Using the Right Question Technique with ESL Students

FACILITATING
THE QUESTION FORMULATION
TECHNIQUE™ (QFT™)
www.rightquestion.org
© 2001- 2012
Questioning to Develop Critical Thinking Skills: The Right
Question Technique © Applied to ESL
By Jennie Farnell, University of Bridgeport

Why are you here?
http://padlet.com/jfarnellub/conntes
ol

Background -- Me
Desperati
on

Background -- RQI
 Started – parent advocacy
 Developed into “Microdemocracy”
 Spread into various areas
 Parent / family involvement
 Education
 Local government
 Voter engagement
 Healthcare / mental health
 Innovation (work/business related)

Relevance to education?
 To avoid this

But seriously…why?
 Career readiness
 Recent AACU study found fewer than 3 in 10
employers feel recent graduates are well
prepared
 Critical thinking skills
 Applying knowledge/skill to real world
 Written / oral communications
 Collegiate Learning Assessment Plus (32,000
students / 169 schools)
 40% college seniors don’t graduate w/complex
reasoning skills employers look for

Common core
It’s
here!
 Designed for college readiness
 Creativity
 “deep dive”
 Rigor
 Collaborative
 Equality
 College readiness

What would you add?
http://padlet.com/jfarnellub/rqt

But how?

RULES FOR PRODUCING QUESTIONS
 Ask as many questions as you can
 Do not stop to discuss, judge or answer the questions
 Write down every question exactly as it is stated
 Change any statement into a question

RULES FOR PRODUCING QUESTIONS
 Ask as many questions as you can
 Do not stop to discuss, judge or answer the questions
 Write down every question exactly as it is stated
 Change any statement into a question
What might be difficult about following these rules?

PRODUCING THE QUESTIONS
1. Follow the Rules for Producing Questions.
2. Number your questions.
QFocus:
Students aren’t asking questions.

IMPROVING THE QUESTIONS
You might have these two kinds of questions in your list:
• Closed-ended questions – they can be answered with
“yes” or “no” or with one word.
• Open-ended questions – they require an explanation
and cannot be answered with yes” or “no” or with one
word.

IMPROVE YOUR QUESTIONS
Identify closed- and open-ended questions.
 Mark the closed-ended questions with a C and the open-ended
questions with an O.

 Name advantages of asking closed-ended questions.
 Name disadvantages of asking closed-ended questions.
 Name advantages of asking open-ended questions.
 Name disadvantages of asking open-ended questions.

 Review your list of questions and change one closed-ended
question into an open-ended.
 Change one open-ended question into a closed-ended one.

PRIORITIZE YOUR QUESTIONS
 Choose the three most important questions from your
list.
 Keep in mind the QFocus.
 Mark each priority question with an “X”

SHARE YOUR QUESTIONS
Please share:
 The questions you changed from closed to open-ended
and from open-ended to closed. Read each question
as originally written and how it was changed
 your three priority questions
 your rationale for selecting those three
 the numbers of your priority questions

USE YOUR QUESTIONS
How?
 Independent projects
 Experiments, presentations, interviews
 Group projects
 Debates
 Socratic seminars
 More???

RQT IN ACTION (modified for ESL
class)
 Who -- ESL credit class: Oral Communications
Advanced
 Goal – Oral presentation: “What happiness
means to me.”
 Challenge
 Students didn’t talk!
 Students weren’t self directed learners

Procedure
 Brainstorming prompt
 “What is happiness?” – independent free write
 Think, pair, share ideas about happiness
 RQI prompt – “happiness”
 Introduced RQI rules
 Skipped discussion about they could be difficult
 Pairwork – 15 minutes for as many questions as they
could make
 Skipped “opened/closed” questions & changing
questions
 Asked pairs to share their “best” questions w/class
(their judgment of “best”)
 Teacher wrote questions shared

Results
 Do you think friends and family are part of your happiness?
 Is there any real meaning for happiness?
 What does happiness mean?
 Can money make you happy?
 How do you know you are happy?
 Do you think rich people are happier than poor ones?
 Do you agree when you're happy you don't have to worry?
 Is happiness just a state of mind?
 What is your philosophy in life about happiness?
 Is freedom happiness?
 Can we borrow happiness from someone else?
 Can happiness be endless?
 Is being healthy a part of your happiness?

Results (continued)
 Will you sacrifice your happiness for someone else?
 When someone comments on your posting or picture (answers), are you
happy?
 Does living after the expression "carpe diem" make you happy?
 If you reach happiness is your life going to meaning (what's next?)
 What makes you happy?
 Are you happy when you achieve your goals?
 Do you use the smiley icon / emoji when you text, email, skype to express
your happiness?
 Is anyone really happy?
 Can you tell un event that happened in your life that makes you happy?
 Are animals happy?
 Do you think being alone can be happy?
 Why are all kids kind of happy and adults aren't?
 Are you happy when your friend is happy?

Assignment
 Use Glogster (http://edu.glogster.com/?ref=com),
Powerpoint (with recording feature), or any other
presentation tool to create your assignment.
 Include in your presentation:
 Your personal answer to “What makes you happy?”.
 Use the questions we came up with in class to help focus
your ideas
 Your advice to others for finding happiness / meaning
in life.
 Record your presentation and support it with
pictures.

Sample Response
 Ok, admittedly the absolute best presentation I’ve ever
gotten…
 Taking NO credit for student’s creatively and artistic ability

A more typical response
Happiness

REFLECTION
1. What did you learn?
2. What value does it have?

Right Question Institute
 Educator resources (sign up required; free)
http://rightquestion.org/educators/resources/

Feedback
 Please share ideas, suggestions, additional
questions, or other thoughts.
 All is anonymous and appreciated!
 Link will be open for the next few days
http://padlet.com/jfarnellub/feedback

Sources
 Cox, John Woodrow. (2015) Why are so many college students failing to gain job
skills before graduation? - The Washington Post. Retrieved October 18, 2015, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/01/26/why-are-so-many-
college-students-failing-to-gain-job-skills-before-graduation/
 Educator Resource Area - Right Question Institute (Right Question Institute)
http://rightquestion.org/educators/resources/ Retrieved October 18, 2015, from
http://rightquestion.org/educators/resources/
 Employability Skills Lesson Plans and Career Readiness. (2015) Retrieved October
18, 2015, from http://www.aeseducation.com/careercenter21/employability-skills-
lesson-plans/
 Pohlmannneethi ,Tom & Thomas, Mary. (2015) Relearning the Art of Asking
Questions. Retrieved October 18, 2015, from https://hbr.org/2015/03/relearning-the-
art-of-asking-
questions?utm_campaign=Socialflow&utm_source=Socialflow&utm_medium=Tweet
 Six Ways the Common Core is Good For Students. (2015) NEA Today. Retrieved
October 18, 2015, from http://neatoday.org/2013/05/10/six-ways-the-common-core-
is-good-for-students-2/
 Study finds big gaps between student and employer perceptions. (2015) Inside
Higher Ed. Retrieved October 18, 2015, from
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/20/study-finds-big-gaps-between-
student-and-employer-perceptions

Using the Right Question Technique with ESL Students

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (19)

Similar to Using the Right Question Technique with ESL Students

Similar to Using the Right Question Technique with ESL Students (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Using the Right Question Technique with ESL Students

Editor's Notes