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Using news articles

Submitted by TE Editor on 8 January, 2010 - 14:16
Topical news stories are a great source of teaching material. This article presents different ways
to exploit news reports in the classroom and focuses on raising the level of involvement and
participation that the students have in the lesson.

• Selection criteria
• Before reading
• First reading
• Second reading
• Language focus
• Follow up
• Sources

Selection criteria
It is important that you choose your news article wisely. You should consider the following
criteria.

• Appropriacy of topic
Will your students be interested in the topic? Will it be upsetting for some students? Is it suitable
for the age group?
• Length
Be careful to avoid articles that are particularly long. Reading a news report in a second language
is demanding, and if the article is too long it will discourage students. If the news report is
lengthy, do not be afraid of editing. The style of news articles often means that entire paragraphs
can be omitted without affecting the overall sense of the piece.
• Language content
Besides the general interest in the topic, this may well be the most important selection criteria.
Does the article contain a useful lexical set (crime, money)? Are there some good grammar
exponents (past perfect, reported speech) or interesting syntax and sentence style? These will
provide the basis of your language work on the text, how can the language be exploited?
• Generative?
Can you think of a good way to follow up the basic textual work? Does the topic lend itself to
discussion or role play? Can you practise the language further?
• Task suitability
 When working with authentic material there are issues concerning the authenticity of the tasks.
The most authentic task is for students to simply read the article. Although we usually look to
exploit the text a little more in the classroom, it is important to keep tasks as realistic as possible.

Before reading
There are many things to do before students begin reading to generate interest, build confidence
and to facilitate comprehension.

Introduction exercises
These are used to raise awareness of the topic, activate knowledge and current language. The
following activities could be used.

• Discussion questionnaire
○ Students discuss questions related to the topic
• Quiz
○ This can test their knowledge of the topic or people/places featured in the article
• Pictures
○ Describing or discussing pictures that relate to the topic

Pre-reading Activities
These are activities that are directly related to the text, rather than the topic in general

• Students predict the story from the headline

○ The students may need dictionaries and you should be careful of puns and double
meanings. Students should work in pairs, and feed back ideas to the board/teacher.
• Students predict the story from a picture accompanying the article
• Predict vocabulary
○ Once students know the topic of the article, they predict words that they think they will
read. Again, feed back these predictions to the board. As students read, they should tick
the words they find. Which pair predicted the most words?
• Vocabulary selection/sort

○ In this activity, the students are given a group of words, some of which are from the
article, others are not. The students decide which ones are from the article. Obviously,
they need to know the topic of the article.
• Sentence selection
 ○ This is the same as vocabulary selection, but students sort sentences instead.

First reading
The first reading activities should avoid a large number of detailed questions. By the end of the
reading the students should be able to give a brief summary of what the article is about, what the
main points are.

• Check pre-reading ideas (story/vocabulary prediction)

• Ask one or two questions for general understanding
○ These questions should focus on the main point of the article
• Put the text in order
○ Students are given the article which has been cut into sections. Working with a partner
they have to reassemble the article. Be sure to make sensible cuts, so that either the sense
of the piece or the language syntax can be used to put the story in order. News texts can
often be put in several possible orders, so be careful - utilise dependent prepositions,
pronouns and clauses.
• Gap fill
○ Remove lexis or clauses from the text. Students try to put the words in the correct places

Second reading
The second reading should lead to a detailed understanding of the article.

• Ask more detailed comprehension questions

○ True or false
○ Choose the best answer, a, b or c
○ Which paragraph says…
○ What do these numbers refer to?
○ What do these people think?
• Information Transfer
○ Students complete a table or chart with information from the article
• Make questions
○ Students read the article and write comprehension questions for other students to answer.
This is best done in pairs.

Language focus
This is the time to exploit the article for its language content. News articles are rich sources of
vocabulary, and also provide good grammar exponents.

