CHAPTER

DEVELOPING THE READING QUESTIONS

LEARNING OUTCOME Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to: 1. discuss ways of using questions for higher level comprehension; 2. assess on the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of questions; 3. discuss the techniques for using questions; 4. analyse the different levels of questions; and 5. justify uses of Grabe's reading sub-skills in practical situation.

ERC411 READING IN SECOND LANGUAGE CONTEXTS

DEVELOPING THE READING QUESTIONS CHAPTER 8

INTRODUCTION
We have discussed about the aims of a reading programme and material selection in Chapter7. We have also read about the different approaches to the teaching of reading. We will now read about asking questions and how this can be used to bring about understanding or comprehension of reading. This chapter starts by discussing the purpose of questioning, the difference between questioning and testing, and exploiting questions. This discussion is followed by explanations on different forms of questions, and how questions should be presented. Should the questions be written or spoken? What type of language should be employed? What type of presentation skills required? These will be answered in detail in this chapter. Apart from questioning, a section on the language of responses is also included. This is followed by descriptions of the different levels of questions and taxonomy of reading skills. Poor questions defeat even the ablest teacher (Nuttall 1996:183)

8.1

THE PURPOSE OF QUESTIONING

Who benefits from asking questions or answering questions teachers or students? Reading is a receptive process. The brain is not a window that can be opened up for teachers to see the cognitive processes that takes place in students' minds as they read. One of the ways teachers can find out about students' comprehension processes is by asking questions. Students' responses to questions can enlighten teachers on students comprehension or lack of it. If students are silent when a question is asked, the confusion is obvious. Teachers may then identify and act upon the source of difficulty. If the answer is correct, teachers also should probe further as to why the answer was given. Students could very well provide the right answer by chance or for the wrong reasons. Therefore, questions are very useful for teachers as a means of monitoring students' comprehension. Do students, on the other hand, gain from answering questions? Yes, they do. Questions require students to work on the text and help them realise what they do or do not understand. Good questions help readers realise what they do not understand and show the source of the difficulty. For readers to realise their non-comprehension or poor comprehension is the first step towards learning. One cannot take steps to overcome reading difficulties if one does not realise that one has a problem in the first place. With such a realisation, one can take positive steps towards overcoming comprehension difficulty.

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Figure 8.1: Both teachers and learners will benefit from questioning 8.1.1 QUESTIONING VERSUS TESTING

The kind of questions that we are discussing about here is not intended to test. You will learn about the various types of assessments that teachers can use in reading (and in other language skills) from another module. The purpose of questions that we are referring to is the type that will help students to be aware of the array of reading strategies that they can use to interpret texts and to promote learning. The questions also seek to make them aware of how language is used to convey meaning.

Figure 8.2: The purpose of questioning

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DEVELOPING THE READING QUESTIONS CHAPTER 8

These types of questions include skimming and scanning for information, utilising non-text information, developing vocabulary skills and focusing on different reading strategies and text attack skills. These questions may be similar in nature to questions that are used in reading assessments, what makes them different is the way they are used.

What do you think is the meaning of the terms probe and prompts?

8.1.2

EXPLOITING QUESTIONS

It is crucial for teachers to fully exploit their questions. Teachers should not be satisfied with the correct answers given and move on to the next. The discussion should not be confined to what the correct answer is, but also why it is the correct answer. The process of deriving the answer is just as important as the product. A discussion of alternative answers should be made where each option is evaluated and criticised. The job of a teacher is to keep the discussion on track, probe or prompt when necessary so that every student is engaged in the text talk. Teachers' attitude towards students' responses must also be looked into. Do not punish students for giving wrong responses. Explore the reasons why and how the students came to the answer they did. Students may get the right answers for the wrong reasons, and if there is a misinterpretation, discover the source of difficulty. Mistakes should be used to help students learn; in fact, one may learn more from mistakes made than from answers that are correct the first time.

Figure 8.3: Explore the reasons why and how students answer wrongly
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How would you identify the sources of students' mistakes? It is by having plenty of oral discussions. Such text talk promotes active struggle with the text and it is the key to developing interpretive skills. Find out if there are clues that are missed by the students and make sure that all the students are involved.

