Helping EFL/ESL Students by Asking Quality Questions
Nasreen Hussain

Questioning is the single most influential teaching act and the trend has hardly changed over the years. This article describes two main categories of questions that are frequently used in the classroom. It further shares why the teachers should develop the habit of asking high-level questions and what questioning practices they should avoid.
Introduction
In the realm of teaching and learning, questions have been cited as not only the most often used, but also the single most important strategy used by instructors (Ellis, 1993, Foster, 1983) after lecturing. It appears that teachers have mistakenly equated quantity of questions with quality. A study conducted in 1912 by Romiett Stevens showed that 80 percent of the school time was used for question-and-answer recitation. Gall (1970) cited several studies in which elementary teachers used 64 to 180 questions in one class period. Dillon 1987 (cited in Orlich et al. 1994) reported that of observations of 27 teachers showed an average of 80 questions per class per hour. Research over the years has proved that the practice has hardly changed. This article gives the message that if teachers are to teach logically, they must be knowledgeable in the process of framing questions so that they can guide the students` thought process.
Why Ask Questions?
Some possible reasons are:
To encourage learners to talk constructively and on-task
To signal an interst in hearing what learners feel and think
To stimulate interest and awaken curiosity
To encourage a problem-solving approach to thinking and learning
To help learners externalize and verbalize knowledge learning
To encourage thinking aloud and exploratory approaches to tasks
To help learners to learn from each other
To monitor learning
To deepen learners` thinking level and increase their ability to conceptualize
Questions fall under two main categories:
Yes/No questions
Wh-questions
The first type begins with a verb (to be, have, do or a modal verb) and requires a single word or a very brief response, for example, Are you coming tomorrow? What is the formula of water? The second category begins with an interrogative word (what, were, why, when, how). They are also known as information questions, because they ask the responder to provide particulars (Woodbury, 1984). There are a number of ways of categorizing wh-question type. A simple method is as follows:
1. a data recall question
Requires the learner to remember facts, information without putting the information to use, for example, `What are the four rules of number?`
2. a naming question
Asks the learner simply to name an event, process, phenomenon etc. without showing insight into how the event is linked to other factors, for example, `What do we call the set of bones which cover the lungs?`
3. an observation question
Asks learners to describe what they see without attempting to explain it, for example, `What happened when we added salt to boiling water?`
4. a control question
Involves the use of questions to modify learners` behaviour rather than their learning, for example, `Will you sit down, Kashif?
5. a pseudo-question
Is constructed to appear that the teacher will accept more than one response, but in fact he/she has clearly made up his / her mind that this is not so, for example, `Do you feel involving in violence was a good thing, then?`
6. a speculative or hypothesis generating question 
Asks learners to speculate about the outcome of a hypothetical situation, for example, `Imagine a world without trees, how would this affect our lives?`
7. a reason or analysis question
Ask learners to give reason (s) why certain things do or do not happen, for example, `What motivates some young people to get involved in drug abuse?
8. an evaluation question
Is one that makes a learner weigh out the pros and cons of a situation or argument, for example, `How much evidence is there for the existence of an after-life?`
9. a problem solving question
Asks learners to construct ways of finding out answers to questions, for example, `Suppose we wanted to discover what prompts birds to migrate, how could we go about it?`
NB: Question types 1-5 are more `closed` than types 6-9. Types 1-5 demand shorter answers, less thought and little competence in language use by the learners. Types 6-9 are more demanding.
Questioning Procedure
It is generally a poor method of questioning when the instructor asks questions and allows the entire group to answer in chorus. This method could stimulate a dull class or encourage learners to participate; however it also has some disadvantages. Choral answers permit the learners` attention to wander, decrease individual thought, and restrict the teachers to monitor feedback from the class. Mental participation of the learners can be achieved through the simple five part questioning procedure explained below. This rule is based on the psychological principle that when a question is asked