Vocabulary

• Lexical sets
○ An article may provide vocabulary associated with particular topics - money, crime,
politics. Students either search the article for members of a given lexical set, or you could
provide them with a sorting activity which uses words from the text.
• Deducing meaning from context
○ This is a key skill for students to develop. Either ask students to give definitions of
certain words or you could give them choices or a matching exercise (match the word to a
definition) students can then check their ideas with a dictionary (if there is time)
• Student 'News Language Notebooks'
○ News articles often use vocabulary that may be referred to as journalese, and the students'
understanding of this register needs to be developed.

Grammar
Often a news article provides good examples of grammar - for example the past perfect. In this
case, asking students to put particular events in chronological order leads to further work on this
verb form.

Sentence structure/style
Draw students attention to well-crafted sentences, or ask them to find sentences that they think
are good or interesting examples.

Follow up
There are lots of opportunities to extend the work done on the article, and to use a different skill
such as speaking or writing. This gives students a chance to use the language they have learnt
from the text.

• Role play based on text

○ e.g. an interview with a protagonist from the story
• Discussion of topic/ideas/argument of the text
• Design something / task
○ e.g. following an article on a new housing initiative, students plan a dream house
• Research project
○ e.g. following an article about Homelessness in UK, what is the situation in the students'
own country
 • Writing
○ e.g. the next day's story, someone involved in the news event writing to a friend
• Debate
• Comparison activities
○ A topical story will appear in several different places, and comparing how different
sources deal with the news event can be very revealing. This could focus on
content/style/critical analysis of reporters' attitudes/politics
 A comparison with the same subject in the students' own press
 A comparison with radio or TV reports on the same event
 A comparison between different newspapers e.g. a quality paper and a popular
paper.

Sources

• Newspapers and current affairs magazines

○ English language newspapers are available worldwide. Most papers also provide an
online service
• Internet
○ BBC Learning English www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml

 This site has three new news stories a week of different types - General news,
business news and music news. The stories are provided with glossaries and you
can listen to the news story as well - this is very helpful if the language is not
familiar to you.
○ This web site
 Lesson plans with news articles are available in the download section
• Radio
○ The BBC World Service
 www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/ has schedule and frequency listings
• TV
○ BBC World
○ Satellite TV

Gareth Rees, teacher and materials writer, London Metropolitan University

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Guidelines for Selection of Materials in

English Language Arts Programs
• last edited 3 years, 7 months ago
• content history

Prepared by the Joint Subcommittee (SLATE/Standing Committee against

Censorship) on Guidelines for Selection of Materials in English Language Arts
Programs, 1996

In recent years many teachers, English departments, and school districts have taken
steps towards averting censorship and strengthening the professional basis for their
English language arts programs. By specifying the criteria used in selecting literacy
works, films, and other instructional materials, they have initiated a front-end process
that provides a context for their choices. In doing so they demonstrate a high standard
of professionalism while assuring various communities, parents, administrators, and
others that they have chosen materials responsibly and reflectively, with intensive
knowledge of both their discipline and their students.

Development of NCTE's Guidelines for Selection of Materials in English Language Arts

Programs was itself the result of a careful, well-articulated process. In 1994 NCTE sent
a call to schools and districts for guidelines that are already in use throughout the
country. In 1995 a joint committee from SLATE and the Standing Committee Against
Censorship reviewed existing materials then developed the guidelines, which were
subsequently approved by the NCTE Executive Committee Subcommittee on Short
Documents. We urge you to make use of this document at the departmental, building,
and district levels. No permissions are required to photocopy and distribute the
guidelines.

Faith Schullstrom, Executive Director, Guidelines for Selection of Materials in English

Language Arts Programs

Importance of Instructional Material

Instructional materials are essential tools in the English language arts classroom. They
allow students to interact with words, images, and ideas in ways that develop their
abilities in reading, listening, viewing, thinking, speaking, writing, and using media and
technology. Because instructional materials are a primary resource for English language
arts teachers, they must be selected wisely.