"It is terribly easy for an inexperienced teacher to do things the wrong way; to accept an answer without even asking for the reasons why it is acceptable, let alone exploring other answers to see why they are not appropriate" (Nuttall 1996:182) For students who are quiet and passive, ask questions which provide the experience of success. This would certainly help to boost their interest and motivation. Teachers need to develop the skill in using questions so that learners are aware of their reading processes as they are developing their interpretative skills. As asserted by Nuttall (1996:181-182): Even a challenging question is useless to most of the class if the teacher simply accepts the first correct answer and moves on; it can only help every student tries hard to answer it. We have to make sure this happens, partly by the way we devise and handle questions, partly by showing the learners that reading tasks are opportunities for learning, not tests to be escaped if possible.

8.2

EXPLOITING QUESTIONS

There are four main forms of questions (see Figure 8.4). They are as follows:

Figure 8.4: Four main forms of questions

DEVELOPING THE READING QUESTIONS CHAPTER 8

(a) Yes/No or True/False Questions

This type of questions requires readers to make a choice out of two possible answers. Examples: i. ii. Is Kuala Lumpur the capital of Malaysia? Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia. Yes / NoTrue / False

(b) Alternative Questions

Similar to yes/no or true/false questions, alternative questions also provide two possible options for students to choose from. Example: i. ii. Is it a phoneme or a grapheme? It's a phoneme.

(c) Multiple Choice Questions

This is also called objective questions where a few possible answers are given for students to choose from. Example: Who rescued the cat from the dog? A. Minah B. Ah Fat C. Lingam D. John Multiple-choice questions seem to be the most difficult and tedious to construct. The quality of multiple-choice questions depends a lot on the distracters. Plausible distracters are very close to the correct answers. The minimal difference takes into account possible misinterpretations of the text. Therefore, the question setter needs to be aware of possible misinterpretations and devise the distracters accordingly. This will induce students to choose them if they misinterpreted the text in the predicted way. Distracters may also contain correct information, which do not answer the question. Care should also be taken for the distracters to have more or less the same length.

CHAPTER 8 DEVELOPING THE READING QUESTIONS (d) Open-ended Questions

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Compared to multiple-choice questions, this type of question is rather easy to construct. The question setter does not have to think about good distracters and it requires students to produce their own answers rather than choose the given options. Students need to think about both, the content and the organisation of the answer. Open-ended also can be easily devised to ask different levels of comprehension compared to the other types of questions. For instance, if multiple-choice questions are used to develop higher levels questions, the question may be complicated. Students may discover that understanding the question is more difficult than understanding the text. Open-ended is a more feasible option. Open-ended questions usually employ "Wh" questions such as:

Figure 8.5: The "Wh" questions in used in open-ended questions One of the criticisms against open-ended questions is that they cannot be evaluated objectively, unlike many other types of questions. However, since the purpose of the question at this stage is to promote learning and not to assess, this is not a set back. Another criticism is that they require the students to produce their answers using the target language. Reading is a receptive skill while writing and speaking are productive. There is always a possibility that students are able to comprehend the texts but unable to express the answers using the target language. Their inability to express themselves in the L2 may limit their quality of answers.

DEVELOPING THE READING QUESTIONS CHAPTER 8

1. Yes/No, True/False, alternative and multiple-choice questions have been criticised as testing only low-level knowledge. Can you suggest ways that they can be used to evaluate higher levels of comprehension? 2. What are the different forms of questions? Discuss their strengths and weaknesses.

8.3

PRESENTATION OF QUESTIONS

Using the questions is just as important as the questions themselves. It is not just what is asked, how, when and why it is asked are important considerations to help promote reading. It is crucial for teachers to develop the techniques in asking questions. There are several factors that need to be kept in mind when one is asking questions. They are as follows:

Figure 8.6: Factors to be considered when asking questions 8.3.1 WRITTEN OR SPOKEN?

Should questions be presented in written or spoken form? This depends on the nature of questions. For instance, if the questions are multiple-choice, you may not want them to be presented orally. It may be too taxing to the students' memory to remember the question and all the distracters listed. Open ended questions may be more suitable for oral presentation as it can be used as a springboard for discussion. As a reading teacher, you may experience that it is difficult to construct all the possible questions in writing. This is because you really do not know what to ask or which section students are struggling with until you have got the answers for your questions.

