa High school, by observing other trainee teachers’ lessons, I realized that the failure of asking questions likely resulted in student’s inappropriate responses or even student silence Hence, this study will focus on investigating the way trainee teachers adopt questioning skills and suggesting some strategies to help them enhance the effectiveness of questioning techniques This topic is worth researching for several reasons First, it cannot be denied that asking questions is one of the most common teaching tactics in classroom context; nevertheless, there is no course in the Faculty of English’s curriculum designed to equip students with comprehensive knowledge of questioning techniques As a result, senior students who are lacking in both theory and practical experience might get confused and easily make mistakes when working with learners Thus, a detailed research is needed to provide them with some basic knowledge along with solutions to tackle those problems Second, because the study‘s subjects are last-year students who will be teachers in a very soon future, the findings will directly show them their weakness and how to put it under control in a shorter time The data investigated in this graduation thesis will provide an insight into the application of teachers-to-be’s questioning techniques in the reality To be more specific, initially, the trainee teachers’ viewpoints on the use of questioning techniques in language classrooms and the types as well as functions of those questions will be revealed Then, the researcher intends to discuss some factors that make trainee teachers’ questions inefficient so as to propose some solutions to tackle the problems I.2 Aims of the study The aim of the study is to examine the current usage of questioning techniques among senior students at Hanoi National University of Education in their second fieldtrip In order to achieve this aim, the study concentrates on four aspects, namely, trainee teachers’ attitudes towards using questioning techniques in English classrooms, types of questions and questioning techniques employed, functions of those questions so as to suggest how to utilize questions effectively I.3 Scope of the study This study focuses on the real situation in which questions are employed in four English lessons by trainee teachers in their fieldtrip in order to help them improve their questioning techniques I.4 Research questions The study aims to address the following questions: What are trainee teacher’s attitudes towards the use of questions in English classroom? What questions and questioning techniques trainee teachers use in English classes? What are those question’s functions? What other realities about trainee teachers’ questions and questionings techniques are revealed? Answers to these questions will contribute to an insight into the real situation in which trainee teachers apply their questioning skills; thus, some solutions can be propose to help them improve their technique in a shorter time than they I.5 Methods of the study This study employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods To gain information related to the use of questioning techniques among last-year students from Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of Education in their second field trip, two data collected instrument are used, namely class observations, and individual interviews I.6 Overview of the study This research paper is divided into five chapters, organized as follow: Chapter I – Introduction: This chapter presents the rationale, the aim and scope of the study as well as pointing out the organization of the study Chapter II – Literature review: In this chapter, some key concepts related to the study are defined and the findings of other relevant studies are synthesized so as to provide a deeper insight into the usage of questions and questioning techniques in English classes Chapter III – Methodology: This chapter centers on the research method, the subjects of the study, the data collection instruments, the data collection procedures and the data analysis Chapter IV – Findings and discussions: The data collected are analyzed and reviewed in this chapter in order to form the hypothesis of the study; moreover, some predictions related to the problems are also made Chapter V – Conclusion: This chapter briefly answers research questions posed, summarizes the findings of the study and lists a few limitations to be overcome in further studies on similar topics CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter presents the literature related to the study The first section indicates the definition of question While the second one lists several functions of questions in a language classroom, three ways of categorizing questions are focused on the third part of this chapter The next section provides some criteria of a good question and a bad question, and the last