The cornerstone of consistent, pedagogically sound selection practices is a clear,

written policy for the selection of materials in the English language arts program. Such a
policy not only helps teachers to achieve program goals, but also helps schools protect
the integrity of programs increasingly under pressure from censors, propagandists, and
commercial interests.

Because selection policies should reflect local interests and issues and should be
consistent with other locally developed policies and curriculum documents, NCTE
provides no "boilerplate" to be used as a model by local schools. However, NCTE
strongly recommends that English language arts teachers and school boards use the
following guidelines to develop or review policies for inclusion of materials in English
language arts programs.

Scope of the Policy for Selection of Instructional

Materials
What do we mean by "instructional materials"? At the beginning of this century, the
answer might have been simply textbooks and workbooks. Today, however, the range
has broadened considerably, including paperback novels, magazines, computer
software, videotapes, and much more. The focus of this document, then, is not on
selection in the narrow sense of textbook adoption, but on curriculum and program
planning that entails selection of a wide range of materials that can be used in whole-
class study, small-group work, and by individual students in extensive reading.

As schools clarify the scope of the policy, they should consider not only purchased
materials, but also materials that are provided free or on loan and those generated by
the teacher and even the students (e.g., student writings discussed in class or small
groups). Also, the scope of the policy should not unwittingly stifle spontaneity and
creativity in teachers by requiring a formal selection process for all materials used for
instructional purposes. Sometimes the most effective learning experiences are those
that make use of unanticipated instructional materials: a letter to the editor in the local
newspaper, for instance, or a newly released video version of a literary work read by the
class.

It is important, too, to distinguish between selection of materials and retention of

materials. Selection of instructional materials is part of sound program planning.
Consideration of retention of materials can be part of normal program review, or it can
result from a parent's or citizen's protest of materials in use. Needless to say, careful
selection is a powerful buffer against protests because it assures that the program
planning process was thoughtful and not haphazard. NCTE has previously published
many materials on responding to protests, urgently recommending that orderly
procedures be followed when an objection to instructional materials is made.

Criteria
Each school should develop its own criteria for selecting materials for inclusion in
English language arts programs, but virtually all criteria relate to two general
requirements for selections: materials must (1) have a clear connection to established
educational objectives and (2) address the needs of the students for whom they are
intended.

Connection to Educational Objectives

Instructional materials in the English language arts program should align with the
general philosophy of the school or district, the curriculum goals and objectives of the
English language arts program, and the learning outcomes of the particular course or
grade level. For instance, some materials may be included because they reflect the
school's philosophy of encouraging critical thinking in relation to controversial situations
and points of view. Or materials may be included because they meet the curriculum
objective of presenting articulate voices from different eras or diverse cultures. Or they
may be included to address specific learner outcomes, such as understanding how
imagery can underscore theme. Richard Wright's Native Son may serve all of these
purposes while John Knowles' A Separate Peace may serve only some of them.
However, because both of these high quality works have a clear connection to
educational objectives of the school, both might be included in the English language
arts program.

Policies should also reflect the understanding that an English language arts program is
not one instructional resource, but many; not one curriculum objective, but several.
Therefore, English language arts policies should seek to build a collection of
instructional materials that as a whole create balance and emphasis in the curriculum.
Clearly, no single textbook or small set of instructional materials will meet the curricular
goals of presenting various points of view, situations, and styles; addressing diverse
ability levels; and representing the contributions of people of diverse religions, ages,
races, ethnicity, abilities, and cultures. Nonetheless, the collection of materials in the
English language arts program as a whole should address all of these concerns and
should emphasize those which teachers, as informed professionals working within the
district's philosophical framework, find particularly important.

Finally, materials must be selected with an eye toward coordinating instruction within
and between grade levels, courses, and disciplines. Students who read or watch
Bernard Malamud's The Natural in social studies, English, and health are getting too
much of a good thing. So are the students who reported studying Frost's "Stopping by
the Woods on a Snowy Evening" every year in grades 7-10. By contrast, teachers of
junior English cannot draw on students' shared literary background if teachers at earlier
levels have used a potpourri of unarticulated works. This is not an argument for a fixed,
lock-step curriculum but for a collegial sharing of goals and ideas for instructional
materials as teachers engage in the process of selecting materials.

