EFL Teacher Questions to Scaffold Learning Process: A Conversation Analytic Study
محورهای موضوعی : English Language Teaching (ELT)
1 - University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran
2 - University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran
کلید واژه: participation, Classroom Interaction, teacher questions, unfolding sequence, learning opportunity, scaffold, conversation analysis,
چکیده مقاله :
Questioning practice constitutes one of the typical and fundamental interactional tools in L2 teaching. Much L2 research on teacher questions has been quantitative studies focusing on identifying question types and their roles in language acquisition and meaning negotiation. However, by drawing on conversation analysis within a sociocultural perspective, this study examines qualitatively how EFL teacher questions can scaffold learning processes. The data were collected through videotaping EFL classroom interaction. Eleven sessions of seven intermediate-level teachers in private language schools were recorded. Through the microanalysis of the transcribed data, the study found that EFL teachers vary in their structuring of unfolding question-answer sequences and that only a small number of teacher questions tended to provide learning opportunities. Four question types providing scaffolded assistance were identified: simplifying questions, marking questions, prompting questions and asking-for-agreement questions. This study contributes to understanding how the interactive nature of the questions teachers pose can shed light on the connection between teachers’ practices and students’ learning across unfolding sequence. It argues that teacher questions are more than elicitation techniques; they are mediational interactional tools to assist participation and comprehensibility. Some examples illustrating these communicative moves of questions and their scaffolding functions are provided. The implications for teacher education are also discussed.
دانشگاه مازندران پژوهش های انجام شده در زمینه نحوه پرسش معلمان در تعاملات کلاسی،عمدتاً کمی و معطوف به شناسایی انواع پرسش ها و نقش آنها درمرتفع ساختن ابهامات مفهومی در یادگیری بوده است. پژوهش حاضر با بهره گیری از تئوری اجتماعی- فرهنگی ویگوتسکی و دیدگاه گفتگوکاوی، به بررسی کیفی رابطه ممکن بین پرسشهای معلمان زبان انگلیسی وایجاد وبستر سازی فضای یادگیری می پردازد. جهت جمع آوری داده ها، میانکنش های یازده کلاس (هفت معلم) ضبط و تصویربرداری شد؛ سپس تعاملات ضبط شده به صورت نوشتاری تهیه گردید.تحلیل نوبت به نوبت تعاملات نشان داده است که صرفا تعداد اندکی از پرسشهای معلمان فرصت های مشارکت و فضای یادگیری موثری را برای زبان آموزان ایجادمی کنند. علاوه بر این، چهار نوع پرسش موثرشناسایی شد: پرسشهایی که پاسخگویی را آسان تر می کنند، پرسشهایی که ابعاد اساسی بحث را برجسته می کنند، پرسشهایی که نظر سایر زبان آموزان را می پرسند وپرسشهای متوالی که تعامل را ادامه می دهند. مشاهدات و تحلیل ها نشان می دهد که پرسشهای معلمان تنها برای یافتن پاسخ از سوی زبان آموزان نیست بلکه آنها ابزارهای تعاملی مناسبی در جهت درک و مشارکت بیشتر زبان آموزان درتعاملات کلاسی هستند.
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