part centers on questioning techniques The results of related studies carried out by other educators are also synthesized in each section II.1 Definition of questions As a matter of fact, questions are normally asked in both daily communication and educational settings A great deal of effort has been devoted to fully define the linguistic term: question According to the Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary (7 th edition), a question is “a sentence, phrase or word that asks for information” The Longman Dictionary of English language, however, adds that “a sentence or phrase that is used to ask for information or to test someone's knowledge” The latter definition points out the difference in the purpose of questions between the occasions when the speaker really wants to acquire something (e.g Where you live?) or other circumstances when questions are posed to check whether the listeners know what the speaker assumes they should know (e.g What is the synonym of “important”?) The second purpose mentioned - the potential use of questions to measure listener’s knowledge rather than learning it - is especially important for analyzing questions in the classroom context This is due to the fact that people in daily conversations rarely pose questions to which they already know the answers Indeed, those questions solely happen in special situations like in a course room court (e.g What did the defendant next?), in a quiz contest (e.g What is the most densely populated country in the world?) In contrast, in classrooms, teachers predominantly employ questions to test students’ understanding (Peacock, 1990) Thus, the latter definition is more optimal to this study, which focuses totally on classroom context In conclusion, in this study, questions taken into consideration are utterances in interrogative, imperative, or declarative form addressed by trainee teachers in order to obtain verbal responses from students for the purpose of checking students’ knowledge and gaining knowledge II.2 Roles of teacher’s questioning In every lesson, teacher usually poses questions from the beginning until the end of the lesson The process in which the teacher asks a question, learners respond and finally the teacher provides feedback is repeated constantly In fact, Tsui (1995) asserts that questions asked by teacher can make up about 70 per cent of classroom interaction, and it cannot be denied that “questions asked by teachers and answers by learners, tend to dominate L2 classroom interaction” (Graham Hall, 2011) In order to stress the important role of teacher’s questions in class, various functions of questions have been listed by educators all over the world Firstly, it was asserted by Graham Hall (2011) that “Questions help teachers elicit information, check learner’s understanding and keep learner’s attention They also provide learners with language practice opportunities when they answer Teacher’s questions, therefore, fulfill a clear pedagogic purpose and also enable teachers to exert control over learners.” Secondly, Kauchak and Eggen (1989) mention the functions of teacher questions according to three groups, including, instructional questions, diagnostic questions and motivational questions Initially, instructional questions support the learning process like helping students gain new knowledge Then, teacher uses diagnostic questions to assess whether students know specific knowledge Lastly, with teacher questions, students can be encouraged to take part in class activities, discussion and challenged The two researchers also noted that one question can have more than one function In addition, other educators have listed several detailed functions of questions in every class “to maintain the flow of the learning within a lesson” “to engage students with the learning” 55 Đánh dấu vào lời phát biểu với bạn: (Chọn tất mục phù hợp) Tôi chuẩn bị trước câu hỏi quan trọng Khi đặt câu hỏi, sử dụng từ ngữ cấu trúc ngữ pháp đơn giản Tôi kiểm tra để chăn học sinh hiểu rõ câu hỏi Khi đặt câu hỏi, bạn thường ý tới yếu tố nào? (Chọn tất mục phù hợp) Cấu trúc ngữ pháp Cách phát âm Từ vựng Nội dung Khác (xin làm rõ) Khi bạn đưa câu hỏi lần thứ khơng nhận phản hồi từ phía học sinh mong đợi ( học sinh không hiểu câu hỏi hoăc không nghe câu hỏi), bạn sử dụng kĩ đặt câu hỏi nào? Các lựa chọn đánh giá thang 1-5 theo tần suất sử dụng ( = Không bao giờ; = Hiếm khi; = Thỉnh thoảng; = Thường; = Luôn luôn) Nhắc lại câu hỏi ban đầu (Repetition) Đặt lại câu hỏi với từ vựng, cấu trúc ngữ pháp khác (Rephrasing) Đơn giản hóa nội dung câu hỏi, làm cho phạm vi câu hỏi hẹp (Simplification) Chia câu hỏi ban đầu thành câu hỏi nhỏ (Decomposition) Khai thác thêm thông tin từ học sinh (Probing) Phần 2: Câu hỏi phóng vấn Khi sử dụng kĩ đặt câu hỏi, bạn gặp phải khó khăn gì? 56 Theo bạn, có cách để khác phục khó khăn đó? 57 APPENDIX TRANSCRIPT Unit 11: Sources of energy