VOICES BEHIND THE QUESTIONS: EXPLORING HOW EXPERIENCED AND NOVICE EFL TEACHERS USE QUESTIONING TO ENGAGE LEARNERS

Abstract

In the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom, teachers’ questioning skills play a crucial role in fostering classroom interaction and promoting students’ critical thinking. Effective questioning strategies not only reflect teachers’ pedagogical competence but also determine the extent of students’ engagement in the learning process. This study aims to analyze the use of questioning strategies among English teachers based on their teaching experience and students’ perceptions in EFL classrooms. Employing a descriptive quantitative approach, data were collected through classroom observations and student questionnaires. The participants consisted of six senior high school English teachers (three experienced and three less experienced) and 180 eleventh-grade students from SMAN 6, SMAN 7, and SMAN 10 Padang. The observational data were analyzed using (Niza, 2024; Rahayu & Suharti, 2023) indicators of questioning strategies, namely structuring, phrasing, focusing, re-directing, distributing, pausing, reacting, prompting, changing, and probing. The findings reveal that teachers employed a variety of strategies to enhance interaction and critical thinking among students. The highest strategy used by less and experienced teacher was distributing strategy. Experienced teachers used 44 times (57%), while less experienced teachers used 33 times (43%), indicating a 11 times difference in effectiveness. Furthermore, questionnaire results indicated that students held positive perceptions of teachers’ questioning strategies, with an overall percentage 94% (agree). The highest-rated aspects were engagement and motivation, whereas wait time and distribution of questions received lower percentage. Overall, this study underscores the pivotal role of questioning strategies in creating interactive, reflective, and critical-thinking-oriented learning environments in EFL classrooms.