Questioning
Even though the usefulness of teaching strategies to aid understanding of texts has been proved, comprehension is still a silent, private process which is difficult to be observed and measured. Brown admits that reading comprehension is “totally unobservable (we have to infer comprehension from other behaviour)” (2001:315). Nuttall (2005) agrees that it is problematic since the comprehension process is invisible. In an attempt to solve this conflict, Nuttall suggests that questions are a way to get access to what is going on in the reader’s minds, but she suggests an improved version of the traditional approach. Questions need to be used as “aids to successful exploration of the text” (2005:182) as she believes that reading tasks are “opportunities for learning, not tests to be escaped if possible” (2005:181).
Kinds of questions in a reading assignment
Nuttall (2005) claims that the purpose of questioning in a “teaching approach” to reading is not to test but to make students notice the way language is used to carry meaning, and the strategies readers can use to understand texts (p. 181). There is a variety of questions that foster an inquisitive role from readers and they can be classified in four different aspects:
- Presentation of questions: open-ended questions, multiple choice questions (MCQs), and true/false (T/F) questions.
- Forms of questions: according to their grammatical pattern (yes/no question, alternative questions, wh- questions and how/why questions)
- Types of questions: questions of literal comprehension, questions involving reorganization or reinterpretation, questions of inference, questions of evaluation, questions of personal response, and questions concerned with how writers say what they mean.
- Questioner: teacher or student.
Nuttall (2005) claims that questions can be presented in three ways: open-ended questions, multiple choice questions (MCQs) and true or false (T/F). Open-ended questions can be answered in any way the student considers appropriate, and their typical examples are how and why questions since they offer the greatest scope for the responder; MCQs offer a number of possible answers to choose from; and finally, T/F present a statement about the text and the reader has to decide whether it is true or false, based on his or her understanding of it (pp. 186)
Questions can also be sorted out according to their grammatical form: yes/no question, alternative questions, wh- questions and how/why questions. Answers to yes/no questions are short and do not require readers to compose a larger sentence. Alternative questions demand respondents to choose between two options. Wh- questions, including why and how questions require full sentences as answers which are more challenging since they vary in content and structure (Nuttall, 2005, pp. 184-185).
Nuttall adds that questions can also be classified “according to the skills they require from the reader, [which] is much more important than their grammatical
form” (2005:187). She classifies them into six types “questions of literal comprehension, questions involving reorganization or reinterpretation, questions of inference, questions of evaluation, questions of personal response and questions concerned with how writers say what they mean” (2005:188,189).
First, Questions of literal comprehension are aimed at checking the basic understanding of the text, and answers can be directly and explicitly found in it. Cubo de Severino et al. (2008) explain that words from the text are used in the questions so that readers make use of their short term memory to store data from the text and answer literal questions (p. 49).
Second, questions involving reorganization or reinterpretation are slightly more difficult than the previous type as they require the reader to reinterpret literal information or to put together pieces of information from different parts of the text, considering it as a whole rather than sentences in isolation.
Third, questions of inference demand readers to discover what is implied in the text, not just its explicit meanings. In order to answer these questions, the reader needs a deep understanding of the text, to be able to decipher its implications. They aim at comprehension, making students rebuild the text with their previous knowledge.
Fourth, questions of evaluation require readers to judge the writer´s intentions
and how far these intentions have been achieved in the text. The typical examples are questions of literary appreciation in which readers need to analyse techniques by which the writer tries to influence him/her.
Fifth, questions of personal response do not depend purely on the how the writer influences reader but on how the reader reacts to the text according to textual evidence. That is to say, the reader can explain his/her own feelings towards the text based on his/her understanding of it.
Finally, questions concerned with how writers say what they mean seek to offer strategies for tackling texts in general, making students aware of what they do to interpret texts.
Nuttall (2005) explains that questioning as a reading task follows an analytical bottom-up approach, which differs from other types of tasks which are more global and ask for a top-down approach. In those tasks intelligence and experience become more important than language proficiency (p. 192). She sorts out tasks as follows: tasks with outcomes requiring little or no language, tasks with outcomes involving spoken language and tasks with outcomes involving writing.
The first group of tasks with outcomes requiring little or no language consists of activities using figures: grids, flow charts, graphs, maps, etc., in which the reader has to interpret the text as a whole to be able to transfer information to the figures.
The second group of tasks with outcomes involving spoken language deals with a more creative and integrative way of checking students’ reading comprehension. It consists of a number of varied activities which include drama, simulation, role play, debates, discussions, and reading out loud. In order to carry out these activities students need to work deeply on the texts to combine the information in them with their own creativity and schemata.
The third group of tasks with outcomes involving written language requires students to use what they have read to solve other activities. Typical examples include planning tourist brochures or documentary films based on a text describing a certain place, writing rules or instructions for a procedure or game described in a text, or retelling an incident from a different point of view among others.
