CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter deals with background, problem statement, objective,

significance, and scope of the research.

A. Background

In teaching and learning process, interaction has important parts in

achieving the goal of teaching and learning. It is employed by some parts of

schools. In this case, teachers and students play a role to create interaction in a

classroom, so that the process of exchanging ideas can arise. Moreover, the

process of teaching and learning will not run optimally if nothing effective

interaction exists in the classroom because the students tend to be unmotivated in

joining the lesson. And also, the class can be monotonous without effective

interaction. Whereas, the process of teaching and learning needs stimulus and

responses to give and get feedback in communication, so the effective classroom

interaction will be run.

In the context of classroom interaction, Kalatari (2009) stated that it is an

interaction among two focuses. They are teachers and students in the classroom.

The interaction will run successfully when the teacher plans and applies some

effective strategies in a lesson plan. In this part, the teacher has to position

her/himself as a facilitator who facilitates all of the things that the students need,

and one of the factors that include with those parts is applying teaching strategies.

By applying appropriate strategies, a boring class can be reduced and avoided, so

the students will be more active in the class. Here, a teacher has a responsibility to

1
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provide it related to learning objectives. In line with creating an effective

interaction in a language classroom, one of the teaching strategies that could be

applied is questioning strategies.

Questioning strategies take place in the language classroom and it should

be done by a teacher to build an interaction with students. In other words,

questioning becomes a crucial part of language teaching and learning that is used

to do some purposes. In connecting with the statement, teachers’ questioning

strategies in the classroom are employed to raise an effective interaction between

a teacher and the students. Brown (2001) stated that one of the best techniques

that can be used by a teacher to initiate and maintain interaction is using

questioning strategies in a teaching and learning process. Questioning is applied

by asking something to get students’ responses. By asking questions to the

students, it can stimulate them to think something and give responses as feedback

of the process. And also, the teacher can identify their understanding level of the

lesson which has been taught. In short, questioning strategies have crucial roles

and significant benefits in building the interaction process in the classroom.

In the EFL classroom, a teacher and questioning strategies are important

parts to grow students' interest and participation in studying English. The teacher

is a subject who facilitates all of the things that students' need, including teaching

strategies. Whereas, teacher's questioning takes a role as a strategy to avoid the

monotonous situation and bring up students' participation in conducting the

lesson. So, a teacher should know and be familiar with the types of questions that

will be asked to the students before doing the strategy. In this part, a teacher
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should be able to associate her/his question with the students' needs and lesson

purposes. Concerning the EFL classroom, a questioning strategy is applied to

make a teacher easier to stimulate students in language learning, especially in

comprehending the lesson. It functions as facilitation which could create a

situation become interactive.

Including the learning objectives, Adedoyin (2010) states that there are

several benefits of teacher’s questions as follows; questions can trigger significant

values, students’ reflections can emerge, students’ understanding can be

challenged and it can involve many students in the classroom. Besides that,

Essberger et al., (as cited in Haron et al., 2012) suggest that teacher’s questions

can involve student performance and participation in the classroom. When the

teacher asks something, the students can respond to say an answer orally or

verbally. Therefore, questions potentially lead more effective interactions where

students are involved to interact with their teachers especially in verbal form. In

another case, Ornstein(1987) emphasizes that teachers should know the extent to

which strategies and techniques of the questions are good and effective for

students. Because, the teachers’ ways of asking questions will affect students in

understanding the lesson. All the statements above indicate that the teachers’

questioning strategies significantly influence the participation, understanding, and

achievement of the students.

In a classroom, sometimes a teacher does not practice the strategies or lack

of practice. Occasionally, it can be obtained that he/ she just applies a situation

which only focuses on one center. So, an interaction between the students and the
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teacher is very difficult to be developed. In their article, Sujariati, et al. (2016)

show that there are many factors that cause a teacher to teach a lesson without or

not often asking questions to the students. These factors include; they are in a

hurry in teaching, the material which would be taught is not understood, the

students are ignored by them, or they are lazy. They also add that all the causes

have negative effects for students’ achievement and the teaching quality. On the

contrary, a teacher should apply the strategies to avoid the effects from those

situations or to build an effective interaction between a teacher and the students,

so they can be active in the class. Also, the teacher should be active in stimulating

the students to give responses to the results of the lesson by asking questions.

This study will be conducted in SMAN 3 Enrekang. It is based on the

researcher’s experience when doing a teaching program held by his organization

namely Mammesa goes to school. He found that the students were more

interactive in learning when the teacher asked more questions than he/she who

just explained but lacked of giving questions. Besides, one of the students stated

that there were some teachers who mostly just explained the material and rarely

stimulated the students to interact especially in asking questions. Ideally, an

interaction between teachers and students should be carried out frequently in

teaching and learning activities. As emphasized in the 2013 curriculum, teaching

and learning activity is a process which two-way interactions between the teachers

and the students occur. As a result, the students also get the opportunity to be

more active in developing learning patterns. In another case, the researcher

chooses this school because it is an excellent school and has a very good predicate
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in Enrekang regency. He appoints three English teachers to be observed in this

research. They are chosen to be researched based on the qualification, teaching

experience (their dedication), and teachers’ certification. Therefore, the researcher

is interested to explore their strategies in questioning to supply comprehensible

input and create significant interactions in the teaching and learning process.

Based on the background discussed above, the researcher concluded that

teacher’s questioning strategies are techniques used by the teacher in employing

questions with some objectives in a classroom activity. It is needed by the teacher

in the teaching and learning process. For this reason, the researcher is interested

in researching the title: "Teachers' Questioning Strategies in the Classroom

Interaction at SMAN 3 ENREKANG".

B. Problem Statement

Considering the research background above, the researcher formulates

some questions that will focus on analyzing teachers’ questioning strategies in the

classroom which needs to be answered. Therefore, the researcher attempts to

formulate research questions which can be stated as follows:

1. How do the teachers employ questioning strategies in EFL classroom?

2. What are the types of questions used by the teachers in teaching EFL

classroom?