Relevance to Student Needs

Materials should be examined for level of difficulty. They must be readable if they are to
be truly accessible to students. Because readability formulas tend to be simplistic
measures, such formulas should be used cautiously, if at all. Teachers' judgments about
the difficulty of a work are more soundly based on complexity of plot, organization,
abstractness of the language, familiarity of vocabulary, and clarity of syntax. Also,
because the average classroom includes children reading at several levels of
proficiency, materials judged as inappropriate for whole-class instruction might be
suitable for small-group use or individual book reviews by the more capable readers.

Reading materials which draw upon students' backgrounds are desirable. Both
comprehension and motivation are often enhanced when students can activate relevant
background knowledge as they read, connecting their personal experiences with
vicarious experiences. This does not deny the value of reading about the unfamiliar and
even the fantastic. But the relevance of a work to students' daily lives or to the lives of
their imaginations is worthy of consideration in the selection process.

"Age-appropriateness" alone is never sufficient reason to include particular materials in

the English language arts program; nevertheless, materials should be suited to the
maturity level of the students for whom they are intended. Evaluating "age-
appropriateness" can be problematic, but legal decisions have provided some guidance
in this area. Generally, when courts evaluate the age-appropriateness of material, they
do not consider it in isolation. They weigh the value of the material as a whole,
particularly its relevance to educational objectives, against the likelihood of a negative
impact on the students for whom it is intended. That likelihood is lessened by the
exposure the typical student has had to the controversial subject or manner of
presentation. A negative impact is also less likely if the typical student of that age is
sufficiently mature to view the subject or manner of presentation within the context of
the overall purpose of the work. When these mitigating factors exist and the material
serves a legitimate pedagogical purpose, courts consider the material age-appropriate.
For instance, one court found the overall merit of a particular magazine article to
outweigh the potentially negative impact of the author's repeated use of a profane
expression (Keefe v. Geankos, 1969). The court noted that seniors in high school were
"not devoid of all discrimination or resistance" and doubted that students of that age had
been or could be protected from exposure to such expression.

Procedures for Selection of Instructional Materials

Good schools, recognizing the importance of support from parents and the community,
operate within a framework for democratic decision-making. Materials selection and
retention policies are important parts of that framework. Well-established procedures for
selecting instructional material ensure public involvement and professional guidance.
Therefore, it is essential that materials selection policies clearly describe the steps
involved in the selection process and the personnel responsible for each step.

Responsibility for Selection

Selecting materials requires in-depth knowledge: not just of students' backgrounds and
learning experiences, but also of their abilities, interests, and learning styles; not just of
educational objectives, but of the best practices and range and quality of materials for
meeting them; not just of the particular work being considered, but of its place within the
medium, genre, epoch, etc., it represents. In short, responsible selection demands not
only the experience and education needed to make sound choices but also the ability to
defend the choices made.

This level of expertise can be found only in the English language arts professional.
Therefore, although administrators and school boards are often legally charged with the
responsibility of selecting instructional materials, this responsibility should be delegated
to English language arts professionals.

Selection Procedures
Selection procedures may vary in terms of the size of the group, nonteacher
participants, and schedules, but certain elements are important. In general, selection is
most appropriately done by the English language arts teachers who are closest to the
students--that is, by teachers at the building level. The group's charge must be clearly
specified and understood by all. The process should be part of the school's annual
schedule, and adequate time must be set aside for the work at hand.

As part of its evaluation process, the selection group should discuss every work under
consideration for inclusion, giving extended attention to works that are likely to be
assigned for whole-class reading or viewing. However, good English language arts
programs typically involve classroom paperback book libraries and extensive reading
lists that individualize and expand student choices. Consequently, selection often
makes use of published reviews of materials and opinions of informed peers, including
district language arts coordinators, librarians, and leaders in professional associations.

