Promoting knowledge construction and cognitive development: A case study of teacher's questioning

Abstract

Teacher questioning is one of the indices of the quality of teaching. It plays an essential role in promoting students' knowledge construction and cognitive development through classroom interaction. In the meanwhile, teacher questioning reflects to what extent authority is shared between teacher and students. Through an analysis of teacher questions in an Intensive Reading class in a China university, this article investigates how language knowledge and authority relationship are co-constructed through the interaction between the teacher and students. It aims to identify the teaching methods embedded in the ways of teacher questioning that enables students to gain knowledge and reasoning ability. © 2013 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.