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Another question that needs to be addressed is which type of question do you need to use more? Should we use more oral or written questions?

If questions are asked orally, the students' responses to your questions at the specific moment in time will provide you with information on what they have interpreted and what they have misinterpreted or not comprehended. The answers given will prepare you for what to ask next and the type of guidance that need to given. Depending on the students' reaction, at times they may need more guidance on specific sections or certain type of questions compared to others. Therefore, it is important for you to ask plenty of questions orally. Even if questions are presented in writing, the answers may not be written. Oral discussions can also be based on questions that are written. 8.3.2

LANGUAGE OF QUESTIONS

One of the main factors that should be considered in questioning is the language of questions. Nuttal (1996: 187) affirms that: People sometimes maintain that reading the questions is part of the reading task, but this is only partly valid. It is certainly a reading task, but the reading task is making sense of the text itself, and we could argue that anything that distracts from this is unhelpful One of the main weaknesses of questioning is that the questions are too difficult to understand. In constructing questions, you need to employ simple words and short sentences. This is because what appears to be very clear to you may be very vague to your students. (After all you are a teacher and your language may well be very advanced than your students. Moreover, you understand the meaning of your questions already!) Make sure your instructions are clear and can be understood by the students. Avoid from writing questions which are more difficult to understand than the answers. Use words that are common or culturally familiar to your students. For instance, use dustbin instead of trashcan, soft drinks instead of pop, pharmacy instead of drug store. Simplify the questions and the instructions as much as possible. List at least 3 examples of culturally unfamiliar words that should be avoided and provide culturally familiar words which has the same meaning that should be used.

DEVELOPING THE READING QUESTIONS CHAPTER 8

8.3.3

QUESTIONING SKILLS

There are several elements that teachers should keep in mind when presenting questions. They are as follows:

Figure 8.7: 7 important elements to consider when presenting questions

(a) Answering Teachers Own Questions

Give the students a chance to answer and when they do, give them time to react to your probes and prompts. Avoid from answering your own question without even giving the students a chance to react to the question, or elaborating on students' initial answer so much so it is the teacher who provides the answer.
(b) Repeating One's Own Questions

Avoid from rephrasing and repeating the same question for three, four or more times before calling for an answer. However, you may redirect the same question to different students to get different points of view.
(c) Get Further Clarification

If students' responses are not clear, seek for further clarification. Provide probes and prompts to help students explain their answers.

CHAPTER 8 DEVELOPING THE READING QUESTIONS (d) Use Pauses

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After a question is asked, do not call for a student to answer it immediately, especially if it is a higher-level question. Wait for a three, four or five seconds. Longer pauses may provide more opportunity for answers to be thought and organised.
(e) Get Volunteers

Call on volunteers to answer your questions. This poses a lesser threat than calling out for names. Always encourage students to volunteer in answering the question. You should avoid from calling upon the same students to answer the questions.
(f) Call Non-volunteers

You may want to call those who are too afraid or too shy to volunteer. Remember to make them feel confident and comfortable. Never look down on their answers. For students who are less proficient, provide them with the experience of success to help motivate their learning and build a positive self-concept.
(g) Discuss Inaccurate Answers

Discuss the inaccurate answer in a positive way to avoid students from being turned off to the class or to future classes. Make your responses interesting and motivating. 8.3.4 LANGUAGE OF RESPONSES

Before you continue reading, think about the following questions: (a) Should students answer only using the L2? (b) Should students' responses in the L1 be accepted? (c) What if they get the answers correct but used the language wrong? (d) Should oral language ability constraint the quality of answers given by the students? The above questions have been controversial issues for many years. To answer these questions, we may want to go back to our aim of the reading programme. The main purpose of a reading class is to help students interpret the text. What is important is that they are able to understand what is read, which is a receptive skill. Speaking, which is a productive skill would come later. There is always the possibility that students who are allowed to fall back on their L1 in times of difficulties (such as during their oral presentations) may explore the text deeper compared to when they feel restricted to using the L2. Insisting on responses to be solely in the L2 may produce no response, poor quality answers, undue delay and lost of confidence. Therefore, the current and more acceptable view is that the use of the native language should not be totally dismissed. Insistence on the use of the target language may at times prohibit students from discussing or poses a constraint on the quality of the answers. What teachers may want to do is to encourage them to speak in the L2, but if they are not ready, it is quite all right. Accept their answers because what is important is that they can comprehend.
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DEVELOPING THE READING QUESTIONS CHAPTER 8

Previously, it appeared to be a taboo for the L1 to be used in the ESL classroom. However, this practise is acceptable in many places around the world today. At the same time, students need to be encouraged to take risks and use the L2 in their responses, of course. A compromise is necessary. We will now leave the presentation of questions and discuss about the different levels of questions.

