Lecturers' Questioning Strategies in EFL Classroom Interaction at an Indonesian University
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31539/z6k9a045Abstract
ABSTRACT
This study examined the questioning strategies used by three lecturers in an English Education Department at a university in eastern Indonesia, focusing on both the types of questions they employed and the reasoning underlying their use. A qualitative descriptive case study design was employed, combining non-participant classroom observation with semi-structured interviews. Each lecturer was observed during one complete teaching session of approximately 90 minutes; classroom interactions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by categorizing question types and questioning-control techniques, while interview data were analyzed thematically to identify the lecturers' underlying rationales. The findings suggest that the lecturers applied both question-planning strategies (open-ended, follow-up, probing, and evidence-eliciting questions) and question-controlling strategies (individual nomination, whole-class address, wait time, and repetition or reformulation of questions). The selection of strategies was shaped more by the flow of ongoing classroom interaction than by predetermined lesson plans. Despite variation in the range of strategies used, all three lecturers shared the goals of sustaining engagement, activating prior knowledge, and encouraging deeper thinking, with one lecturer placing particular emphasis on analytical rather than recall-based responses. The findings position questioning as a flexible, interactionally responsive pedagogical practice rather than a fixed technique, and provide English departments with concrete, evidence-based entry points for lecturer training aimed at expanding question-controlling repertoires. Future research should extend observation across multiple sessions and a more institutionally diverse sample to examine whether the deliberate broadening of question-controlling strategies produces measurable gains in student participation and language output over time.
Keywords: Classroom discourse, Classroom interaction; EFL lecturers; Higher education; Questioning strategies
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