All selections, including the acceptance of donated and loaned materials, should be
made on the basis of the materials' strengths in terms of the selection criteria. Once
selections are made, the selection group should be encouraged to maintain a file of
written rationales, if only in the form of meeting notes, which explain how selections
meet the selection criteria.

The selection criteria should be made public in written form. The actual materials
selected will become known in due time through course syllabi, booklists circulated to
students and parents, and various assignments. But the list of materials can be made
available for comments by students, parents, and the public at any time, with the
understanding that further informal selection and changes are sometimes made as
teachers perceive numerous opportunities during the course of the year to better meet
students' needs through other materials.

Opportunity for Informal Selection

Creative teachers take advantage of opportunities to use materials which do not lend
themselves to the formal selection process e.g., current newscasts, television programs,
articles, student writing samples, or materials for short-term projects. Such
supplemental materials may be selected by the appropriate instructor; but again they
must meet the general selection criteria of educational relevance and ability to meet
student needs.

This position statement may be printed, copied, and disseminated without

permission from NCTE.
 http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/selectingelamaterial

Advantages and Disadvantages of Pair Work and Group Work in the Class
mgr Hubert Skrzyński

>>Twoja opinia<<

The first and foremost benefit of both pair work and group work is that they increase the amount of student practice. It is known that lessons
have limited time - usually only forty five minutes - and there are on average thirty students in the class, although nowadays there is a tendency
to divide classes into two groups to make them smaller and easier to teach. Still, in a class of thirty students during a teacher-led activity, very
seldom do even fifty per cent of students take active part in the lesson. The first thing that happens in such a class is that students get bored
very quickly waiting for their classmates' answers. As a result, instead of practicing English they start doing something different - talking, doing
homework or even playing cards, for example. In consequence, this leads to general chaos if the teacher is not quick enough to perceive and
prevent it. Needles to say, the teacher should involve the whole class in an activity. During pair work twenty people are speaking, not just
one person as it is in a teacher-led activity. That is why the more pair work activity the students have, the more often they use the language and
its new items.
As far as group work is concerned, it depends on the kind of the activity how much the students practice the language. Even when the teacher
divides the learners into groups of four or five, there will be at least ten or eight students speaking at the same time, providing that the class
consists of forty people.
Another extremely important advantage of pair work and group work is the learner's confidence. Certain grounds exist for believing that the
students feel much more comfortable to speak in a foreign language to just one or two people rather than to the whole class and the teacher.
Especially timid students, or ones who are not good at manipulating the language yet, feel more relaxed and self-confident trying to put their
language abilities to a test during the activity and seeing how they use them.
This encourages students to cooperate with one another. They feel that they are responsible for the group and for each of its members. This is
widely seen during group competitions when the students work for the benefit of the whole group. They have to cooperate and help each other,
and there is no way of escaping or avoiding the cooperation for shy and weak students. They are all involved in the activity and it is another
important feature of pair work and group work.
Working in pairs or groups students can learn from one another a lot. In a class there are always weak and strong students. Arranging the
class into groups the teacher should remember that there can be a mixture of different ability levels in one group. With this in mind he/she can
predict which roles would be the most adequate for which students and what they could teach their classmates, and then give them the tasks.
What is more, they provide an enormous number of new items and expressions for their classmates. The point the present writer is trying to
make is simply that the students need to work together as often as it is possible to learn how to cooperate with other people and get used to
different ways of speaking in a foreign language. Moreover, they improve their listening, speaking and understanding skills.
Pair work and group work also develop students' fluency. As it has already been stated, students really do not have too much possibility to
practice the language in a traditional classroom. The teacher presents new grammatical structures and then makes the students do exercises or
drills connected with the new material. In fact, the learners do it automatically, without thinking - if the drill is not meaningful - and can forget it
easily after a week or a month. It goes without saying that they do not develop their speaking skills, let alone fluency in a foreign language. On
the contrary, pair work and group work do influence these abilities. The students can use the language freely and express their opinions and
thoughts without any restrictions. It is difficult not to get the impression that fluency can be improved only during constant speaking practice in
the atmosphere of independence and in the state of relaxation.
There is another magnificent advantage of pair work and group work. It is the variety of available activities. It must be said here that a huge
variety of activities influences the course of a lesson and its success. The more different the activities the teacher uses during his/her lessons, the
bigger their motivation towards learning the language. It is true that in pair work and group work students' motivation increases because they are
