ENCOURAGING MORE STUDENT OUTPUT: ALTERNATIVES TO QUESTIONS

Abstract

Classroom interaction has traditionally been shaped by questions and students can become accustomed to little reflection being given before the next question is posed, hindering discussion and discouraging students from producing more language. Addressing this issue to the Japanese context, in order to avoid reinforcing the student’s role as passive, teachers need to encourage effective communication and it has been claimed that using alternatives to questions promotes more student output (Edwards & Westgate, 1994; Wells, 1999; Dashwood, 2005). This article investigates the effect alternatives to questions had on the amount of student output in English oral communication classes in a Japanese high school. The results suggest that alternatives to questions should be employed more, in conjunction with more common questions, and regularly incorporated into classroom interaction to provide students the opportunity to produce more.