Effects of Teacher Question Types on Developing L2 Learners’ English Ability and Creativity

Abstract

This study aims to explore whether different types of teacher questions influence the growth of creativity and English ability of Korean middle school learners of English. One hundred two middle school students participated in the current study and were assigned to either the experimental group (n=51) or the control group (n=51). The participants engaged in reading tasks along with different types of teacher questions over a period of five weeks. The experimental group was given fat questions facilitating deep and creative thinking while the control group received skinny questions having a definite answer and thus restricted discussion and debate. All the participants completed pre- and post-English tests, pre- and post-creativity tests, and free writings asking their opinions and feelings regarding the experiment. The results demonstrated that there was no significant difference in English ability between the two groups after the experiment. These implied that the two different types of teacher questions had not made a significant difference in English test scores over the experimental period although many of the experimental group students provided positive remarks on the activity they engaged in. As for creativity, the experimental group displayed significantly higher levels than the control group after receiving their teacher`s fat questions, suggesting that L2 learners` creativity levels could be enhanced within rather a short period of time with the help of strategic teaching methodologies such as different types of questions.