Enhancing Quality in Language Teaching and Learning by proving the Quality of Teacher Questions

Abstract

Questioning has a central place in verbal interaction in the classroom. It is a complex process involving the cognitive level of the question, questioning strategies, student responses, and the way teachers react to student responses. However, discussions of instructional concerns by educational planners, curriculum designers, and teachers in higher education in Ethiopia too often focus on classroom management, class size,etc., but seem to show relatively little concern about using questions to improve the quality of education. Furthermore, a survey of the state of classroom questioning in Ethiopian higher education seems to show that there are two major problems. First, an investigation of pre-service English programs for prospective teachers shows that the training does not include courses or sufficient components on techniques of classroom questioning. Secondly, there is a serious dearth of research or theoretical literature on classroom questioning in the institutions that would help instructors to improve their questioning strategies. The situation seems to be similar in the Ethiopian higher education system in general. The aim of this paper is to look into the state of teacher questioning in the English language classroom in Ethiopian higher education institutions with particular reference to St. Mary’s University College and Addis Ababa University. The paper is, by and large, analytic and descriptive. Theory is drawn from literature on classroom questioning. Data has been gathered through a questionnaire survey conducted with English language instructors at St. Mary’s University College and Addis Ababa University. Additional data has been gathered through a survey of pre-service English curricula for prospectiveEnglish teachers. An instructor evaluation questionnaire was used in these and other higher education institutions. Instructor evaluation questionnaire, filled out by students, was used to find out whether teacher questioning in the classroom has been given any place in the evaluation of instructors’ classroom practice. This study can throw some light on the subject of teacher questioning in the instructional process. This can help curriculum designers and teachers to consider classroom questions in the process of designing syllabi and other teaching guides. The study might also make instructors aware of research on questioning and to incorporate the findings into their practice.