How should questions be presented? Discuss.

8.4

LEVELS OF QUESTIONS

This section will discuss in length three most commonly used taxonomy of questions: Bloom's Taxonomy; Nuttal's Types of Questions for Reading; and Barret's Taxonomy of Reading. Have you heard of any taxonomy of questions? If so, what is it?

8.4.1

LEVELS OF QUESTIONS

One of the most well known cognitive taxonomy is Bloom's (1956), which is quoted worldwide and used extensively in education. It is worthwhile to have a discussion on this. Bloom's taxonomy is divided into 6 levels namely; knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation (see Figure 8.8). Table 8.1 shows a more detailed explanation of Bloom's Taxonomy.

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Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Aplication Comprehension

Knowledge
Figure 8.8: Levels of questioning in Bloom's taxonomy

Table 8.1: Bloom's Taxonomy

Level and Behavioural Terms
Knowledge: This is the lowest type of understanding where students are required to recall specific bits of information from the text for instance certain formula, character, facts, observation or definition. The students usually are required to remember, identify or recognised certain information. Terms: List, Match, Recite, Define, Identify, Label, Recall, Name Comprehension: A level higher is comprehension where students are required to explain the main ideas of the text. At this level, students stick solely to what is going on in the text without relating the information to other contexts or materials. The students are required to describe, explain or demonstrate. Terms: Explain, Describe, Locate, Report 1. What is the main idea of this topic? 2. What happened to Aminah when she discovered that Rahman was lying? Describe it. 3. The twins are similar to and, at the same time, different form each other. Can you explain their similarities and differences?

Example
1. Who escaped from prison on 16th May 1960? 2. What are the characteristics of a good question?

3. Where did the story take place?

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DEVELOPING THE READING QUESTIONS CHAPTER 8

Application: At this level, students start using their knowledge for other contexts and situations. This level requires students to use concepts, principles or methods learned to solve problems or constructs something new. Terms: Construct, Illustrate, Dramatise, Apply. Analysis: This level requires the learners to analyse the organisation of the texts and how language is used to present the meaning. The text is dissected into its constituent elements to analyse the contribution of each section to the whole. Students are required to find specific supporting evidence to support generalisations, make inferences, identify motives, etc. Terms: Classify, Compare, Model, Diagram, Contrast Synthesis: In contrast to analysis, synthesis requires the putting together of the parts to form a whole. The text that has been dissected into its constituent elements is now analysed so that the contribution of each section to the whole can be gained. Students are required to solve problems, make predictions and think of implications. Terms: Compose, Design, Assemble, Formulate, Manage Evaluation: This is the highest level that involves judging the value of the text, issue or methods based on certain criteria, norms and standards. Readers have to evaluate and make a stand on certain issues. Based on their judgments, they are to express their opinions about certain issues, justify their decisions and defend their stand. Terms: Assess, Value, Appraise, Criticise, Generate.

1. Classify these texts into their different rhetorical organisations. 2. The journey from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala 3. Terengganu is seven hours. If Zul leaves 4. Kuala Lumpur at 10.00pm on Monday, when will he arrive at Kuala Terengganu? 5. What are the different meanings of the word table?

1. Ah Seng is a man of courage. Do you agree with the above statement? Find evidence in the text to support your answer. 2. Now that weve read about Frankenstein, what can you conclude about the authors attitude towards society? 3. As we know, Muthu and Aru hated each other and they were not in talking terms. When the fire broke, why did Muthu run into the burning house to save Aru?

1. What do you think would happen if he did have the money to buy the car? 2. Can you suggest a suitable title for the passage?

3. How can pollution be overcome?

1. Do you agree with the author? Justify your answer. 2. In your opinion, does military action against a country a positive step towards the war against terrorism? Discuss. 3. Which option do you like better? Option A or option B?