Lesson 2: Speaking Lists of abbreviations T: Trainee teacher B Ss: Students S: Student T: Be quiet please Hi, how are you? Ss: I am fine/ Good/ So so/ I am tired T: Good Before we start our lesson today I would like to ask you some questions What did we study in the last reading lesson? What did we study in the last reading lesson? Ss: [Silence] T: What did we study in the last reading lesson? The lesson is about … What is it about? Ss: Resources of energy T: Yes We did study about resources of energy So how many types of energy did we study? Ss: [Silence] T: So how many sources of energy? Student B, please S: There are five T: Five sources Can you name them? S: Nuclear power, solar energy, water power, wind power, and geothermal heat T: Thank you And in the last period, we did study about the advantages and disadvantages of resources of energy So today I 58 will tell you how to say about advantages and disadvantages of these sources To begin with, I would like you to look at the handout here and the task immediately Các em làm tờ phiếu cô vừa phát All of you have the handouts? Tất em có handouts chưa? S: Yes T: Good What we have to in this exercise? Ss: Match T: What we have to match? S: Match the words in the left column with its synonym or antonym T: Excellent What does the word “synonym” mean? Ss: [Silence] T: What is the meaning of the word “synonym”? Ss: [Silence] T: For example, I can say the two words “big” and “large” are synonyms Anyone can tell me the relationship between the two words? Ss: Same meaning/ Cùng nghĩa T: Very good Synonyms are words that have the same meaning And “antonym” What does “antonym” mean? Ss: Trái nghĩa T: Correct Antonyms are words that have opposite meaning Vậy phải nối từ cột bên trái với từ đồng nghĩa trái nghĩa với cột bên phải Ok Now, you have minute to finish this exercise individually [Approximately minute] T: Have you finished? Ss: No/ Not yes/ Yes T: Time’s up Let’s check The first word is “enormous” T: “Enormous” means… Ss: C Khổng lồ 59 T: Yes It is the synonym of the word “huge” So what “huge” and “enormous” mean in Vietnamese? Ss: To lớn T: And what about the next word “radiation”? Student C S: A T: Yes The sending out of heat and energy Phóng xạ The next word is “abundant” By this word, we mean… S: [Silence] T: What is your answer? …… “Abundant” Students D, please S: B T: B “Limited” What did limited mean? Ss: Giới hạn T: Giới hạn Did we study this word in the previous lesson? Ss: Yes T: “Abundant” is an antonym of “Limited” Vậy từ có nghĩa dồi dào, dư thừa And for the word “renewable”, the answer is renewable with… Ss: [Silence] T: Which option will the fourth word match with? Ss: E T: E “Replace naturally” Có khả tự tái tạo Next, in the handout we have one sentence Based on the context, can you guess the meaning of the verb “run out of”? Ss: Hết/Cạn kiệt TT: Very good Các em ghi vào [Approximately minute] T: Now read after me Enormous Ss: Enormous T: Radiation Ss: Radiation T: Abundant 60 Ss: Abundant T: Renewable Ss: Renewable T: Run out of SS: Run out of T: Now you will look at the task one and the task individually Các em nhìn vào task làm cá nhân What we have to in task 1? What is the requirement? S: [Silence] T: Student E, please Stand up and read the requirements S: The following statements list some advantages and disadvantages of various sources of energy Read and tick the appropriate box A for the advantages or D for the disadvantages then compare the results with a partner’s T: Ok Thank you Sit down please Now we have to label the statement A is for the advantages and D is for the disadvantages [Approximately minutes] T: Ok So time is up Let’s check, the first statement Fossil fuels will be exhausted within a relatively short time Is it an advantage or disadvantage? Student F, please Ss: Disadvantage T: Is your friend answer correct or not? Ss: [Silence] T: Is your friend answer correct or not? T: Yeah Number is a disadvantage Nhiên liệu hóa thạch cạn kiệt thời gian ngắn T: The second one Stand up and read it for me, student K S: [Silence] T: Stand up and read the second statement S: Geothermal heat is available only in a few places in the world T: So is it an advantage or a disadvantage? 