active and feel important during these activities. In keeping with this, the teacher is going to experience success in his/her work because
motivated students are usually good language learners and they always make progress.
Pair work and group work have advantages not only for the learners but also for the teachers. First of all they save time. Instead of asking
individual students to practice a structure or answer the questions, he/she can divide the class into pairs and make them do the exercise at the
same time. As a result students are able to practice the language more during the course. When the time is saved, the teacher can take his/her
students through much bigger material and many more activities. This will be for sure appreciated by the students who will not have time to get
bored because of the variety of activities and their own participation in the lesson. As a result, the lesson will seem to be more interesting, the
teacher will be liked by the students, and he/she will enjoy his/her work because it will bring him/her satisfaction, pleasure, and fulfillment.
Pair work and group work may be a good way of checking students' progress in learning. The teacher can do it without students' knowledge
about the fact that they are observed and checked. Walking round the class and listening to the speakers, the teacher can not only make notes of
the most common mistakes to discuss them later, but also discover whether they are able to communicate with each other in the foreign
language or not. Such discovery helps the teacher to decide which parts of material need to be repeated or explained later. Another important
advantage for the teacher is that pair work and group work give him/her time to consult the lesson plan and organize materials for the next stage
of the lesson. Although the teacher can be prepared for the lesson very well, sometimes it may happen that he/she simply forgets what he/she
must do next. Pair or group activities are the best for looking up the lesson plan. It is also good for organizing materials for the next activity,
for example hanging pictures or pieces of a text on walls, writing something on the blackboard, etc.
Some educators can argue that pair work or group work also bring a lot of disadvantages, both for learners and teachers. One of the problems
is that students often speak in their native language. This is difficult to eliminate if the class is really big and consists of forty students. The
teacher cannot listen to all pairs or groups at the same time, but it does not mean that he/she is unable to do anything about it. The teacher
should establish certain rules at the beginning of the school year and be very strict about them. He/she can play the role of the "English Police"
and look for "offenders" - those who speak their mother language - giving them a punishment (for example extra homework). After some time
the good habit of speaking only English may be established.
Another disadvantage is incorrectness. During pair work and group work the teacher usually does not disturb the students, even if he/she
notices some mistakes they have made, but lets them speak freely. However after the activity, he/she should discuss the most common ones. It
is tempting to suggest that the learners may learn each other's mistakes or errors, but we should not forget that errors or mistakes are an
indissoluble element of the process of learning.
Besides, students try to correct each other rather than learn the mistakes. One of the main points of having learners speak to each other is to
help them increase their confidence and reduce the anxiety that is often found in a purely teacher-centered classroom. Pair work and group work
activities are usually geared to fluency enhancement rather than accuracy practice.
One of the main disadvantages for the learners is that shy or weak students can be eliminated from the practice, because of individuals who
always tend to dominate. It is not a problem when they work in pairs, but as far as the groups are concerned, the teacher should assign roles to
avoid one or two learners taking over the activity and others becoming passive observers. The assignment of roles (for example "a secretary" who
notes down what the group members say; "a leader" who governs the conversation; "a presenter" who reports on the final conclusions reached
by the group, etc.) is often enough to act as a catalyst to get the group speaking.
All educators should remember that in a class there is always a very specific mixture of characters - from extroverts to introverts. Usually
teachers have no problems with extroverts who like taking an active part in a lesson, but with introverts and those who are independent types
and prefer working alone. However, given the reality of life, there are not many professions today that allow one to work in pure isolation.
Cooperation is a fact of life and students should understand it. Pair work and group work in a classroom teaches them a very important life skill -
how to work with other people.
Another problem of pair work and group work is connected with noise and indiscipline, but it usually is more troublesome for the teacher than
it is for the learners. Participants in a pair-work or group-work activity are normally unaware of the noise and of what other pairs or groups are
doing. The only possible problem here could be if the classroom had particularly thin walls. If the activity is organized well and the learners are all
actively speaking, then a teacher should let them make noise, because it is "productive" noise.
It seems that there are as many disadvantages as advantages of these classroom arrangements and one cannot unanimously state which one
is better, since each teacher has his/her own likes and dislikes. It is his/her individual choice which one should be used during the process of
teaching a language. One should not induce anybody to use any of these managements, since both of them may occur to be very useful,
depending on situation, moment or surroundings in which we are going to teach. That is why it is very inconvenient to claim whether one of them
is better or worse than the other.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Atkinson, D. (1993) - "Teaching Monolingual Classes", Essex, Longman

