Using Questioning to Change Classroom Discussion:An Action Research of a Fifth-grade Teacher Applying Multi-texts in Reading

• Main Authors: Chia-Jung Lin, 林佳蓉
• Other Authors: Yi-Xue Lin
• Format: Others
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/fqh47u

碩士 === 國立東華大學 === 教育與潛能開發學系 === 104 === This study aimed to use action research to investigate the teaching process of using multiple texts (multi-texts) for fifth-grade students to engage in reading discussions. Three questions were raised accordingly: (1) How do questioning strategies change the discussion in the classroom? (2) What changes does the multi-text reading model cause without being limited by single-text reading? (3) What are the hurdles and changes in the action process, and what impacts do they create upon teachers’ reading belief and teaching? This study selected 15 fifth-grade students from Hualien County’s Happy Elementary School as its subjects to undergo three cycles of theme-based and multi-text teaching. A verbatim analysis was implemented on teacher-student discussion turns and types of questions raised by the teacher and students; furthermore, a variety of data including the teacher’s own teaching reflection, interviews with the subjects and peer feedback were also incorporated. The followings are the findings of this study are: 1.By raising questions that challenge the texts and explore personal perspectives, students had the opportunity to have their voices heard, and that was the first step toward changing the discussion turns in the classroom. 2.In addition to raising questions in terms of text comprehension, the teacher employed diverse topics as well as types of questions to not only respond to the subjects’, i.e. students’ diverse cultural backgrounds, but also facilitate the bonding between texts and their readers. 3.A teaching method consisted of multi-texts free reading and single-text shared reading enable students to engage in divergent thinking as well as establish focused concepts in terms of reading topics. It can be seen from the researcher’s reflection that if the questions raised by the teacher were invalid or show her/his preference over question types, the reading discussions could not be further deepened. In addition, if the teacher labeleds the reading capacity of weak readers, it is highly likely for her/him to neglect the need of those readers to enlarge their vocabulary bank. Last but not least, if the teacher provided students with both the right to initiate discussion in the classroom and her/his guidance, it was beneficial to the development of students’ critical thinking ability. All these new insights had enabled the researcher to revise her own reading belief and teaching actions.Finally, based on the research findings, the researcher also made recommendations for future teaching in reading.