61 S: [Silence] T: We have the words “only” and “a few places”, so it is a disadvantage Sit down please And number 3, student G, please S: If the wind does not blow, there is no wind energy The answer is D T: Good The next statement, student M, please S: Water power provides energy without pollution It is A T: Good It is an advantage because we will have energy without pollution Next one, is it an advantage or disadvantages? Students K, please The fifth statement…… S: A nuclear reactor releases radiation which is dangerous to the environment A T: Advantage? “Because it is very dangerous to the environment” Nó nguy hiểm với mơi trường, nên disadvatage Đến câu số Solar energy is not only plentiful and unlimited but also clean and safe “plentiful” and “unlimited” What those words mean? “Plentiful” nghĩa … Ss: Dồi T: And unlimited ……… Ss: Không giới hạn T: Yes So it is an advantage, D And the last one, “it is expensive to build a dam for hydroelectricity” Is it an advantage or not? Is it beneficial or not? S: A T: A A for advantage Do you understand the meaning of the word “expensive”? Does it have positive or negative meaning? S: No D It is a disadvantage T: It is expensive Nó đắt để làm nên đáp án D 62 T: Ok From the task 1, we know that there exist both advantages and disadvantages to the sources of energy So let’s look at task Look at the sample in the book Các em nhìn vào sách nhé, sách có ví dụ nói thuận lợi khó khăn nguồn lượng Các em tự đọc nhẩm vịng phút Ví dụ trang 128 T: I want two of you stand up and speak out the example for me Student F and student D, please Student F will be A and student D will be B [Read the dialogue] T: After reading the example, anyone can tell me how to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of using each alternative source of energy? SS: [Silence] T: Can you name some phrases that were used to show the speaker’ opinion? SS: I think/ believe, I know T: What about words that the two speakers used to connect the ideas? SS: Because, but, however, while T: Very good And the word however, what does it mean? Từ however dung để thể điều gì? “Tuy nhiên” Khi mà ngta dung cấu trúc người nói nói disadvantages, ví dụ “thủy điện cung cấp nguồn lượng dồi mà tốn Ss: [Silence] T: Do you know other ways to talk about advantages and disadvantages? Ss: [Silence] T: Nếu em khơng biết xem phần mặt sau tờ đưa có phần useful language 63 Khi muốn nói đồng ý nói “I agree”, “I think so too” Nhưng muốn thể ko đồng ý có cách thể mà đưa dung “well”, “maybe” “that’s might be true but……” Ở sách đưa cho em useful language từ ngữ dung nói Bây em hoạt động theo cặp tự làm nói để nói thuận lợi khó khăn nguồn lượng T: But, I will make an example of water power for you Anyone wants to be my partner? Ok, student F T: I think waterpower can be an alternative source of energy S: Why you think so? T: Because our major source of energy is running out while the water is abundant and unlimited S: Well, that might be true but it costs a large amount of money to build a dam and water power is available in only a few places T: Now you have minutes to discuss with your friends and then I will call some pairs to talk on front of the class [Approximately minutes] T: The first pair, students D and S S: I think nuclear power cannot be an alternative source of energy S: Why you think so? S: Because it releases radiation that is harmful to the environment S: I think so, too It is also very expensive because of its complex technology T: Good Thank you One more pair, please Student R and O S: I believe that solar energy will be the main alternative source of energy in the future S: Why you think so? S: Because it is plentiful, clean and safe 64 S: I think so, too Although solar panel is quite expensive, I believe that solar energy will be used widely because of advantages that it might bring T: Very good In the last activity, I want you to work in two groups, A and B Group A will answer my question: “In your opinion, why people will use more alternative sources in the future?” In your opinion, why people will use more alternative sources in the future? Group B will answer the question: “In your opinion why people won’t use more alternative sources in the future?” In your opinion, why people will use more alternative sources in the future? Try to find as many reasons as possible and then we will debate 65 APPENDIX TRANSCRIPT Semi-structured interview Lists of abbreviations ER: Interviewer (The researcher) EE: Interviewee (Trainee teacher D) ER: Thank you for coming to the interview today Your name will be anonymously coded so be free to share your ideas and opinions The interview consists of three parts In the first part, I want to ask you some questions about your personal information Firstly, how long have you been studying English? EE: 16 years since I was in grade ER: Next, what was your speaking- listening score in the previous semester? EE: I got B ER: Ok Is this your first or second field trip and how long will it last? EE: The second one and in weeks ER: How many periods you need to conduct in this field trip? EE: At least periods in weeks ER: Good Come to the second part How often you use questions in a lesson? I have a scale ranging from to is for “never” and is for “always” How often? EE: I ask questions in every lesson so it will be for “always” ER: And what about your attitudes towards your questioning skill in the previous field trip? Mark from to 5, is for “very dissatisfied” and means “very satisfied” EE: I think my questioning techniques employed in the previous trip were neither too good nor too bad ER: Were your questions successful in eliciting students’ responses? 