The Faculty of Teacher Education Zagreb

The Importance of Asking Questions in

EFL Classroom
Introduction to English Language Teaching
Methodology

Student: Jelena Vrancic

Lecturers: Assistant Professor Marija Andraka, PhD,
Alenka Mikulec, PhD

December 2017
1. Table of Contents

1. Table of Contents 2
2. Introduction 3
3. Definition of Question 4
4. Importance of Asking Questions in EFL Classroom 4
5. Types of Questions 4
5.1. Procedural Questions 4
5.2. Display Questions 4
5.3. Referential Questions 5
6. Purpose of Asking Questions in EFL Classroom 5
7. Time to Answer 5
8. Conclusion 6
9. References 7

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2. Introduction

This seminar paper's main goal is to provide reasons why it is important for teachers to
ask questions and to encourage students to ask questions in English as a foreign language
(later EFL) classroom. Asking questions is an important aspect of teaching, especially in EFL
classroom so it is what makes this topic interesting and of a great importance for all teachers
and teachers to be.

This seminar paper will define question as a term, show the importance of questioning
in EFL classroom, define types of questions in EFL classroom, give out purposes of asking
questions in EFL classroom and focus on time that every student should be given to answer
the question.

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3. Definition of Question

How would a term 'question' be defined? People usually don't think about what
would be the exact definition of it. Online Cambridge Dictionary defines it as
'a sentence or phrase used to find out information’.

4. Importance of Asking Questions in EFL Classroom

Asking questions as a teacher in EFL classroom is firstly important for managing the
class. By asking questions teacher can quickly find out whether students understood the
asingment, if they have any problems with it or if they have done what they were asked to do
or they would need more time for doing it. Asking questions is of a great importance to
engage students with content and to encourage their participation in class. It is crucial that
students participate in EFL classroom so by answering teacher's questions and by asking their
own they generate communication with their teachers and are engaged with the class's
content. Asking questions in EFL classroom is also increasing understanding between the
teacher and the student because if the student didn't understand something the teacher said, he
or she can always ask a question about what was said and ask for more explanation. For all
these reasons it is really important to encourage students to ask questions and to put them
down when they try doing so.

5. Types of Questions

There are three broad categories of questions: procedural questions, display questions
and referential questions.

5.1. Procedural Questions

These questions are important for maintaining the classroom and managing the class
itself. They have no concern on the content of learning. Those are the questions such as: 'Is
everything clear?', 'Did you understand the task?', 'Do you have any problems?'…

5.2. Display Questions

Display questions are used to test student’s prior knowledge on the content of learning.
They focus on forms of language structures such as grammar. What is important about these
questions is that there is only one possible correct answer and the teacher already knows what

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it is. Example of these questions: 'When do we use present simple?', 'What comes after verb
'to be' in passive forms?', 'What is the opposite of happy?'…

5.3. Referential Questions

Referential questions are used so that learner can provide more information about the
topic, to express their own opinion or to explain something. They usually go with the follow
up question which means that when the teacher hears an answer he or she can quickly ask
more questions about the given answer. This type of question focuses more on the content and
not on the language. There is no correct or wrong answer, every answer is a good answer and
the teacher never knows what the answer will be. For example: 'What kind of books do you
like to read?', 'What do you think about the text?', 'Have you ever been to ZOO?'…

6. Purpose of Asking Questions in EFL Classroom

There are various purposes of questions usage in EFL classroom, depending on the
stage of a lesson and the topic. Class should begin with questions whose purpose should be
brainstorming the topic which the teacher will talk about. Student's answers can be drawn on
the blackboard as a mind map, considering their pre-knowledge on the topic and things they
can predict the teacher will talk about. While presenting new language forms the purpose of
questions should be for students to recognize if those forms could be connected to the forms
they already learnt about. Another purpose of asking questions is to check if students
understood what the teacher was talking about. These questions should be simple, demanding
short answers and are asked often. Questions can also be asked with a purpose to find out how
the student did something. These questions focus more on the strategies used, than on
language itself.

7. Time to Answer

It is really hard to estimate the amount of time that should be given to a student for
answering a question. Rushing students may lead to stressful situations where students can
often make mistakes or feel frustrated. Students should be given time to comprehend the
question, formulate an answer, to process language and finally to respond. Giving the right
amount of time to students encourages them to give longer answers, to self-correct
themselves, to ask questions too and what is the most important to participate more in class.

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8. Conclusion

To conclude, asking questions is of a great importance in EFL classroom and should

be used as much possible by teachers and also by students. It is both art and science and every
teacher should develop their own techniques in order to receive correct and intelligent
answers from their students. Teachers should also encourage their students to ask questions
and to participate as much as they can in classes.

However, there is still a question that cannot be answered and is for every teacher to
decide themselves. How much time is needed for a student to give an answer before being
interrupted by a teacher?

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9. References

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ (27th December 2017)

Bloom, B.S. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Addison Wesley, 1956

Gabrielatos, C. A Question of Function: Teacher Questions in the EFL Classroom.

1997. http://www.gabrielatos.com (27th December 2017)

Thompson, G. Teaching Teachers to Ask Questions. ELT Journal 51/2, April 1997
Ur, P. A Course in Language Teaching. CUP, 1996