Teachers questioning in the teaching of reading comprehension

‘Teachers Questioning In The Teaching of Reading Comprehension’ was a study aimed at categorising the types of questions according to the cognitive levels in Barrett’s Taxonomy of reading comprehension; determining the frequencies of lower-order questions versus higher-order questions; identifying the questioning strategies employed by the teachers; and investigating teachers’ views on questioning. Using the Multiple Case Single Site Design, the study was conducted at one of the schools in Selayang with three English Language teachers of Form Four who were selected using the purposive sampling method. Observations were carried throughout five weeks followed by individual in-depth interviews. Two instruments were developed to collect data; a self-developed observational checklist (containing all the five thinking levels in Barrett’s Taxonomy for reading comprehension) and an interview protocol. Frequency counts were made on the data obtained from the observational checklists whereas the data from the interviews were coded. The findings revealed that teachers more frequently asked questions of lower-order thinking as compared to questions of higher-order thinking. From this study, English language teachers will hopefully pose more higher-order questions to elevate their students’ thinking. The Ministry of Education may on the other hand be able to investigate the reasons teachers place a superior emphasis upon exam-oriented questions.