Doff, A. (1998) - "Teach English. A Training Course For Teachers", Cambridge University Press

Harmer, J. (1991) - "The Practice of English Language Teaching", Longman

http://www.edukator.org.pl/2005a/work/work.html

Newer Views of Learning-

TYpes of Questions

There are five basic types of questions:

Factual; Convergent; Divergent; Evaluative;
and Combination

The art of asking questions is one of the basic skills of good

teaching. Socrates believed that knowledge and awareness were an
intrinsic part of each learner. Thus, in exercising the craft of good
teaching an educator must reach into the learner's hidden levels of
knowing and awareness in order to help the learner reach new
levels of thinking.
Through the art of thoughtful questioning teachers can extract not
only factual information, but aid learners in: connecting concepts,
making inferences, increasing awareness, encouraging creative and
imaginative thought, aiding critical thinking processes, and
generally helping learners explore deeper levels of knowing,
thinking, and understanding.
As you examine the categories below, reflect on your own
educational experiences and see if you can ascertain which types of
questions were used most often by different teachers. Hone your
questioning skills by practicing asking different types of questions,
and try to monitor your teaching so that you include varied levels of
questioning skills. Specifically in the area of Socratic questioning
techniques, there are a number of sites on the Web which might
prove helpful. Simply use Socratic- questioning as a descriptor.
Don't forget to hyphenate the term.