3. What are the teachers’ reasons of using the questioning strategies?

4. What are the difficulties faced by the teachers in using questioning

strategies?
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C. Objective of The Research

Based on those problem statements above, the objective of this research

will be divided into five stated as follows:

1) To explore questioning strategies used by the teachers in EFL classroom.

2) To identify types of questions used by the teachers in teaching EFL

classroom.

3) To investigate the teachers’ reasons of using questioning strategies.

4) To investigate the difficulties faced by the teachers in using questioning

strategies.

D. Significance of The Research

The result of this research will be expected to allocate some significance

of teaching. The research significance is divided into two parts; theoretical and

practical. Theoretically, this research is expected to supply more knowledge and

information about questioning strategies that could be applied by a teacher in the

EFL classroom. Giving an effective questioner is a teacher's duty. By

understanding the different types, the strategies and the function of questions, the

teacher can be easier to build an effective classroom interaction.

Practically, this research will be helpful for a teacher in teaching,

especially in managing the class. By comprehending the variants of questions and

its strategy well, a teacher can manage and keep the class more interactive. So, the

process of teaching and learning will be more effective. Furthermore, the teacher

can be easier to arrange activities in a lesson plan, particularly in relation to the

use of many variants of questions. Besides that, this research is expected to be

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used by further researchers as a reference in conducting with the same study,

especially in senior high school.

D. Scope of The Research

This research is limited to some points to focus on the topic of the

research. It is split into three parts. They are by discipline, content, and activity.

1) By discipline

The umbrella of this research is sociolinguistics. It is associated with the

interaction between the teachers and the students.

2) By content

This research will be focused on the questioning strategies that will be

used by the teachers in classroom interaction. It deals with the teachers’

ways of employing types of questions.

3) By activity

The researcher will start this research by recording teachers’ activities,

namely beginning, running and ending the class. This recording will be

focused on the use of teachers’ questioning strategy in teaching and

learning process. Interviewing will be conducted to collect data about the

teachers’ reason and difficulties in using the strategies. After that, the

researcher will employ analysis data based on Miles and Huberman stages.

4) By location

This research will be conducted at Senior High School of 3 Enrekang in

academic year 2019/2020.

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This part deals with some parts, namely some related studies, some

pertinent ideas, resume, and conceptual framework.

A. Some Related Studies

Fatmawati (2015) researched Teachers' questioning strategies in EFL

classroom interaction. She found that questioning strategies that frequently used

by the teachers are question-planning strategies, question-controlling strategies,

and the nomination strategies. Besides, there was a new strategy used by the

teacher in the class namely endless questioning strategy. And also, the teacher

used the questioning strategies to an individual student, to pair students and the

whole class. Based on the findings the teacher mostly applied his questioning

strategies to an individual student and the whole class rather than the pair

students. The relationship between the previous and the present research lies in

the object of the researches. Both of them research the strategies used by the

teacher in questioning. However, the present research has a difference from the

subject of the research. The present research investigates teachers in senior high

school, while previous research investigated a lecturer at one university. It is

because the level of school and university is different. It relates to the use of

questioning strategies where objects in applying the strategies also different, for

instance the use of question types in different levels. In addition, the present

research will focus on five strategies including; the use of wait – time, distributing

questions, the role of question type teachers use, modification of questions, and
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reaction to student responses. While, the previous research focused on question-

planning strategies, question-controlling strategies, the nomination strategies,

endless questioning strategy, using the questioning strategies to an individual

student, to pair students and the whole class.

Yang (2011) in his paper "The Effective Questioning Strategies in Class",

the author put forward the following strategies for English classroom questioning,

including preparing questions before questioning, controlling while questioning

and giving feedbacks after questioning. This paper gives four suggestions to

English teachers for effective classroom questioning: firstly, teachers should ask

more diverse and reference questions. Secondly, teachers should control the

waiting-time, according to specific circumstances. Thirdly, teachers should

encourage all students to answer questions actively. Fourthly, teachers should give

feedbacks after students' answering. The relationship between the present research

and the previous research is that both of them analyze the questioning strategies

used by the teachers. However, the present study has a different focus on the

object of the research. Besides focusing on types and strategies in questioning, the

present study also focuses on the reasons and difficulties in employing

questioning strategies. Then, the previous study focused on effective questioning.

Nisa (2014) focused her study on the classroom interaction analysis in the

EFL speaking class. Her findings provided evidence that teachers should promote

their students' communicative skills and encourage students to use English during

speaking activities by asking questions. The relationship between the present

research and the previous research is that both of them concern to analyze the
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interaction in the classroom. However, the present study has a different focus on

the object of the research. The present study focuses on analyzing questioning

strategies in classroom interaction. Then, the previous study focused on analyzing

classroom interaction.

Haliani, H. (2013). Teachers' questioning strategies and students'

responses in young learners' classroom interaction. This previous research

concerns on teacher's questioning strategies in young learners' classroom

interaction and their effect on students' responses. This previous research found

that repetition, simplification, rephrasing, wait-time, code-switching, and blank

filling were applied in young learners' classroom interaction. Among those

strategies, rephrasing, repetition, and wait-time are the most frequently used by

the teacher. Related to the students' responses, it was found that students have

more relevant responses to the teacher's questioning strategies. In other research,

Alimuddin (2015) also researched the questioning strategy used by English

teachers and the result showed that the teacher mostly used Wh-question and

yes/no question. In the application the question in the class, the students' attitude

toward the question, they got the spirit to answer the question if they can answer

the question but the student low spirit if they cannot answer it. The relationship

between the present research with both of the previous studies above is that all of

them explore the teachers' strategies in questioning. However, there are

differences between the two studies that focus on the subject and the object of the

researches. The present research focuses on adolescent learners (senior high

school), while the subjects from previous studies are young learners.
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Fitriati et al (2017), in the study teachers' questioning strategies to elicit

students' verbal responses in EFL classes at a secondary school, they conducted

the research to explore and examine English teachers’ skills in questioning to

enhance students' verbal responses in EFL. The result of the study showed that

four questioning strategies mostly used in this research. They were

decomposition, repetition, simplification, and rephrasing strategy. This study also

found that to make students involve, enhance students‟ verbal responses, and lead

to the comprehension of the lesson in the classroom interaction successfully the

teachers' the teachers have to have a questioning skills. They suggested that the

teachers should be more aware of their questioning skills to assist students to

achieve better proficiency in the English language. The relationship between the

present research and the previous research is that both of them analyze the

questioning strategies used by the teachers. However, the present study has a

different focus concerning with the content of the strategies. The present study

concerns the use of wait – time, distributing questions, the role of question type

teachers use, modification of questions, reaction to student responses. While, the

previous study focused on decomposition, repetition, simplification, and

rephrasing strategy.

