Types of Questions

                                  Types of reading comprehension question

Teacher can help free the students from the fossilized blind belief that they must read word by word or sentence by sentence in order to obtain a propositional meaning from the surface-level information.  

One common type of reading task involves the use of questions. Reading questions have several functions: 

• Their first functions is encourage the students to engage in reading for meaning (Heilman, Blair, and Rupley, 1986; Nuttall, 2005), which is essentially what people naturally do during reading (Graesser, Singer y Trabasso, 1994; Nuttall 2005). Reading questions can also motivate students to read because they will read purposefully in order to find the answer (Grant, 1987; Heilman et al, 1986; Nuttall, 2005). Although readers approach text in different ways according to their reading purposes, some purpose or task imposed either by the readers themselves or the teacher can act to summon up motivation to read (Grabe y Stoller, 2002).
• Second, reading questions can function to direct students´ attention to the important aspects of the text (Nuttall, 2005, Vacca, Vacca y Gove, 1991). For instance, sign post questions, can focus readers´ attention on such global aspect of text as the theme of an article or topic sentences of its paragraph.
• Finally, questions can encourage students to regard reading as a means to look for answer; this kind of attitude towards reading may help reduce the psychological burden students often feel when they are engaged in foreign language reading (Kanatani, 1995). Unfortunately, many teachers are not well aware of these useful functions reading questions have for readers, and the influence that they can exert on the level of thinking that occurs (Heilman et al, 1986).         

Reading questions can be classified according to the degree of cognitive activity that they encourage, the type of reading skills that they require, the levels of comprehension that they promote and the degree of reading proficiency that they demand. 

Taxonomies, which categorize reading questions in the aforementioned ways, can be helpful for teachers by providing a framework for: 

a). Structuring and evaluating questions (Day and Park, 2005; Heilman et al, 1986; Nuttall, 2005) 

b). Developing their own questions (Day and Park, 2005; ehara, 1996; Heilman et al, 1986; Nuttall, 2005) 

c). Balancing the types of questions that they ask students. (Day and Park, 2005; Ehara, 1996; Nuttall, 2005) 

Tabla. A comprehensive taxonomy of types and contents of reading questions.

The reading question can be broadly categorized into two subgroups according to the required level of cognitive operation: lower-order question and higher-order question. 

• The lower-order question demand the recognition or recall of factual information explicitly presented in the text. 
• The higher-order question require more recognition or recalling verbatim information directly accessed from the text. They also facilitate moving beyond a literal understanding of the text to a more knowledge-based and global understanding of textual meaning. 

The questions classified according to the skills that they require from the readers are:

• Type 1. Literal comprehension questions
• Type 2. Reorganization o reinterpretation questions
• Type 3. Inferential questions
• Type 4. Evaluative questions
• Type 5. Personal response questions 
• Type 6. Question concerned with how writes say why they mean

* Ehara K. The Effects of Types of Question on EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension Scores. 2008. 
  

Why ask a variety of questions?

If one of your objectives as a teacher is to produce students who will be responsible citizens and use the knowledge and skills from classes in real-life problem solving, you will want to ask a variety of questions. Stressing only closed questions encourages students to become skillful in the stockpiling and retrieval of data. The ability to memorize information and recall it should be not the only objective of teaching. 

Older ideas must often be reinterpreted or abandoned. It is more important to provide experiences that help students to acquire all the scientific knowledge they will ever need to know. It is more important to provide experiences that help the students develop the skills of acquiring and processing data into useful information. Open questions can help students develop these skylls.

* Blosser P. How to Ask the Right Questions. 1991. 

          

Here I present to you an example developed as an activity  to show different types of questions from a reading:

Purpose of reading exercise: To introduce as part of the subject Environmental Law, to learn new vocabulary and to verify pre knowledge about State’s structure specially agencies that protect the environment. 

Time: This activity have to be done in twenty five minutes.

Reading Activity.

1.    Pre-reading

a.    Read the title “NASA CHALLENGES CIVIC HACKERS TO FOCUS ON CLIMATE CHANGE”, imagine what the text might be about and write it.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

b.    Read the first line of every paragraph, then write the main idea. (Literal)

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

2.    While-reading

c.    The passage has eight paragraphs A-H. Which paragraphs contain the following information? Write the correct letter A-H next to sentences 1-3 (Literal)

1.    The opinion of NASA’s Chief Technology Officer for Information Technology______

2.    Relevant areas that hackers can work with government agencies._____________

3.    Agencies that work together for National Day of Civic Hacking________________

d.    Based on the information in the text write two initiative for environmental protection in Colombia. (Inferential-Skill Analyzing)

COLOMBIA

e.    Write the correct word next to the photograph. (Inferential-Skill Analyzing)

a.    Storm Surge

b.    Drought

c.    Co2 emission

d.    Tropical storm

e.    Wildfire

____________________________

_____________________________

______________________________

______________________________

     ______________________________

3.    Post-reading.

f.     Write a personal definition of the next words:

·         Storm Surge:

·         Drought:

·         Co2 emission:

·         Tropical storm:

·         Wildfire:

g.    Write two Colombian government agencies that work to protect the environment? (One national and one local government agencies).

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For the next class:

h.    Bring a proposed of a local initiative where local government agencies and citizens work together to protect the environment. (Critical-the skill is Creating).

i.      In groups of three, search the causes, effects, solutions that governmental and non-governmental agencies have in relation the drought in Los Santos (Santander), Arauca and Guajira. (Critical-the skill is Evaluating).