The Use of Questions by Chinese-Speaking Lecturers in English-Medium Lectures

從問句的使用來探討華語教師在大學全英語授課的課堂互動

陳麗清(Chen, Li-Chin) ； 林佳燕(Lin, Chia-Yen) ； 林淑璋(Lin, Su-Chang)

《應用語文學報》 1期 (2014/03) Pp. 155-171

https://doi.org/10.6906/JAL.201403_(1).0009

摘要

The value of questions in education has been noticed and used since Socrates' time. A wide range of research into teaching has focused on the use of questions and pedagogical applications various educational levels and activities. This study particularly highlights the use of questions in English-medium lectures at tertiary level, which have been widely conducted by non-native English speakers as a result of globalization and the international competition in education. We examined question use in a corpus of six English-medium lectures by Chinese speakers, comprising 115,358 words in total. The findings show that questions were widely distributed in the corpus, with the preferential use of such question forms as yes/no questions, tag questions and wh-questions, which are associated with the features of conversation and academic genres. A qualitative analysis reveals great diversity within ten distinct question functions and the preferred use of particular ones. This suggests a specific form of lecture discourse whereby lecturers frequently check students' comprehension, but seldom elicit students' opinions and rarely develop further interaction; simultaneously, lecturers recurrently use questions as rhetorical devices to convey information so as actively to engage students in lectures and the discussion of exercises and homework questions. The findings offer insights into the understanding of English-medium lectures, particularly by Chinese speakers, and the use of questions in an academic setting. The same can also be integrated into materials for teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) to raise participants' awareness and assist their teaching and learning in English-medium lectures.

關鍵字

use of questions ； functions of questions ； English-medium lecture ； Chinese speaking professors ； English for Academic Purposes (EAP) ； corpus

並列摘要

問句在教學上的應用早於古希臘哲學家亞里斯多德時代（西元前384年～西元前322年）就已開始，至目前為止，許多學者研究問句在教學上的應用已擴及到各不同階段的教育及教學活動。本篇主要探討華人教授在大學全英語授課課堂中問句的使用，進而瞭解其課堂互動。由於全球化及教育受到全球化競爭的情勢下，全英文授課已廣泛在非英語系國家的大學中施行。本篇所研究的語料庫包含6個由華人教授以全英語授課課堂，共計115,358字。本研究發現問句的使用廣泛的散佈在此語料庫中，尤其是非問句、WH－問句及附加問句的使用為主要，這顯示出這些課堂互動具有會話及學術文體的特色。進一步的質化分析發現問句的功能共計有10種，但偏重在少數幾種。這形成一特有的課堂言談脈絡，也就是華人教授時常詢問學生是否了解上課內容，但很少要求學生提出意見、看法或發展更進一步的討論。同時，華人教授也經常利用問句特殊的修辭功能，把獨白為主的課堂，以自問自答的方式把知識傳達給學生，像是把學生緊繫在有問有答的互動課堂中。上述發現使我們從問句使用的角度，來了解華人教授在大學全英語授課的課堂互動。同時，這些發現可以融入在專業學術英語（English for Academic Purpose）的教材中，加強華人教授和學生對大學全英語課堂互動方式的認識，進而直接幫助他們在大學全英語授課的教學與學習。

並列關鍵字

問句的使用 ； 問句的功能 ； 大學全英語授課課堂 ； 華人教授 ； 專業學術英語 ； 語料庫