Kearsley pided questions into verbal questions and nonverbal questions (Kearsley 357-359)。 The classification of the two kinds can be vividly shown in the following chart:

Overt nonverbal questions are gestures which can arouse a nonverbal response such as questioning glances, raised shoulder or hand shrugs, and puzzled facial expressions; covert nonverbal questions are internally directed questions we ask and answer ourselves。 Indirect questions contain an embedded partial interrogative phrase such as “I wonder where the box is”。 Direct questions are indicated in written discourse by the question mark and in verbal discourse by certain intonation patterns。 Open questions are always formed by the use of wh- questions。 Wh- questions typically have a falling intonation pattern with stress on the wh- word。 Closed questions are indicated by their rising intonation pattern and can be subpided into specified alternative and yes or no forms。来自优I尔Q论T文D网WWw.YoueRw.com 加QQ7520~18766

Riegle found that teachers like to ask questions which are at the lowest cognitive level and only require the recall of a memorized answer (Riegle 157)。 Researchers thought if teachers often ask questions which have fixed answers, it will restrict the creative thinking and language expression ability to some degree。 They suggested that referential questions can be used in conjunction with display questions。 

Wilen proposed some questioning techniques: 

1) Plan key questions to provide lesson structure and direction。 

2) Phrase questions clearly and specifically。 

3) Adapt questions to students’ ability level。 

4) Ask questions logically and sequentially。 

5) Ask questions at a variety of levels。 

6) Follow up students’ response。 

7) Give students time to think when responding。 

8) Use questions that encourage wide student participation。 

9) Encourage students’ questions (Wilen 10-11)论文网

The waiting time concept has become an important dimension in the research on teaching。 When teachers ask questions, they usually wait 1 second or even less for students to think。 Students tend to response in some phrases during a surprisingly short time。 Researcher found appropriate waiting time benefits both students and teachers。 For students, their length of responses increases between 300% and 700% and the incidence of their speculative thinking increases。 They will ask more questions, propose more experiments and teacher-centered “show and tell” behavior decreases。 They are more disciplined in class and their failures to response decrease。 What’s more, less-gifted and shy students are more willing to participate voluntarily and their confidence increases gradually。 For teachers, their responses exhibit greater flexibility; they change the number and kind of questions they asked; their expectations for the performance of certain students seems to improve (Rowe 43-45)。

2。2。2 Studies on classroom questioning at home 

The study of English classroom questioning at home mainly focuses on the principle of questioning, the strategy and technique of questioning and the effectiveness of questioning。

On the principle of classroom questioning, Jiang Xueyan thought that the design should follow the principle of integrity, the principle of working within people’s capability, the principle of heuristic, the principle of interest, the principle of predictability (Jiang 61)。 Hou Song made a comparison between Chinese teachers and foreign teachers and proposed that teachers should control the number of questions, improve the quality of questions and give more chances to students so that they can practice the target language。 Teachers’ understanding, decision and choice of communicative approach play an important role on students’ output。 Teachers should give enough time to students and listen to their opinions carefully。 Teachers should not only give appropriate cognitive feedback, but also give emotional support (Hou 129-130)。