CUES, QUESTIONS, AND ADVANCE ORGANIZERS Cues and Questions
المؤلف:
Jane D. Hill Kathleen M. Flynn
المصدر:
Classroom Instruction that works with English Language Learners
الجزء والصفحة:
P44-C5
2025-09-06
399
CUES, QUESTIONS, AND ADVANCE ORGANIZERS
Cues and Questions
Students construct meaning by drawing connections between new information and what they already know (background knowledge). Cues and questions are used at the beginning of a lesson to help students access and activate background knowledge and connect that knowledge to new learning. Background knowledge can consist of content knowledge, personal experiences, and certainly misconceptions.
Ovando and colleagues (2003) recognized the importance of prior knowledge in providing “rich clues to meaning” (p. 92). ELLs can use these clues to reach those “a-ha!” moments that come when they connect content presented in their new language with what they already know. Furthermore, in addition to revealing what students know about the subject matter, cues and questions help teachers dis cover what students need to know.
Building background is one of the eight components of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol model (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2000). Teachers link new information to students’ background knowledge by giving them cues—or hints— about what they are about to experience. For example, while watching a film about cats, a teacher can provide a cue by explaining that students will see some things they already know about cats and some things they do not know. By providing the topic of the film, the teacher has activated prior knowledge—the students will start thinking about what they already know about cats.
Questions can do the same thing—for example, the teacher could simply ask students what they know about cats. Questioning can take different forms. Simich-Dudgeon (1998) reports on three question answer patterns:
1. Question-response-evaluation. The teacher asks a question and then appraises the answer.
2. Question-response-feedback. The teacher asks a question, the student answers, and then the teacher provides feedback. The teacher feedback takes the form of paraphrasing the student’s answer, which leads to the student rephrasing his response.
3. Student-organized interaction. Students ask and answer questions in small groups. The teacher becomes a facilitator and discussion participant.
Although Simich-Dudgeon found question-response-feedback and student-organized interaction to have the most positive results with ELLs, you must always take into consideration a student’s level of English proficiency when questioning. Tiered questions can be used with ELLs precisely because they take into account the level of language acquisition, thus allowing students to be successful responders. To use tiered questions, you must monitor student communication and pose questions that allow students to participate with confidence and success.
You are encouraged to ask questions frequently throughout a lesson (Simich-Dudgeon, McCreedy, & Schleppegrell, 1988) because it provides many opportunities for ELLs to use their new language. Students will need a chance to put their thoughts into words, so providing some wait time after asking questions will lead to higher-quality responses. Participating in classroom interactions will help students gain confidence in themselves and their speaking abilities.
Teachers who ask tiered questions adjust their questions to maximize the ways in which the student can respond in the new language (Herrell & Jordan, 2004). After determining the stage of language acquisition, a teacher can decide if a student can be expected to point, use one- or two-word responses, answer with short phrases (some grammatical errors acceptable), or produce longer sentences (fewer grammatical errors acceptable). Questions can then be planned to elicit the desired level of response and ensure student involvement.
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