الملخص الإنجليزي
The present study was designed to identify the types of oral questions (linguistic, cognitive and interactional) that Omani EFL teachers use in their classroom discourse at the preparatory and
secondary school levels. It also sought to determine the extent to which these question types vary according to such variables as the instructional level, teachers' training and teaching experience. To attain these objectives, the following research questions were addressed:
(1) What are the most and least common types of oral questions that are
asked by Omani EFL teachers at the preparatory and secondary
school levels. More specifically
(a) How much do they use referential and display questions?
(6)How much do they use questions of higher-order thinking (e.g.
evaluation and appreciation) and questions of lower- order
thinking (e.g. literal comprehension)?
(c)How often do the different types of interactional modifications
occur in the speech of the Omani EFL teachers in the classroom
context?
(2)To what extent do the categories of oral questions asked by Omani
EFL teachers vary according to the instructional level of the students?
(3) To what extent do the categories of oral questions asked by the Omani
EFL teachers vary according to the teacher's background factors,
especially training and years of teaching experience?
(4) Does the use of referential questions affect the amount and types of
interactional modifications in the classroom discourse of the EFL
teachers?
(5)Does the use of higher-order questions affect the amount and types of
interactional modifications in the classroom discourse of the EFL
teachers?
The sample consisted of 40 Omani EFL teachers at the preparatory and secondary levels. These teachers were observed and the oral questions they asked were classified under three main categories:
linguistic, cognitive and interactional. The observation sheet which was developed for this purpose was validated by two judges. The inter-rater reliability of the observations was established through the correlation technique which yielded a coefficient of about 0.96. The data of the observations was subjected to different statistical techniques, namely descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and correlation.
The results of the study showed that:
(1)Omani EFL teachers used display questions far more than
referential questions.
(2)Omani EFL teachers used low-order thinking questions far more
than high- order thinking questions.
(3)Omani EFL teachers rarely used interactional modifications.
(4)There was no significant relationship found between the use of the different types of oral questions and the students' instructional levels.
(5)There was no significant relationship found between the use of the different types of oral questions and the teachers' training and teaching experience.
(6)There was no significant relationship found between the use of referential questions and the use of interactional modifications.
(7)There was no significant relationship found between the use of high-order thinking questions and the use of interactional modifications. The recommendations suggested by the study included:
(1)Improving teacher training programs, in both their pre-service and in service forms, by paying more attention to the issue of teacher questioning.
(2)Using the question categories of this study as a training instrument in teacher training programs in both their pre-service and in-service forms.
(3) Carrying out more research on the verbal behavior of teachers and student in the Omani school context, with a particular reference to other contextual factors.