According to Wu (1993), there are ranges of questioning strategies that

can elicit students‟ speaking practices. Wu's taxonomy of questioning strategies is

vital and effective to extend students‟ verbal responses. As proposed by Wu

(1993), the five questioning strategies that teachers should use to generate verbal

responses from students include: rephrasing (a question is expressed in another

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way), simplification (this may be regarded as a kind of rephrasing by means of

which a situation is simplified so that students can cope with it), repetition (a

question is repeated in the hope that a verbal response will be elicited),

decomposition (an initial question is decomposed into two or more parts so that an

answer may be obtained), and probing (a question is followed up by one or more

other questions so that the teachers can solicit more responses from a student).

The relationship between the present research and the previous research is that

both of them analyze the questioning strategies used by the teachers. However, the

present study has a different focus concerning with the content of the strategies.

The present study concerns the use of wait – time, distributing questions, the role

of question type teachers use, modification of questions, and reaction to student

responses. While, the previous study focused on decomposition, repetition,

simplification, probing and rephrasing strategy.

All of those previous researches explore questioning strategies in

classroom interaction in the different levels of students. The data show that the

teachers applied some strategies in teaching and learning activity. They employed

questioning by using question-planning strategies, question-controlling strategies,

nomination strategies, decomposition, repetition, simplification, probing, and

rephrasing strategy. The other strategies include the use of wait-time, code-

switching, and blank filling. All of the previous researches have similarities with

the current study that is analyzing questioning strategies. Nevertheless, the

difference is that there will be several strategies that do not exist in the previous

research examined in the current study. The next difference is that the present
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research does not only research the strategies but also investigates the teachers’

reasons and difficulties in applying questioning strategies.

B. Some Pertinent Ideas

This part deals with concepts or theories related to the questioning

strategies in classroom interaction. It consists of classroom interaction, teaching

strategy, the concept of question, types of questions, teacher's questioning

strategies, guidelines for questioning strategies, and why questioning strategies

are used.

1. Classroom Interaction

Teaching is an interactive act, whereas interaction is the communication

between teacher and students that run continuously as responsive acts. Tickoo

(2009) stated that in classroom interaction and classroom activities, a productive

class hour can be described as follows:

a. The teacher interacts with the whole class.

b. The teacher interacts with a group, a pair or an individual pupil.

c. Pupils interact with each other: in groups, in pairs, as individuals or as

aclass.

d. Pupils work with materials or aids and attempt the task once again

individually, in groups and so on.

Richards, et al. define classroom interaction in these words,“The patterns

of verbal and non-verbal communication and the types of social relationships

which occur within classrooms. The study of classroom interaction may be a part

of studies of Classroom Discourse, Teacher Talk and Second Language

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Acquisition.” (Richards, et al.,1992). Besides, Walsh (2011) stated that learners

access new knowledge, acquire and develop new skills, identify problems,

establish and maintain a relationship through language in interaction. Jia (2013)

found that there are five strategies of promoting classroom interaction. They are

as follows:

a. Improving Questioning Strategies

The attention of the teacher to the learners can activate the teacher-learner

interaction. The teacher should ask the question that can be answered by the

learners then the teacher adapts his questions to the levels or abilities of the

learners.

b. Attending to Learners’ Linguistic Level

The activities should offer different language levels to different learners.

The used material reflects the unique needs of those learners at the level they have

reached.

c. Implementing Cooperative Learning

Working cooperatively can help the development of a learner's social

skills. Cooperative learning means that every member of the group is included and

differences among group members are resolved by the group members.

d. Building Positive Teacher-Learner Rapport

Mutual respect between teacher and learners is an essential part of

education. The dynamic qualities of classroom learning need the responsible for

both teacher and learner.

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e. Reducing Classroom Anxiety

The teacher helps the learners to boost their self-esteem and self-

confidence and create a comfortable and non-threating environment.

From the classroom interaction strategies discussed above, the researcher

is interested in taking the improving questioning strategies as the object of the

present research. He will analyzed the teachers’ ways in employing the questions

in classroom interaction.

2. Teaching Strategy

Teaching strategy is a generalized plan for a lesson which includes

structure, instructional objectives and an outline of planned tactics, necessary to

implement the strategies (Stone and Morris, in Issac, 2010). Furthermore, Issac

(2010) explains that teaching tactics are that behavior of the teacher that he

manifests in the class i.e., the developments of the teaching strategies, giving

proper stimulus for timely responses, drilling the learned responses, increasing the

responses by extra activities and so on.

Aswan et al, (2010) stated that teaching strategy is a teacher's plan in

teaching and learning process to achieve a purpose which has planed. In other

words, teaching strategies are approaches to teach students. The teacher has to

apply the strategy to balance between the method which the teacher's used and the

way of the teacher's used to apply the material.

Teaching effectively involves not only the use of tools, techniques, and

strategies to optimize students learning but an understanding of context, in

particular how the students learn, how they process information, what motivates
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them to learn more, and what impedes the learning process. Anderson (1994)

concluded that student outcomes may heavily depend on the teacher's instructional

planning, teaching method selection, and having a variety of learning activities.

