Fergana state university philology and teaching languages

2.2 The relationship between questioning strategies and speaking skills
Questioning strategies are techniques that teachers use to elicit students' oral responses in the classroom. They can vary in terms of the type, level, purpose, and frequency of questions asked by the teacher. Questioning strategies can have a significant impact on students' speaking skills, as they provide opportunities for students to practice and develop their oral language abilities.
According to Richards and Lockhart (1996), questioning strategies can affect students' speaking skills in the following ways:
- They can stimulate students' interest and motivation to participate in the lesson.
- They can activate students' prior knowledge and help them connect new information to what they already know.
- They can check students' comprehension and understanding of the lesson content.
- They can elicit students' opinions, feelings, attitudes, and values on the topic.
- They can encourage students to think critically and creatively about the topic.
- They can promote students' interaction and communication with the teacher and their peers.
- They can provide feedback and reinforcement to students for their oral performance.
However, not all questioning strategies are equally effective in enhancing students' speaking skills. Some factors that influence the effectiveness of questioning strategies are:
- The level of difficulty and complexity of the questions. The questions should match the students' proficiency level and cognitive abilities, and challenge them to produce more complex and varied language forms.
- The type and variety of the questions. The questions should include different types of questions, such as factual, inferential, evaluative, and creative questions, and cover different aspects of the topic, such as content, process, product, and personal relevance.
- The purpose and intention of the questions. The questions should have a clear and specific purpose and intention, such as to review, clarify, extend, or apply the lesson content, or to elicit students' opinions, feelings, or experiences on the topic.
- The frequency and distribution of the questions. The questions should be asked frequently and evenly throughout the lesson, and not concentrated at the beginning or the end of the lesson. The questions should also be distributed among different students, and not directed to only a few students who are more willing or able to answer.
- The wait time and response time of the questions. The wait time is the amount of time that the teacher gives to the students to think and prepare their answers after asking a question. The response time is the amount of time that the teacher gives to the students to answer the question before providing feedback or moving on to another question. Both wait time and response time should be sufficient and appropriate for the students to produce meaningful and complete answers.⁷
Questioning strategies are an important tool for teachers to foster students' speaking skills in the classroom. Teachers should be aware of the effects of questioning strategies on students' oral language development, and use them effectively and appropriately according to the lesson objectives, content, and context.
Display questions are those that have a predetermined answer and are used to check students' comprehension or recall of information. Referential questions are those that have no fixed answer and are used to encourage students' opinions, feelings or experiences. Probing questions are those that follow up on students' responses and are used to clarify, extend or challenge their thinking. Rhetorical questions are those that do not require an answer and are used to emphasize a point or to stimulate students' interest.
The relationship between questioning strategies and speaking skills is complex and reciprocal. On one hand, questioning strategies can affect students' speaking skills in various ways. For example, display questions can help students practice accuracy and fluency of language forms, referential questions can help students develop creativity and critical thinking skills, probing questions can help students deepen their understanding and reasoning skills, and rhetorical questions can help students engage with the topic and the audience. On the other hand, students' speaking skills can also influence the effectiveness of questioning strategies. For example, if students have low proficiency or confidence in speaking, they may not be able to respond adequately to the questions, or they may avoid answering them altogether. Therefore, teachers need to consider the level and needs of their students when choosing and using questioning strategies in the classroom.