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大学中，以英语为教学媒介的数位英语文学教师在课堂上向学生提出的问题类型。本研究为质性研究，对四位教师的课堂转录文本展开分析。研究观察到，课堂问题可区分为基础认知水平与复杂认知水平两类：前者可促进学生参与课堂，促使其依托文本与文化参考完成作答；后者则引导学生展开论证并阐明自身答案。研究结果表明，若为基础认知水平问题配套能够助力学生构建学习过程的各类反馈，教师便可将其作为学习支架（scaffolds）加以运用。