An effective teaching strategy helps students to achieve their goals and success in

life.

3. The Concept of Question

A question is something important to do in a learning activity. It can be

done by someone who conducts the activity. It is an instruction in an interrogative

form which is applied to some purposes. According to Wragg and Brown (2001),

the question is an essential element in the design of instruction and facilitation

learning. Farmer (2006) also stated that question is a skill to bridge the unknown

to known knowledge route. That is why asking question in classroom learning

activities is important things that should do. In classroom settings, teachers'

questions are defined as instructional cues or stimuli that expose students to the

content elements to be learned (Azerefegen, 2008). Linch (1991) defined that

question is a command or interrogative expression used to elicit information or

response or to test knowledge. In another statement, Seime (2002) stated that a

question is related to the statement that is used to raise a verbal response. It is

meant that question also needs to be applied in a classroom setting to stimulate

students to respond to the learning activity.

In classroom settings, question is something popular to be used in teaching

and learning. This method can be implemented by a teacher to do particular

purposes. One of them is to stimulate students in interaction. By asking questions,

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teachers hope it will help students to review, to check comprehension, to stimulate

critical thinking, to encourage creativity, to emphasize a point, to control

classroom activities and to cut down on disruptive behavior, to help determine

grades, to encourage discussion, to discourage inattentiveness, and other reasons

and purposes (Blosser, 2000). The statement indicates that question can be done

by a teacher or students for many purposes.

Besides, Questioning is very important in the language classroom as it is a

tool for interactive learning. The posting of questions during a lesson can also

define interpersonal relations between a teacher and the students and indicate the

desire to share discourse. By using questions a teacher can identify what

knowledge the students already possess and their understanding of specific issues

(Walsh, 2011; Xuerong, 2012). It signs that question is the crucial part of

identifying categorizing students’ levels in building knowledge.

From the explanations above, it can be generalized that question is

someone's idea which needs a response from other people (audience/listener). It

can be used by someone to ask something or to get something. Question is also

related to the relation between students and teachers. It takes place as a tool in

interactive learning among them. Especially for the teacher, he/she could identify

students' level, knowledge or understanding by using questions.

4. Types of question

In language classroom, a teacher has different types of questions to be

used as a strategy. It had been formulated by some experts as guidance for the
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teacher in managing the classroom. In relation with the statement, Blosser (1973)

analyzed teacher questioning into four types as follows:

a. Open-ended question (e.g., “If you were to design a science display for the

school bulletin board, what would you include in the display and why?” or

“What should be included in a project to improve the school environment?”)

b. Closed-ended question (e.g., “What is the chemical formula for water?” or

“What happened when you switched from low to higher power

magnification?”),

c. Rhetorical question (e.g., “The green coloring matter in plants is called

chlorophyll, right?” or “Yesterday we said there are three major groups of

rocks, right?”)

d. Managerial question (e.g., “Does everyone have the necessary equipment?” or

“Will you turn to page 15?”).

From Richards and Lockharts (1994), they divided three types of

questions. They are procedural, convergent and divergent questions. These types

of questions are presented as follows:

a) Procedural questions

Procedural questions have to do with classroom procedures and routines

and classroom management as opposed to the content of learning. For example,

Richards and Locharts(1994), state that the following questions occurred in

classrooms while teachers were checking that assignments had been completed,

that instructions for a task were clear, and the students were ready for a new task.
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Procedural questions are designed to engage students in the content of the lesson

to facilitate their comprehension and to promote classroom interaction.

b) Convergent questions

Convergent questions encourage similar student responses or responses

which focus on a central theme. They do not usually require students to engage in

higher-level thinking in order to come up with a response but often focus on the

recall of previously presented information. In general convergent questions may

expect the student to repeat some conventional wisdom. Richards and Lockharts

(1994:186) recommend the following questions as convergent used by a teacher in

introducing a reading lesson focusing on the effects of computers.

c) Divergent questions

Divergent questions encourage student responses which are not short

answers and which requires students to engage in higher level thinking. They

encourage students to provide their own information rather than to recall

previously presented information. Divergent questions are the opposite of

convergent questions. They encourage students to provide their own information

rather than to recall previously presented information.

Long and Sato (1983) have classified questions as display and referential

questions. Moreover, Nunan (1989) has indicated the distinction between the

display and referential questions. He stated that "a display question is one to

which the questioner knows the answer, whereas a referential question is one to

which the person asking the question does not know the answer." He further

commented that referential questions provide an opportunity for students to

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express their ideas without any restrictions and develop the output of the target

language.

Another categorization, which will be fundamental for this study, for

teachers’ questions was presented by Wajnryb (1992) as follows:

1. Yes/No questions

Yes/no question is considering as the easiest question for the students to

answer either the answer is yes or no. The teacher asks the question to the students

but the students only have 2 choices to answer: yes or no. An example is provided

by Wajnryb (1992), "Here is a picture of a woman. Have you seen her face

before?". The students will expect to answer yes if they have seen her face before.

These kinds of questions do not the students to produce a new language.

2. Short answer/ retrieval-style questions

Short answer/ retrieval-style question is the type of question that "drives"

the student to answer with the right answer according to the teacher expectation.

The function of the kind of question is to check their understanding. They can

respond more natural compared to yes/no questions. They will give exactly the

answer in the form of a short answer. The example is proposed by Wajnryb

(1992), "What did she say about the film?" The answer must be contained in the

text. In other words, the students answer base on the textbook.

3. Open-ended questions

Open-ended question is the type of question that create students to have a

different answer and there is no right or wrong answer. It is an open question and

base on the students' background knowledge. These questions generally inquire to

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the child process of thinking, imagining, feeling and understanding. Wajnryb

(1992) mentions an example: "Whom could he have telephoned?".

4. Display questions

Display question is a type of question which is used to check the students‟

understanding. Question requesting information has already known by the teacher.

Check to understand, because the teachers have known the right answers about

information evaluate student's comprehension of the teacher's explanation.

Wajnryb (1992) gives an example, "What color is this pen?".

