TEACHER'S QUESTIONING STRATEGIES IN A CLASSROOM INTERACTION AT SMP NEGERI 2 KENDAL

Abstract

As a teacher, it is necessary to provide questions that are appropriate to the students’ abilities to create interesting classroom interactions. This study aimed to find out the teacher’s questioning strategies; the types of teacher’s questions, whether the teacher used LOTS or HOTS; and the reasons underlying the teacher’s use of questioning strategies and type. The data were collected from the observation and interview with an eighth-grade English teacher of SMP Negeri 2 Kendal. The results show that the teacher used four questioning strategies: wait time (43%), simplification (28%), repetition (26%), and probing (5%). In addition, the teacher used three types of questions in class: remembering (53%), understanding (45%), and analyzing (3%), which shows that the teacher mostly used LOTS rather than HOTS. The results also show that the teacher has four reasons for using the strategies and the types of questions, that is: 1) Improving the students’ memory skills; 2) Giving students time to think; 3) Improving the students’ English vocabularies skills; and 4) Adjusting to the students’ abilities. This study could be helpful for teachers in the class. By asking questions and not directly providing answers, the teacher can create active class interactions and make students more enthusiastic to learn English.