Teachers’ Experiences on the Use of Questioning Strategy in Nepalese ELT Classrooms

Abstract

Using questions in the classroom setting is an age-old practice and has been a cornerstone of education for centuries. Questions are often used to stimulate the recall of prior knowledge, check and promote comprehension, and develop critical-thinking skills. The study aimed at exploring teachers’ beliefs on the use of questioning strategy in the ELT classrooms. The narrative inquiry approach was adopted as a research method for this study. Three secondary level English teachers, purposively selected, from three secondary schools of Kathmandu took part in this study. Interview was used as the method for data collection. The study contains qualitative data only. The data were described and analyzed descriptively. The study revealed that though the teachers used both divergent and convergent questions in the classrooms; they gave priority to divergent ones. The participants perceived divergent questions important in the ELT classrooms as these questions permit exploration of multiple ideas. Regarding the junctions in which they asked questions, they asked most of the questions in the ‘while teaching phase’ of the lesson. Teachers asked questions in the classroom for motivation purposes. Teachers used questioning strategies in the classroom as teaching tool to promote comprehension and stimulate critical thinking. Questions also served as a tool to evaluate the students and means to engage them in classrooms activities.