5. Referential questions (requesting new information)

Referential question is a question that has no fixed answer, the teacher

wants to know what the students' idea. When the teacher seeking information

from the students, which is they do not know the answer. The example is asking

the student's opinion about the topic. Teachersdon‟t know the answer, because it

is based on the students' point of view. These questions would increase the

productivity of students and then the questions would likely enrich more

meaningful communication between the teacher and the students. The example

can be "What did you study at university?".

6. Non-retrieval, imaginative questions

Non-retrieval, the imaginative question is a type of questions that do not

require the learner to retrieve given information but instead call on inferred

information or information in which an opinion judgment is called for). "What do

you think the writer was suggesting by making the central character an animal?" is

the example provided by Wajnryb (1992). Therefore, the students ask to imagine
 22

something does not exist in the text. Something that implicit, so the students have

to answer it with their imagination.

From the types of question have been explained above, the researcher

decides that the types of question proposed by Richards and Lockharts (1994) and

Wajnryb (1992) will be investigated in this research.

5. Teacher’s questioning strategy

Questioning strategy is a crucial term that has to be known by someone

who works as a teacher. That is because a teacher must be able to invite the

students to engage themselves in the process of interactive learning, especially to

stimulate students to respond learning process. So, he/she needs strategies to

support her/his purposes namely questioning strategies. Harvey (2000) stated that

questioning strategy is most effective when it allows students to become fully

involved in the learning process. Strategies in questioning are used to give

guidance to teachers in giving questions to students. In giving questions to the

students, the teacher needs a key namely guidance to make her/him easier in

running the lesson.

Guest (1985) stated that "Questioning strategy is one of the important tools

for extending students' learning which can help teachers develop their strategies to

enhance the students work and thinking". It indicates that it is very importantfor

students and teachers to know and to use in the classroom activity.

Taba (1966), in her book “In teaching strategies and cognitive functioning

in elementary school children", she stated that instructional strategy should follow

a developmental sequence to enable students' cognitive functioning to exceed

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what typically is expected of them. In her work with the contra costa California,

Taba carried out her three levels of cognitive mapping approach to questioning.

1. Concept development, which emphasizes the equal importance of attention to

content and learns how to apply content.

2. The interpretation of data, which involve analyzing cause and effect.

3. The application of generalization, which calls for extending generalizations.

4. Identifying trends and making predictions.

Betts (1910) stated that asking good questions is central to learn and

sometimes can be more important than getting the answer, particularly when the

questions encourage students to think critically. It indicates that asking a good

question is needed by a teacher as a center of information to invite or stimulate

students to be active in the class, especially to think critically.

Eble (1988), in additions, argues that teachers' questions can be applied in

three sessions: (1) questions play at the beginning, (2) questions play at the middle

of teaching, (3) and the questions play at the end after teaching in the classroom.

It means that the question is used frequently at the end of the lesson, but

sometimes at the beginning and the middle of teaching the question are also used.

In relation to the application of the question, Wilen and Clegg (1986)

suggested to use these following practices to ask questions as explored by

different researchers:

1. phrasing questions clearly;

2. asking questions of primarily an academic nature

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3. allowing three to five seconds of wait time after asking a question before

requesting a student's response, particularly when high-cognitive level

questions are asked;

4. encouraging students to respond in some way to each question asked;

5. balancing responses from volunteering and non-volunteering students;

6. eliciting a high percentage of correct responses from students and assist with

incorrect responses;

7. probing students' responses to have them clarify ideas, support a point of view,

or extend their thinking;

8. Acknowledging correct responses from students and use praise specifically and

discriminately.

Wilen and Clegg (1986) gave importance to the wait time. Later on,

Anderson and Stewart (1997)also supported allowing more wait time when asking

questions. According to Rowe (1974) wait time is the time the teacher waits for an

answer after asking a question to students. That information indicates that

utilizing time effectively is needed in the strategy of asking questions.

There are many ways of asking questions. The following are some of the

issues identified as teachers' questioning strategies in the classroom.

a. Wait – time

In applying questions, a teacher is encouraged to set the time effectively

between giving questions and receiving answers. Giving wait time for students to

look for answers are needed in the teaching and learning process. It is because

students need to think to find answers to the questions given by the teacher. In
 25

relation to wait-time, some experts gave a little concept of wait time. It is the

length of time the teacher waits after asking the question before calling a student

to answer it (Nunan 1991).According to (Seime 2002 :7), wait –time “is the

amount of time the teacher pauses after a question and before pursuing the answer

with further questions or the nomination of a student to answer the question”.

Regarding the application of wait – time, Perrot (1986) explained that

teachers’objectives of questioning may hinder to employ wait-time in asking

questions. The application of wait time can give positive effects for implementing

the questioning strategies.

In line with the use of wait time, In Richards and Lock harts (1994) view

when wait–time is increased student participation as well as the quality of that

participation often increases. They confirm that the basic reason for pausing after

asking a question is to give time to think about possible answers. If a teacher

wants his /her students to answer the questions he/she must be careful to cultivate

that expectation by waiting after he/she asks a question. Thus if a teacher really

wants the students to answer the question, he/she must allow their students to get

more time to think. According to Borich (1988), wait – time must be longer when

students are expected to think about and to weigh alternative responses. He further

insists that teachers should wait at least there seconds before either asking another

question, repeating the previous question or calling on other students. Based on

the comment above, it indicates that the use of waiting time has a positive impact

on students in asking questions

b. Distributing questions
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In a language classroom, limiting questions to certain students do not have a

significant impact on language teaching, especially to the other students. All

students should get an opportunity to the given questions with the aim that all of

them can be actively involved in the teaching and learning process, especially in

the application of questioning strategies. It is also very important to motivate

them. In line with this, Good and Brophy (1987) explain Students will learn more

if they are actively engaged in discussion than if they sit passively day after day

without participating. We all know reticent students who rarely participate in

discussions but still get excellent grades, but most students benefit from

opportunities to practice oral communication skills, and distributing

responsibilities helps keep students attentive and accountable.

