TEACHERS’ USE OF POST-QUESTION WAIT-TIME IN EFL CLASSES: A CASE STUDY AT FELTE-ULIS

Abstract

As indicated by numerous researchers including Brualdi (cited in McComas & Abraham, n.d.), Liu and Zhao (2010) and Cotton (1988), questions has long been used as an important and prominent tool in fostering students’ learning process. In order to utilize questions in class, besides posing questions, the teachers are encouraged to integrate various skills such as nominating after the question, nominating non-volunteers, probing, increasing wait-time and directing attention to all (Ma, 2008). Among those, the post-question wait-time is considered one of the important aspects contributing to the effectiveness of classroom interaction in general and posing questions in particular. Nevertheless, there is still limited body of research on the use of wait-time after posing questions. Thus, the researcher has decided to conduct a study entitled “Teachers' use of post-question wait-time in EFL classes: A case study at FELTE, ULIS”. This research aims at exploring the amount of wait-time the teachers spent after asking different types of questions based on the revision of Bloom taxonomy by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001). The teachers’ pedagogical considerations and suggestions to utilize post-question wait-time in EFL classes are also investigated for further implications. The researcher has adopted multiple-case study with the participation of five teachers currently teaching in English Division 1, FELTE, ULIS, VNU and their students. Three instruments namely class observation, questionnaires and interviews with the teachers were employed in order to gather data. The data were, then, analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods After the phase of analyzing data, noticeable findings were presented in the following lines. Firstly, wait-time was found to be considerably long after the teachers posed a question. The average WT2 was around six to twelve seconds when it was reported to be less than three seconds in the related studies. The teachers seemed to be very tolerant towards waiting for the students’ responses. It was also recognized that the teachers normally waited less after posing questions for Remembering and Understanding which are of the two lowest levels of cognitive levels. However, the interdependency between wait-time and different types of questions was not clear as there was no positive or negative relation shown when more challenging questions were posed including questions for Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating and Creating. By observing, there were other factors contributing to the use of the teachers’ post-question wait-time such as ways of forming questions, the content of the lessons and the ways the teachers provided prompts after asking a student. Furthermore, the teachers expressed that the most highly concerned considerations when they wait for the students’ answers are the students’ English proficiency, background knowledge, personalities, the cognitive level of different questions and the teaching content. In giving suggestions to utilize post-question wait-time in EFL classrooms, the teachers all emphasized on the importance of understanding students’ characteristics. Apart from that, the teacher cannot leave out the factors of teaching content, lesson preparation and stages in which questions are posed. The above findings hope to help teachers of all fields make appropriate adjustments in their own use of wait-time. This study might also be used as a material for other researchers to consult with their further findings in the field of wait-time and questioning techniques.