Dong Bu Dong ? --

An Comprehension Check Question

in CSL Classroom Discourse

Ye Han

University of Florida

Although the comprehension check question is one of the most frequently used question types by teachers in the second language classroom (Long & Sato, 1983), and it is claimed to promote more opportunities of negotiation between learners and teachers (Ellis 1985; Pica & Long 1986), compared with other types of teacher questions such as referential and display questions, it has been far under-explored. In fact, the majority of previous research on teacher questions tends to focus on quantity and types of questions asked by teachers. However, in order for teacher questions to work more efficiently and productively in the classroom discourse, it is important to know the teachers’ intention, the students’ interpretation, and the gap between these two.

This study uses Kearsley’s (1976) definition and taxonomy of question functions, as well as Li and Thompson’s (1981) four basic questions types in Chinese, to categorize teacher questions and particularly to examine the effect of the comprehension check question dong bu dong (literally, “understand not understand?” meaning roughly “do you understand or not?”) in the Chinese classroom discourse. Data for the current study consists of 150 minutes of video-taped natural classroom lessons, in which 35 native English-speaking undergraduate students--who were enrolled in an intermediate Chinese program in a U.S. university--and their teacher participated. The scenes which contain the comprehension check question dong bu dong were later edited into video clips and were triangulated with the teacher and 20 students (M=5; F=15) in the ethnographic interviews. The results showed that, in some cases, there was a gap between the teacher’s intention and the students’ interpretation in terms of the function of dong bu dong. Therefore dong bu dong to a certain extent prompts students to clarify meanings during the interaction with their teacher in the classroom discourse; but should not be relied on too much by teachers to check students’ comprehension.

The findings of this study may encourage teachers to be more careful and thoughtful when they use comprehension check questions--not limited to dong bu dong--to check students’ understanding in the classroom discourse.

References

Ellis, R. (1985). Teacher-pupil interaction in second language development. In S. Gass & C.

Madden (Eds.), Input in second language acquisition (pp. 69-85). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Kearsley, G.P. (1976). Questions and question-asking in verbal discourse: A cross-disciplinary review. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 5, 355 – 375.

Li, C., & Thompson, S. (1981). Mandarin Chinese: A functional reference grammar. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Long, M. H., & Sato, C. J. (1983). Classroom foreigner talk discourse: Forms and functions of

teachers’ questions. In H.W. Seliger & M.H. Long (Eds.), Classroom oriented research in

second language acquisition (pp. 268 – 287). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Pica, T., & Long, M. H. (1986). The linguistic and conversational performance of experienced and inexperienced teachers. In Day. R.R. (Ed.), Talking to learn: Conversation in second language acquisition (pp. 85 – 98). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.