Tsui gave a comment about teachers’ questions just for active students. Tsui

(1995: 75) puts it ‘’ most teachers tend to allocate more turns to students who are

active in class and always ready to volunteered answers.’’ In supporting this idea

(Nunan 1991:7) comments that distributing questions among all students is very

essential to language learning. This commentary sign that giving questions is not

just for active students but all of them ideally.

c. The role of question type teachers use

In asking a question, a teacher has to consider the function of the questions

will be given because each question has an effect on the students. It is good to

have to consider which questions are suitable for students' needs, lessons, and

conditions. Practically, Richards and Lockhart’s (1994) delivered an explanation

about that. He explains that language teachers tend to ask more convergent
 27

questions than divergent questions. They further argue that "since convergent

questions require short answers, they may likewise provide limited opportunities

for students to produce and practice the target language”. This implies that this

type of questions has effect on language learning.

In another explanation, Long and Sato (1983) pointed out that the number

of display questions asked by the teacher was more than referential questions. In

another related study Brock, (1986), examined the effects of display and

referential questions on students language output. In line with this Tsui (1995)

suggests “Teachers who often ask display question and/or disguise them as

Referential questions are likely to encourage students to regurgitate facts or pre-

formulatedlanguage items, and discourage students from trying to communicate

their ownideas in the target language”

d. Modification of Questions

In EFL classroom, sometimes a teacher gives questions unclearly or gives

ambiguous questions. It is needed modification of the questions when students

find something difficult to understand the questions asked by the teacher. So, it

can make difficult for students to argue or give answers. According to Chaudron,

(1988:128) ‘Teachers should modify a question by rephrasing it with alternative

or, or-choice questions, like ‘what coffee, tea, beer’ In support of this idea, Tsui,

(1995) suggests that it is fairly common among teachers to simply repeat a

question when they fail to get a response from students. It suggested that a teacher

should modify her/his questions, either repeat or change the form of the question

but in the same meaning.

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Modifying questions can help students provide an answer to question

without taking more wait time. In addition to this, students with low proficiency

can be helped more to improve their abilities in the language. Regarding the

importance of modification, (Tsui,1995) explain “While verbatim repetition has

its place in helping students to process the question, particularly for those with

low proficiency, it is important for teachers to remember that, when a response is

not for the coming even after it is repeated verbatim, the question needs to be

modified”.

Chaudron (1988) strengthen the above strategies of modifying teacher’s

language byadding the following salient points.

a) Speaking more slowly,When teachers speak to language learners in the

classroom, they often use a slower rate of speech than they would use in other

situations.

b) Using pause, Teachers tend to pause more and to use longer pauses when

teaching language learners, particularly lower – level students. These pauses

give learners more time to process what he has said and hence facilitate their

comprehension.

c) Changing pronunciation, Teachers may sometime use a clearer articulation or a

more standard style of speech one which contains fewer reductions and

contractions than they would use outside of a teaching situation.

d) Modifying vocabulary, Teachers often replace a difficult word with what they

think is a more commonly used word.

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e) Modifying grammar Language, Teachers often simplify the grammatical

structure of sentences in the classroom situation than in other contexts, or avoid

using complex tenses.

f) Modifying discourse, Teachers may repeat themselves or answer their own

question’s in order to make themselves understood.

e. Reaction to student responses

A teacher is expected to react to students' responses to the questions given

correctly. Reacting to student’s responses may reflect negative or positive impact.

According to Nunan, (1991) reacting positively plays an important role in

transforming student attitude towards the lesson and engages learners in the

discussion. There are a number of ways teachers can react to student responses.

For instance, Clark and star (1986:87) suggest the following ways:

1. Consider the response of any pupil and reinforce his ideas by rephrasing or

rewording the answer.

2. Make pupil ideas clear by expanding on them or comparing them with other

answers that have been presented.

3. Encourage another student to respond, to rephrase, expand on, or evaluate the

answer given by classmate.

4. Give recognition (reward) for correct responses and correct the wrong answer

in ways that fit the need of the student and setting in which the class is

working.

5. Use the response of one pupil as the basis for further questions.
 30

6. Give pupils time to think through the question and their answer before sharing

it with the class.

Sometime students may not give complete answers to a question. It is very

important to encourage pupils with a proper comment for their contribution.

Burton (1962) expounds that a teacher who says an answer is ‘dead wrong' or

otherwise ridicules is making an effort to prevent the very thing he is there to

encourage – learning activity.

6. Guidelines for Classroom Questioning

In the language classroom, good questions play important roles and have

several purposes. To facilitate it, the construction of questions is needed, so that

the person who will be asked can easily understand the questions given. One of

the problems which can affect the planning of questioning was proposed by

Perrott (1986). He indicates that one of the common problems in questioning

sequences is a lack of emphasis on higher order questions. This may be due to

failure in planning a strategy on how to present questions in the classroom

Problems in questioning sequences can be alleviated by planning a strategy that

could facilitate question and answer exchanges.

Eggen (2006:381), indicated that good questions are clear, purposeful,

brief, natural and adapted to the level of the class, sequenced and thought to

provoke. On top of this, suggestions have been given by Kissock and Iyortsuun

(1982) that could help language teachers when making plans. These are:

1. Offer variety in lesson activities. Any activity that is used all or a large portion

of time, even questioning, becomes unproductive.

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2. Use significant and worthwhile topics Even the best questions will have little

impact if the topic has no relationship to lesson objectives or needs and

interests of pupils.

3. When plans are complete compare the focal or key questions with the lesson

objectives to determine if:

a) The question fits the cognitive and effective level of the objectives

b) The questions follow a logical sequence that will lead students to

demonstrate the abilities desired in the objectives.

