The Formation of Questions by Teachers to Encourage the Participation of University Students

Abstract This research aimed to explore the types of questions that several teachers of English Literature, using English as a medium of instruction, asked their students, during their lessons, at a university in northern Mexico. It was a qualitative study in which the transcripts of the lessons of four teachers were analyzed. As a result, a distinction was observed between questions of a basic and complex cognitive level: the former promoted student participation and led them to rely on textual and cultural references to answer, and the latter guided the student to argue and clarify their answers. The results suggest that teachers can use basic cognitive level questions as scaffolds, if they are accompanied by some form of feedback that helps students build learning processes.

摘要 本研究旨在探究墨西哥北部某高校内，以英语为教学媒介的英语文学教师在课堂上向学生提出的问题类型。本研究属于质性研究，对四名教师的课堂教学转写文本展开了分析。研究结果显示，可将问题划分为基础认知层级与复杂认知层级两类：前者能够促进学生课堂参与，引导学生依托文本与文化参考资料完成作答；后者则引导学生论证并阐明自身答案。研究结果表明，若辅以可助力学生构建学习过程的各类反馈形式，教师可将基础认知层级问题作为教学支架加以使用。