CHECKING UNDERSTANDING IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM: ICQS AND CCQS
Keywords:
If a yes-or-no question about understanding can't be trusted, teachers need something better. Two techniques that do the job are Instruction Checking Questions (ICQs) and Concept Checking Questions (CCQs). This article explains what each one is, how they differ, and why both are worth using in everyday teaching.Abstract
Every teacher has asked "Do you understand?" and watched a room full of
students nod. The trouble is that the nod often means very little. Students say yes, and
then start the task with only a vague idea of what they are supposed to do. Part of the
reason is social. Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) describe fear of negative
evaluation as one component of foreign language anxiety, and a learner who is afraid
of being judged by the teacher and classmates is unlikely to admit that they are
confused. Many also worry that saying "I don't understand" will make them look less
intelligent than everyone else.
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