Question and answer practice is one of the commonest ways of giving

language practice in the EFL classroom. In relation to questioning in the language

classroom, Sawyer(1989:155) and Byrne (1986:48) suggest the following basic

points:

a. It is only one of many ways of giving practice. Here, visual aids enable teachers

to elicit responses from the students in whatever form they want.

b. Questions must be as realistic as possible. This helps learners to identify the

context easily and to give precise and clear responses.

c. Questions based on a text must be reworded in language that is more difficult

than the text itself or calls for a more difficult answer. This has advantages and

disadvantages. It is meant to avoid recall from the text and develop the thinking

ability of students. Teachers should sometimes use this approach of

questioning.

Various scholars have indicated different ways of asking questions in

language classrooms (Farrant 1980 Burton 1962,Borich 1988, and Perrott 1986).
 32

Some of the possible ways of presenting questions that fit the teacher's objectives

are shown below.

1) Call on students who do not volunteer answers, but first, be certain that all

students understand that you will be doing this as a way of having everyone

participate in the class. This helps to hold the attention of the whole class and

to avoid repeating questions in the classroom. On the other hand, the teacher

must know the individual student’s ability and the difficulty of his questions.

So he can assign his student’s to answer his questions depending on their

abilities.

2) Introduce some questions by saying, “Before answering, think about the

question”. In this case, the teacher encourages students to be alert and

understand the context. They can get enough time to modify and make

thoughtful responses. Moreover, students can easily identify the type of

question and the response which should be given.

3) Ask open-ended, not just close-ended questions. A close-ended question

structures the response for the student and can be answered by one word after

"yes" or "no" by a very brief phrase. An open-ended question leaves the form

of the answer up to the person answering and so elicits much more thinking or

information

4) Avoid repeating questions. This will not help to keep the attention of all

students. If the teacher has the habit of repeating questions many students don’t

listen at first as they know their teacher’s habit. However, it is sometimes

 33

important to rephrase some questions using simple expressions in order to give

explanations in some situations.

5) Increase wait – time beyond three seconds when asking higher cognitive

questions.

6) Use redirection and probing as part of classroom questioning and keep these

focused on salient elements of students’ responses.

7) State questions clearly so the intent of the question is understood and does not

need to be rephrased. Using simple expressions, the teacher can state his

questions clearly. It is believed that the teacher knows the student’s standard

and he must use familiar words and expressions to form questions.

8) Be particularly careful to allow generous amounts of wait- time to a student

perceived as lower ability.

9) Ask a question then call on a student, to keep the attention of the whole class. If

the teacher first calls on a student most of the students won’t be attracted by the

question, this helps every student to think over the question.

10) Encourage students to comment on other students responses. This can help

students to develop critical thinking abilities in the students.

11) Ask only one question at a time. Avoid trying to elaborate on a question after

it is asked. Further elaboration may result in more questions to be asked by the

teacher.

12) In settings where higher cognitive questions are appropriate, teach students

strategies for drawing inferences.

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7. Why Questioning Strategies are Used

Before applying the questions, there will be some reasons that come into

the teacher's mind about why questions are asked or why the questioning strategy

is used. Some of the purposes are to test students’ abilities or to involve them to

be more active in a discussion or conversation. Elis (1992) proposed two reasons

why teachers asked questions in their classroom. First, questions require to

respond. When students respond to the question, the teacher could give some

feedback which can be used to adjust content and expression in subsequence

teacher talk. Second, the question serves as a device controlling the progress of

the interaction through which a lesson is enacted. When talking about a response,

it is connected with stimulus. A stimulus is needed to invite students to talk. It is

relevant to dillon's (1981) statement. Teachers’ questioning also stimulates

students to speak because teachers are found to speak more frequent in questions

while students will speak in answers (Dillon, 1981).

Turney et al. (1973), in their first edition of the Sydney Micro Series, list

twelve possible functions of questions (see below).

1. To arouse interest and curiosity concerning a topic

2. To focus attention on a particular issue or concept

3. To develop an active approach to learning

4. To stimulate pupils to ask questions for themselves and others

5. To structure a task in such a way that learning will be maximized

6. To diagnose specific difficulties inhibiting pupil learning

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7. To communicate with the group that involvement in the lesson is expected

and that overt participation by all members of the group is valued

8. To provide an opportunity for pupils to assimilate and reflect upon

information

9. To involve pupils in using an inferred cognitive operation on the assumption

that this will assist in developing thinking skills,

10. To develop reflection and comment by pupils on the responses of other

members of the group, both pupils and teachers

11. To afford an opportunity for pupils to learn vicariously through discussion.

Turney et al. (1973 as cited from Wragg, 2001)

In another statement, Richards and Lockharts (1994) have stated the

following as justifications for the important questions in teaching.

a) They stimulate and maintain students’ interest

b) They encourage students to think and focus on the content of the lesson

c) They enable teachers to check students understanding

d) They enable a teacher to elicit particular structures or vocabulary items

e) They encourage student participation in a lesson

Art of asking a question is a skill that should be mastered by all of the

teachers. Through these skill is not only teachers can obtain the essence of factual

information but it can also help students in relating the concepts, making

conclusion, raise awareness, encourage creative thinking abilities and imaginative,

encouraging critical thinking process, and explore more deeply about knowledge,

thinking, and understanding students (Wilson, 1997 in Tina Yunarti 2009). Based
 36

on the statement, it points out that questioning has roles in stimulating students'

brain to think critically.

Kauchak and Eggen (1989), in the book of Learning and Teaching, form

the functions of teacher’s questions as follows; Questions can encourage verbal

interaction between teachers and students, questions focus students’ attention on

particular aspects or features of a topic, questions are used to evaluate students’

knowledge and comprehension, questions help to review and check essential

content in a subject, questions stimulate thinking and the mental activity,

questions can be used to prompt both low and high-level cognitive processes,

questions can be used to control the social strategies of students, and questions

are often used to encourage desirable or restrict undesirable strategies(Kauchak &

Eggen, 1989).