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8.4.2

NUTTALL'S TYPES OF QUESTIONS FOR READING

In the area of reading, Nuttall (1996) proposed six types of questions; questions of literal comprehension, reorganisation or reinterpretation, inference, evaluation, personal response and on how writers say what they mean. We will discuss each of them.

Figure 8.9: Nuttall's six types of questions

(a) Literal Comprehension

This is the easiest type of question as it focuses on the plain meaning of the text. Literal comprehension questions usually require answers which are lifted exactly from the text. This level requires students to understand the text at the sentence level. These questions are usually employed as preliminary work on a text as they are both direct and explicit. This type of questions is important to ensure students' general comprehension of the text before more in-depth work can be done. Examples: i. Where did the accident take place? ii. What is Jenny's favourite song? iii. When did it start to rain?
(b) Reorganisation/Reinterpretation

Questions at this level require readers to gather information from different parts of the text, organise, and interpret it, or reinterpret literal information. The reader is required to process information above the sentence level. These questions require readers to work at the paragraph or the passage as a whole for a more comprehensive understanding. The answer should be presented as a unified piece of information.

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Examples: i. What are the different ways of overcoming pollution that was mentioned in the text? Discuss. ii. iii. Was Ali in the room when the fire broke? How many times was Sofia disappointed by her friend?

(c) Inference

Inference requires readers to read between the lines. Readers need to understand what is implied rather than the meaning at the surface level. Like the previous level, readers need to integrate information from different parts of the texts, but now they need to go a level higher and analyse what it means so that implications and conclusions can be drawn. To do this, readers need to employ not only their linguistic knowledge, but also their intellectual capacity. Examples: i. ii. iii. Why was Ah Beng disappointed with his son? How does Aminah feel when her long, lost son pretended not to recognize her? What are the similarities and differences between Hang Jebat and Hang Tuah?

(d) Evaluation

This type of questions requires readers to evaluate both the effectiveness of the message, and the effectiveness of the writer. This type of questions requires readers to think about the author's intentions. Readers need to think critically if the writer was effective in presenting the messagewas the author prejudice? Is the information bias? Is the evidence given a fact or an opinion? Can one trust the efficacy of the information given? Examples: i. ii. According to the author, smoking is bad for health? Do you agree with him? Justify your answer. What is the author's intention in this passage? List them.

(e) Personal Response

This type of question seeks to accommodate students' prior knowledge. Students are required to reflect on their personal thoughts as a result of what have been read. This type of question also relies least on the writer or how the writing was presented. It depends on the readers' personal reaction to the text which is based on what was written.

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For instance, they may say that "I am sad," "I am moved," "I am so happy," "I am not convinced" or "I am not changing my mind because of this." Readers need to understand the text and explain why they react the way they do by citing certain textual evidence.

This type of questions serves as a spin off for other language tasks such as writing. Writing tasks such as creative or expository writing can be integrated into the reading class. Examples: i. ii. iii. After reading the text "Life in the year 3000," would you like to be reborn a 100 years from now? How do you feel if you were Heathcliff? What do you think of Ahmad's reaction to Aminah's wedding?

(f) How the Writers Say What They Mean

This type of question is similar to question type 4. These questions require readers to look at the text organisation and analyse how the message is presented. Type 4 question evaluates the content but type 6 looks at the means used to achieve the intended message. Example: i. What is the author's attitude towards war? Describe it and justify your answer.

This type of questions also requires readers to employ their text attack and word attack skills. The skills help to provide guidance for students to handle different kinds of texts, genre and structures. Examples of these kinds of questions are filling flow chart to follow the author's organization of a procedural text, a matrix if it is a descriptive text or using contextual clues to analyse deep structure meanings. What is the benefit of knowing these types of questions? Knowing the different types of questions helps to develop teachers' skill at questioning. A range of questions needs to be given so that reading competency can be developed. Most of the questions in ESL classrooms seem to focus on literal comprehension and reorganisation or reinterpretation, and some inference. More of evaluation, personal response and on how writers say what they mean kind of questions need to be asked. If a balanced of all these levels of questions are utilised, readers will not just understand what is written, they also know why and how it is written. This provides a strong foundation for the development of the critical reader.

