120 hr. TEFL Course Module 5-Speaking (Pt.12 Question-Answer Relatinship)

Module 5: Speaking

5.3.2 Question-answer relationship

One of the best ways that you can help your students respond to questions verbally is by helping them understand how to find the answers they need. This is a great skill to have no matter what language you speak, but it is definitely something that can help a student who is struggling with a new language. According to the question-answer relationship model, there are four levels of questions, each with different expectations for where students should draw their responses.

1. Understanding: The answer to the question being asked is right there in the text for the student to find. These types of questions represent a lower level of thinking but are great for getting practice in answering orally in English. The question requires the student to look at the text for an answer, but the answer is fairly easy, and the student can focus on how he or she is going to provide an answer in English.

2. Think, search, and find: These types of questions require a higher level of thinking because they require students to make inferences and understand the subtext of the piece they are reading. This is a great next step for the student who is starting to get the hang of understanding questions and is ready for a greater challenge. With these types of questions, the student needs to balance the higher-level comprehension skills he or she has been developing with his or her ability to verbalize a response in English.
3. Connection: These types of questions require the student to think beyond what is in the text and make a connection with the piece. This can be more difficult for English language learners because they cannot rely on repeating what they see in the text. Rather, they have to synthesize what they read and create an answer that is relevant to the piece but use their own words. Students are not only showing high comprehension skills but also high critical thinking skills, all while making sure to verbalize their response in a language with which they are not yet comfortable.
4. Creating new knowledge: These types of questions require the student to go completely beyond the text and synthesize something else. These questions are related to the text, but you can answer them without having to read it. This is a great way to get your students creating new meaning and making use of everything they have learned so far.