C. Resume

Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded that the teacher's

question is an interrogative form instructional that is used by the teacher to do

some purposes. While the teacher's questioning strategies are the teacher’s ways

in implementing questions. There are five ideas have been discussed above. They

are the meaning of the question-conceptual definition, types of questions,

teacher’s questioning strategies, Guidelines for Classroom Questioning, and why

questioning strategy is used.

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D. Conceptual Framework

Teaching and Learning

Process

Classroom Interaction

Teachers’- Students’
Interaction

Questioning strategies

Types of Teachers’ Teachers’ Teachers’

Questions Strategies Reasons Difficulties

Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework

This research will employ qualitative research to analyze questioning

strategies used by English teachers in Senior High School of 3 Enrekang. It will

be carried out during the teaching and learning process in classes focused on

English classes. In Indonesia and especially in Senior High School of 3 Enrekang,

English has a position as a foreign language which a teacher must work hard to

have various ways in creating a more interactive classroom. The important factor

is the interaction between the teachers and the students that can be built and

developed effectively. This research will be placed on the interactions between the

teachers and the students in EFL classes where it will be focused on the teachers’
 38

strategies in questioning. It relates to the types of the questions used by the

teachers in EFL classroom. In the class, the teachers will employ the types of

questions and develop it into several strategies in teaching.In doing the strategies,

there are some reasons that will be explained by the teachers about why they use

the strategies. Beside the reasons, the teachers also are expected to show their

opinion about the difficulties in doing the questioning strategies in the classroom.
 39

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHOD

This chapter presents several parts, namely research design, operational

definition, subject of the research, instruments of the research, procedures of

collecting data, and technique of data analysis.

A. Research Design

This research will employ qualitative research which will be aimed to

answer the questions in this study. It will be applied to investigate the teaching

strategies in the classroom, specifically for teacher questioning strategies. It is to

know, to analyze, and to explore the questioning strategies in classroom

interaction used by English teachers in senior high school of 3 Enrekang.

B. Operational Definitions

1. Teachers’ questioning strategies are the ways used by the teacher to deliver

questions in teaching and learning process for some purposes.

2. Types of question are categories of question employed by the teachers in EFL

classroom.

3. The reasons are things that encourage the teachers to employ questioning

strategies in EFL classroom.

4. The Difficulties are factors that make the teachers hard to apply questioning

strategies.
 40

C. Subject of The Research

In this research, three English teachers will be sources of the data at senior

high school of 3 Enrekang. The researcher will employ purposive sampling as a

technique to choose subjects of this research. It will be chosen by considering the

teachers' qualifications. They will be selected based on the background of

education. All of the teachers have been graduated from famous universities in

Indonesia. They were from University of 45 Makassar and State University of

Makassar (IKIP Ujung Pandang). One of them is a master degree and two of them

are graduates. Likewise, they will be selected based on their dedication in

teaching for more than 10 years.

D. Instrument of the research

The data will be collected by using two instruments, namely observation

guide and interview questions.

1. Observation guide

Observation as an instrument of this research will be conducted by the

researcher to answer the questions which are listed in chapter 1. The

researcher chooses this instrument to investigate questioning strategies used

by the teachers in the classroom. In classroom observation, the researcher will

observe the real situations and activities in the teaching and learning process.

Furthermore, he compiles observation checklist as a guide for observation.

The researcher will observe three English teachers in three meetings. This

observation will include audio-video recording and note.

 41

2. Interview Question

The researcher will use semi-structured interview to collect the data based on

the research questions. He will ask some questions which relate to the

questioning strategies used by the teachers in the classroom. This activity aims

to get the information from the participants. The process of interviewing will

be recorded by using an audio recorder and the language which will be used is

related to the language that is comfortable for them.

E. Procedures of Collecting Data

In this part, the researcher will arrange some activities that will be done in

collecting the data process. The process of collecting data will be done by the

researcher as a step to answer the questions listed in chapter 1. The procedure of

collecting data will include observation and interview. First, the researcher will

visit the school chosen as the research site to provide information about the

purposes and procedures that will be carried out during the study. It will also be

conducted to fit between the teacher's teaching schedule and the schedule plan of

data collection.`

Then, the researcher will apply classroom observation to observe the real

situation of teaching activity. In classroom observation, the researcher will sit in

the classroom and record all activities carried out in the class. During recording,

the researcher also makes note that will support a collection of the data. It will be

applied begin from the class until the end of the activity.

The last is interviewing that will be applied after classroom observation. In

this research, the researcher will use the semi-structured interview. It will be
 42

useful to get the information about the questioning strategies that they use in the

teaching and learning process. The process of interviewing will be recorded using

an audio recorder.

F. Technique of Data Analysis

Qualitative analysis will be employed to analyze the data. In this part, the

researcher will take data from observation and interview results to be analyzed.

Qualitative analysis is used based on the techniques proposed by Miles and

Huberman (2014). The activities in qualitative data analysis include data

collection, data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification. The

steps that Miles & Huberman took in conducting qualitative research data analysis

shown in the following figure:

DATA DATA
COLLECTION DISPLAY

DATA
REDUCTIONS
CONCLUSIONS
DRAWING/VERIF
ICATION

Figure 2.2 Data Analysis Miles &Huberman (2014)

Those four types of data analysis could be explained as follows:

1. Data Collection

In this step, the researcher will collect data from the activities which arebased

on the results of observation and interview. Observing teaching and learning

 43

activity will be conducted in classroom activity and interviewing English

teachers will be applied outside the classroom.

2. Data Reduction

The researcher will analyze the data based on summarizing, selecting, and

focusing. Because of the large amount of data, the researcher needs to do these

steps. In reducing activity, the researcher will simplify the data according to

the needs, selecting the main things and focusing on the important points of

the data has been collected.

3. Data Model (Data Display)

The researcher will display the data in the form of narrative. It is based on the

questioning strategies which are used by the teachers in teaching and learning

activity.

4. Conclusion-drawing and verification

From the data display which will be displayed in the narrative form, the

researcher will interpret and make conclusions from the information. And

also, the researcher will verify the data after conducting data collection, data

reduction, and data display.