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8.4.3

BARRETT'S TAXONOMY OF READING

Barrett's (1972) taxonomy is also a popular reading taxonomy. It is similar to Nuttall's (1996) types of questions. Barrett (1972) divides the taxonomy into five levels of difficulty which are literal comprehension, reorganisation, inference, evaluation, and appreciation. Refer to Figure 8.10.

Figure 8.10: Barrett's taxonomy of reading

(a) Literal Comprehension

This type of question is the lowest in the hierarchy as it requires the reader to locate or identify information which is stated specifically in the text. This is very similar to Nuttall's (1996) questions of literal comprehension as the answers can be lifted directly from the text.
(b) Reorganisation

This is the next in the order of difficulty. This answer to this type of question requires the analysis, synthesis or organisation of ideas or information that is overtly stated in the text. It also requires readers to utilise quotations from the text, summarise or paraphrase the text. This is similar to Nuttall's type two question i.e. reorganisation where students need to reinterpret the text or integrate information from different parts of the text and present it in a new way.
(c) Inference

Inference requires readers to go beyond the text. Readers need to relate the information that is explicitly stated to their prior knowledge. They will then utilise their personal experience and intuition to construct certain hypothesis about the text. This is similar to Nuttall's (1996) type three question which is inference. At this level, readers need to read between the lines, getting what is implied, the deep structure, rather than what appears at the surface structure of the information.

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CHAPTER 8 DEVELOPING THE READING QUESTIONS (d) Evaluation

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This requires readers to make judgement about the text. This is done by comparing the information and ideas that are raised in the text with their own knowledge, norms and values. This is similar to Nuttall's (1996) type four question which is on evaluation. For Nuttall (1996) readers are required to evaluate both the effectiveness of the message, and the effectiveness of the writer.

(e) Appreciation

This is the highest level of the Barrett's taxonomy. Appreciation requires readers to express not just their emotional but also their aesthetic response to the text. Such response will be derived based on their personal standard as a yardstick. This is similar to two types of Nuttall's (1996) questions which are type five, personal response, and type six, how writers say what they mean. 8.4.4 NUTTALL'S TYPES OF QUESTIONS VERSUS BARRETT'S TAXONOMY OF READING

If one is to compare Nuttall's types of question to Barrett's taxonomy of reading, it can be summarised as Table 8.2. Table 8.2: Comparison between Nuttall's Types of Questions and Barrett's Taxonomy of Reading Nuttall's Types of Questions 1. literal comprehension 2. reorganisation or reinterpretation 3. inference 4. evaluation 5. personal response and on how writers 6. say what they mean. Barrett's Taxonomy of Reading 1. literal comprehension 2. reorganisation 3. inference 4. evaluation 5. appreciation

1. 2.

3.

What is Bloom's taxonomy? Provide at least two examples of questions at each level of the taxonomy. Pick the most recent English Language examination questions for Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). What type of questions mostly used in questioning students' reading comprehension in sections on Literature Components for Form 3 and Form 5? Use Nuttall's types of questions to make your analysis.

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8.5

READING SKILLS TAXONOMY

In the field of reading, teachers may want to learn about taxonomies designed specifically for reading skills. This provides a more comprehensive list of reading subskills that need to be worked on. Grabe (1986; 38-40) presented a reading skill taxonomy which is as follows:

However, you should keep in mind that taxonomies do not provide for curriculum and syllabus design. There is still much which needs to be done before firm and comprehensive instructional practice based on established and proven taxonomies can be made. At the moment, taxonomies should be treated as tentative outline that need to be considered in the pedagogical practice of reading.

Based on Grabe (1986), identify the reading subskills that you would want to develop among your students. Justify your answer.

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SUMMARY
Assessment is an essential part of any form of training or teaching for the simple reason that it provides ways for the participants to gauge the effectiveness of the teaching, the learning or the efficacy of all elements involved. This chapter covers the essentials of reading course assessment design which includes Bloom's and Barrett's taxonomies and Nuttall's types of questions. The students should look to these are bases from which they can enhance their judgment when designing their reading course assessments.

GLOSSARY
Comprehension Exploiting Taxonomy Inference Cohesion understanding making use of levels of value. Classification in an ordered interrelated system. deriving meaning from premises that are accepted as true. hold together.

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