Even though the usefulness of teaching strategies to aid understanding of texts has been proved, comprehension is still a silent, private process which is difficult to be observed and measured. Brown admits that reading comprehension is “totally unobservable (we have to infer comprehension from other behaviour)” (2001:315). Nuttall (2005) agrees that it is problematic since the comprehension process is invisible. In an attempt to solve this conflict, Nuttall suggests that questions are a way to get access to what is going on in the reader’s minds, but she suggests an improved version of the traditional approach. Questions need to be used as “aids to successful exploration of the text” (2005:182) as she believes that reading tasks are “opportunities for learning, not tests to be escaped if possible” (2005:181).
Kinds of questions in a reading assignment
Nuttall (2005) claims that the purpose of questioning in a “teaching approach” to reading is not to test but to make students notice the way language is used to carry meaning, and the strategies readers can use to understand texts (p. 181). There is a variety of questions that foster an inquisitive role from readers and they can be classified in four different aspects:
- Presentation of questions: open-ended questions, multiple choice questions (MCQs), and true/false (T/F) questions.
- Forms of questions: according to their grammatical pattern (yes/no question, alternative questions, wh- questions and how/why questions)
- Types of questions: questions of literal comprehension, questions involving reorganization or reinterpretation, questions of inference, questions of evaluation, questions of personal response, and questions concerned with how writers say what they mean.
- Questioner: teacher or student.
Nuttall (2005) claims that questions can be presented in three ways: open-ended questions, multiple choice questions (MCQs) and true or false (T/F). Open-ended questions can be answered in any way the student considers appropriate, and their typical examples are how and why questions since they offer the greatest scope for the responder; MCQs offer a number of possible answers to choose from; and finally, T/F present a statement about the text and the reader has to decide whether it is true or false, based on his or her understanding of it (pp. 186)
Questions can also be sorted out according to their grammatical form: yes/no question, alternative questions, wh- questions and how/why questions. Answers to yes/no questions are short and do not require readers to compose a larger sentence. Alternative questions demand respondents to choose between two options. Wh- questions, including why and how questions require full sentences as answers which are more challenging since they vary in content and structure (Nuttall, 2005, pp. 184-185).
Nuttall adds that questions can also be classified “according to the skills they require from the reader, [which] is much more important than their grammatical
form” (2005:187). She classifies them into six types “questions of literal comprehension, questions involving reorganization or reinterpretation, questions of inference, questions of evaluation, questions of personal response and questions concerned with how writers say what they mean” (2005:188,189).
First, Questions of literal comprehension are aimed at checking the basic understanding of the text, and answers can be directly and explicitly found in it. Cubo de Severino et al. (2008) explain that words from the text are used in the questions so that readers make use of their short term memory to store data from the text and answer literal questions (p. 49).
Second, questions involving reorganization or reinterpretation are slightly more difficult than the previous type as they require the reader to reinterpret literal information or to put together pieces of information from different parts of the text, considering it as a whole rather than sentences in isolation.
Third, questions of inference demand readers to discover what is implied in the text, not just its explicit meanings. In order to answer these questions, the reader needs a deep understanding of the text, to be able to decipher its implications. They aim at comprehension, making students rebuild the text with their previous knowledge.
Fourth, questions of evaluation require readers to judge the writer´s intentions
and how far these intentions have been achieved in the text. The typical examples are questions of literary appreciation in which readers need to analyse techniques by which the writer tries to influence him/her.
Fifth, questions of personal response do not depend purely on the how the writer influences reader but on how the reader reacts to the text according to textual evidence. That is to say, the reader can explain his/her own feelings towards the text based on his/her understanding of it.
Finally, questions concerned with how writers say what they mean seek to offer strategies for tackling texts in general, making students aware of what they do to interpret texts.
Nuttall (2005) explains that questioning as a reading task follows an analytical bottom-up approach, which differs from other types of tasks which are more global and ask for a top-down approach. In those tasks intelligence and experience become more important than language proficiency (p. 192). She sorts out tasks as follows: tasks with outcomes requiring little or no language, tasks with outcomes involving spoken language and tasks with outcomes involving writing.
The first group of tasks with outcomes requiring little or no language consists of activities using figures: grids, flow charts, graphs, maps, etc., in which the reader has to interpret the text as a whole to be able to transfer information to the figures.
The second group of tasks with outcomes involving spoken language deals with a more creative and integrative way of checking students’ reading comprehension. It consists of a number of varied activities which include drama, simulation, role play, debates, discussions, and reading out loud. In order to carry out these activities students need to work deeply on the texts to combine the information in them with their own creativity and schemata.
The third group of tasks with outcomes involving written language requires students to use what they have read to solve other activities. Typical examples include planning tourist brochures or documentary films based on a text describing a certain place, writing rules or instructions for a procedure or game described in a text, or retelling an incident from a different point of view among others.