1. Factual - Soliciting reasonably simple, straight forward answers

based on obvious facts or awareness. These are usually at the
lowest level of cognitive or affective processes and answers are
frequently either right or wrong.
Example: What is the name the Shakespeare play about the Prince of Denmark?
2. Convergent - Answers to these types of questions are usually
within a very finite range of acceptable accuracy. These may be at
several different levels of cognition -- comprehension, application,
analysis, or ones where the answerer makes inferences or
conjectures based on personal awareness, or on material read,
presented or known.
Example: On reflecting over the entirety of the play Hamlet, what were the main
reasons why Ophelia went mad? (This is not specifically stated in one direct
statement in the text of Hamlet. Here the reader must make simple inferences as to
why she committed suicide.)
3. Divergent - These questions allow students to explore different
avenues and create many different variations and alternative
answers or scenarios. Correctness may be based on logical
projections, may be contextual, or arrived at through basic
knowledge, conjecture, inference, projection, creation, intuition, or
imagination. These types of questions often require students to
analyze, synthesize, or evaluate a knowledge base and then project
or predict different outcomes.
Answering divergent questions may be aided by higher levels of
affective functions. Answers to these types of questions generally
fall into a wide range of acceptability. Often correctness is
determined subjectively based on the possibility or probability.
Frequently the intention of these types of divergent questions is to
stimulate imaginative and creative thought, or investigate cause
and effect relationships, or provoke deeper thought or extensive
investigations. And, one needs to be prepared for the fact that there
may not be right or definitely correct answers to these questions.
Divergent questions may also serve as larger contexts for directing
inquiries, and as such may become what are know as "essential"
questions that frame the content of an entire course.
Example: In the love relationship of Hamlet and Ophelia, what might have happened
to their relationship and their lives if Hamlet had not been so obsessed with the
revenge of his father's death?
Example of divergent questions that are both essential and divergent: Like many
authors throughout time, Shakespeare dwells partly on the pain of love in Hamlet.
Why is painful love so often intertwined with good literature. What is its never ending
appeal to readers?
4. Evaluative - These types of questions usually require
sophisticated levels of cognitive and/or emotional judgment. In
attempting to answer evaluative questions, students may be
combining multiple logical and/or affective thinking process, or
comparative frameworks. Often an answer is analyzed at multiple
levels and from different perspectives before the answerer arrives at
newly synthesized information or conclusions.
Examples:
a. What are the similarities and differences between the deaths of
Ophelia when compared to that of Juliet?
b. What are the similarities and differences between Roman
gladiatorial games and modern football?
c. Why and how might the concept of Piagetian schema be related
to the concepts presented in Jungian personality theory, and why
might this be important to consider in teaching and learning?
5. Combinations - These are questions that blend any combination of the above.
More details and suggestions on this topic see - This rough magic
Lindley, D. (1993) This rough magic. Westport, CN. Bergin & Garvey.

There are other authors who talk about the art of asking questions.
One is H. Lynn Erickson and he talks about 3 types of questions as
being factual, conceptual, and provocative.
If you look at the listing above, it should become apparent that
these are the same types of categories. Erickson's factual are still
the ones that are easily answered with definitive, and comparatively
simple answers. These are the questions you find on the
showJeopardy. Unfortunately they are also too common in schools
and on tests.
His conceptual questions might be ones that are convergent,
divergent, or evaluative in construction -- ones that delve deeper
and require more sophisticated levels of cognitive processing and
thinking.
His provocative ones are ones that entice and ones cannot be
answered with easy answers. They are questions can be used to
motivate and frame content or are essential questions. In the initial
categorization above they would be either complex divergent
questions or more sophisticated combination questions like
divergent/evaluative ones.

Erickson, H. L.. (2007) Concept-based curriculum and instruction for

the thinking classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin Press.

http://www.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/learning/quest2.htm
2004

TYPES OF QUESTIONS

• Open questions

These are useful in getting another person to speak. They often begin

with the words: What, Why, When, Who

Sometimes they are statements: “tell me about”, “give me examples of”.

They can provide you with a good deal of information.

• Closed questions

These are questions that require a yes or no answer and are useful for

checking facts. They should be used with care - too many closed

questions can cause frustration and shut down conversation.

• Specific questions

These are used to determine facts. For example “How much did you

spend on that”

• Probing questions

These check for more detail or clarification. Probing questions allow you to

explore specific areas. However be careful because they can easily make

people feel they are being interrogated

• Hypothetical questions

These pose a theoretical situation in the future. For example, “What would
you do if…?’ These can be used to get others to think of new situations.

They can also be used in interviews to find out how people might cope

with new situations.

• Reflective questions

You can use these to reflect back what you think a speaker has said, to

check understanding. You can also reflect the speaker’s feelings, which is

useful in dealing with angry or difficult people and for defusing emotional

situations.

• Leading questions.

These are used to gain acceptance of your view – they are not useful in

providing honest views and opinions. If you say to someone ‘you will be

able to cope, won’t you?’ they may not like to disagree.

You can use a series of different type of questions to “funnel”

information. This is a way of structuring information in sequence to explore a

topic and to get to the heart of the issues. You may use an open question,

followed by a probing question, then a specific question and a reflective

question.

Fs/esd/QMPAS

http://www.hsd401.org/tyee/Index_files/CBAs/TYPES_QUESTIONS%5B1%5D.pdf