The Impact of Dialogic Teaching on English Language Learners’ Speaking and Thinking Skills

Purposes of classroom questions 
Cotton listed the following purposes for the classroom questions: 
1. Developing interest and motivating students to become actively involved in lessons. 
2. Evaluating students’ preparation and check on homework or seatwork completion.
3. Developing critical thinking skills and inquiring attitudes 
4. Reviewing and summarize previous lessons. 
4. Nurturing insights by exposing new relationships. 
5. Assessing achievement of instructional goals and objectives. 
6. Stimulating students to pursue knowledge on their own. 
Principles of Questioning 
 
The following principles were developed by Richard L. Loughlin can provide an excellent 
set of guidelines for the teacher who wishes to develop good questioning techniques: 
I. Distribute questions so that all, including non-volunteers, are involved. 
II. Balance factual and thought-provoking questions. 
III. Ask both simple and exacting questions, so that the poorer students may participate and the 
brighter students may be extended. 
IV. Encourage lengthy responses and sustained answers. (Avoid yes-no questions, questions 
overlaid with afterthoughts, fragmentary questions, and those that tug or encourage guessing.)
V. Stimulate critical thinking by asking: “To what extent?” “How?” “Under what circumstances?” 
“Why?” “Compare (or contrast)...” 
The Concept of debate
Reinking (2000) defines debate: 

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Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 8. Number 4. December 2017 
The impact of Dialogic Teaching on English Language Elhassan &
Adam
Arab World English Journal
www.awej.org
ISSN: 2229-9327
58 
A formal contest of argumentation in which two opposing teams defend and attack a given 
proposition”. Although debate is an excellent activity for developing critical thinking, its 
weakness is that it can turn argument into game of winners and losers rather than a process 
of cooperative inquiry (p.4).
Debates have been defined as an educational strategy that fosters good reasoning and critical 
thinking, as well as heightens awareness of attitudes, values, and beliefs. As explained by Hall 
(2011, p.2) that in traditional classroom setting, a large percentage of what students are taught 
occurs via the lecture format. However, with debates, students must go beyond the passive nature 
of the lecture format to the dynamic nature of debating.