Abstract

Research has found that teaching beginning with questions and moving forward with further questions is an effective way in improving young learners’ English proficiency. However, some teachers in middle schools are not aware of this. They are often poor at using questions in English classrooms. This thesis attempts to analyze the current situation of junior English classroom, clarifies characteristics of junior students and the importance of questioning, discusses typical erroneous zones of questioning, and proposes some questioning strategies for improving English teaching in junior schools.

Key words: teaching, questions, erroneous zones of questioning, strategies

摘 要

研究表明，带着问题进行课堂教育以及用问题铺垫课堂的展开是提高青少年英语水平的有效方法。然而，一些中学教师并没有意识到这一点。在英语课堂上，他们不善于利用提问这一工具。本文简要分析了初中英语课堂的现状，阐述了初中生的性格特点以及课堂提问的重要性，讨论了典型的提问误区，并提出了一些课堂提问策略以促进初中英语教学。

关键词： 教学；问题；提问误区；策略

1. Introduction
The interaction between students and the teacher in English classroom has drawn particular attention of English teachers and English education researchers. According to Tsui (1995:67), the well-known education expert from Hong Kong University, “the progress and success of lessons depend, to a very great extent, on the interaction between students and the teacher.” Therefore, teachers’ complete understanding of interaction in English classroom can significantly help their teaching. In the last two decades, the function of classroom interaction in learning and teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) has been discussed to varying degrees from the research of foreign languages to the function research of teaching on the basis of teachers and trainings. Through these discussions, questioning has been acknowledged as a very efficient role in the classroom interaction, especially in L2 classrooms.
Questioning as an important teaching method has been fully made use of since the ancient time; for example, the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates was expert at questioning in teaching. The act of asking questions, if well applied, can serve as the objective guide, being helpful for not only the achievement of teaching effectiveness, but also for students’ deep understanding of the learning content. Questioning is an excellent aid to interest cultivation and thinking enlightening. As a result, classroom questioning is a branch of science as well as an art.