By Jennifer Tong
Every teacher knows the importance of asking questions. It is an art to ask questions that are engaging and inspiring, and that stimulate the students’ thinking. However, have you ever made use of students’ questions in an ESL class?
In the Advanced class I teach online, at the start of each lesson, I ask them for questions that they want to ask. I had explained to them before that these are called PAN questions, with PAN standing for Projects/Activities Notebook. These would be questions that they collected during the week, questions on language and culture, something that occurred to them during the course of daily activities like waiting for a bus or talking to a stranger. They may be objects they noticed that they didn’t know the name for. They may be expressions that they heard that they didn’t understand. They may also be responses that they would like to give but didn’t quite know how, or things that people said or did that surprised or puzzled them. I asked them to keep a running list of these questions and comments as they occurred. Then they can take them to class and ask us to discuss together.
I have mostly got good responses from this approach. One of the students always has a lot of questions – over time, her classmates call her ‘question lady’. Other students sometimes prepare the questions quite intentionally. Still others ask once in a while, while having something that really puzzles them. We have got into a routine of having this segment (maybe for up to half an hour) at the beginning of each class. Questions we have tackled include all sorts of interesting things, like what is ‘reflective clothing’ called and who wears it (we then got into ‘fluorescent colours’ as well); what’s the difference between ‘wait’ and ‘await’; the names of ‘door closers’ and ‘threshold’ (at the door); the difference between ‘release’ and ‘relief’, ‘excited’ and ‘anxious’; what are some words to describe poor conditions of books; cooking terms like ‘dice’, ‘chop’, ‘slice’… and many more. Sometimes good cultural questions came up, like what to do when we are harassed in a public place.
When these questions come up from one student, other students listen with interest. Almost always we think about the answers together. There are often questions that I don’t have a ready answer for, but other students and the assistant teacher chime in. We can also all, since we are on Zoom, look up possible answers from the web. It is a learning process for me as well as for all. There was one occasion when, pulling all of our resources together, we couldn’t solve the problem. The student who asked the question could accept it, while the process of all trying to solve a problem together was precious. Often, too, the PAN questions merge with the warm-up small talk that we have when we first log on. As well, other students might be inspired to ask a related question from one of the questions asked.
The benefits of this approach are manifold. It encourages the students to take initiative in learning. When they ask about what they really want to know, they have a lot of incentive to learn. It also trains them to be observant and curious about language learning. Further, the questions are related to real life. They expand the ‘classroom’ into ‘life’ and language learning becomes natural and part of life. As well, the ‘classroom’ becomes ‘student-centred’: the teacher does not dominate with his or her agenda, but everyone can participate equally. The students learn from each other, and the teacher can learn from the students too. The resulting discussions are often interesting and engaging, and they help with enhancing relations. The atmosphere is also fun, participatory and natural. The one pitfall of this approach I have encountered is that at times, a student can ask a question that only pertains to his or her interest; e.g. what internet provider is best. For such questions, there is a tendency for only one or two students and the teacher to dominate. Most of the time, though, all students remain engaged and interested, and absorb what is being ‘taught’.
Would you be prepared to try this approach and harness the benefits of asking for questions from the students?