66 EE: Yes Most of the time but their answers were short and not as good as I expected ER: Do you want to improve your questioning techniques? EE: Definitely ER: Next, in your opinion, to what extent your questions affect the effectiveness of a language lesson? Have no effect, slightly affect, or significantly affect? EE: Significantly ER: How? EE: Well I don’t know how to spread my knowledge to my students without making questions I just think that the better my questions are, the more easily my students get the knowledge ER: Now I will ask you about the functions of questions Do you use questions to check students’ understanding? EE: Yes Even most of my questions I keep asking students to make sure that they understand what I have taught ER: Can you explain more? EE: This is very necessary, because if the students miss one piece of information, it will be harder for them to keep up with the class If nobody can answer my question, I may consider presenting the content once again and slowing down the pace of my lesson ER: Do you use questions to elicit your students’ personal ideas? EE: Uhm Actually I am not interested in that information ER: Next, you use questions to keep learners’ attention? EE: Yes You know, students are easily distracted, especially at the beginning and at the end of my lessons ER: Do you use questions to provide learners with opportunities to practice the target language? EE: Never think of that ER: Ok Do you use questions to encourage students to think? EE: Uhm….rarely so I would say no 67 ER: What about evaluating students’ language competence? EE: You mean posing difficult questions to classify students? ER: Exactly EE: I frequently pose easy questions to save time Everyone might answer them, so I guess… No Why we need to evaluate students’ competence when we are just trainee teachers? ER: Besides functions that were mentioned What you use questions for? EE: Uhm Let me think May be make students more active in my lessons, sometimes to lead in new topics ER: Moving on, you prepare key questions, the important one in advance? EE: Yes Honestly, it makes me more confident ER: Why you say that? EE: If I make questions spontaneously while teaching, I often arrange words to times to have a completed question Focusing on grammar, content… so my questions not have intonation at all It will be embarrassed if I make mistakes in front of the student ER: Do you try to use the easiest and simplest vocabulary as well as grammar structure? EE: Yes Definitely ER: Do you check whether your students understand your questions after posing them? EE: Yes Always ER: How? EE: By asking “Do you understand?”, “Are your clear?” ER: You keep asking those questions all the time? EE: Oh no Sometimes I also look at their eyes and their facial expressions ER: Now, I have four factors “vocabulary”, “grammar structure”, “content” and “pronunciation” Which one you often pay attention to when posing questions? 68 EE: I will go for “content” and “pronunciation” ER: Now I have a table, can you help me mark these questioning techniques according to the frequency of the questioning techniques that would be employed if your initial question failed to elicit students’ responses? EE: Ok [Approximately minutes] ER: I see that you marked repetition Is it your favorite one? EE: Yes I used it a lot It is my first option ER: Why? EE: It helps me save time, just repeating the original questions ER: I think simplifying and rephrasing are quite similar, why you give rephrasing but simplification only 2? EE: When we want to simplify a question, not only the content but also the vocabulary and structure need to be reconsidered, which would waste a lot of time It is a complex process and we can easily make mistakes ER: What about decomposition and probing? EE: They might be useful to boost the quality of students’ responses but they take a large amount of time ER: Lastly, when you use questioning techniques, are there any difficulties? EE: Managing time, like how long I should wait for students to my questions ER: In your opinion, what can be done to help you overcome those difficulties? EE: Honestly, I have no ideas about that ER: That’s all Thank you for taking part in this interview ... at Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of Education All of them speak Vietnamese as their native language and have been trained to teach English as a foreign language for students They... questions and display questions In social communication, people normally ask questions that that they not know the answers, and the meaning of the utterance can be negotiated by the questioner and the. .. methodology employed in the study to investigate the use of questioning techniques among last-year students at the Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of Education Section III.1 provides