A Proposal for the "Input-Question Model"：Advantages and Disadvantages of Interaction between Students and a Teacher in Classrooms
214M013 N. A.
The purpose of the study
The primary purpose of this paper is to propose the "Input-Question Model (I-QM)", which is a new teaching method designed by the author. In this method, every student in class begins responding simultaneously to the teacher two seconds after the teacher asks them a question. Students evaluate how they answered on a feedback card immediately after they answer each question. If students have difficulty answering vocally, they have other options such as answering silently until the time when their teacher thinks they are ready to answer aloud. Although there may be teachers/researchers who have studied similar methods to I-QM, the author could not find any such reported research.
I-QM is based on the idea of the necessity of considerable output with comprehensible input (Swain, 2005) with "i+1" (Krashen, 1982). This model differs from ordinary Teacher-Student(s) (T-S) interaction and Student(s)-Student(s) (S-S) interaction in the following three aspects. First, all students have more opportunities for input from teachers as well as chances for output. Second, this model attempts to minimize certain negative influences, which are student anxiety and frequent exposure to other students' interlanguage. Third, I-QM exercise can work well in large-sized classrooms.
Background of the study
Working at Japanese high school for many years, I have seen the challenges facing educators in teaching communicative language in large classrooms. The demand for English teaching at school in Japan has gradually changed over half a century from mainly preparing for university entrance exam to training students to be able to communicate in English. Nevertheless, the majority of classes contain 40 students with one Japanese teacher of English.
Most teachers at school use S-S interaction such as pair work in order to increase student output in large classrooms. However, the quality of the input from peer students is not always high. Although it can be comprehensible, it does not usually contain new expressions or new linguistic structures. Teachers also use T-S interaction in class. The teacher talk to the whole class and students talk to the teacher, usually one at a time. Although the teacher can provide students with input containing "i+1", the teacher cannot talk with all 40 students individually in class. S-S and T-S interactions are used as the primary means for increasing students' communicative practice. However, both appear to have disadvantages either in the quality of input (comprehensible and "i+1") or in the quantity of student output.
Three hypotheses
This paper attempts to deal with three hypotheses followed by research questions concerning the effects of I-QM: (1) I-QM is a feasible communicative exercise in class, (2) I-QM works better than T-S interaction to improve students' general conversational skills, and (3) The advantage of I-QM is to increase the amount of input from teacher and student output. The disadvantage is that I-QM requires extra encouragement by teachers compared to T-S interaction because I-QM exercise is a drill-like method, which can be monotonous.
In the process of examining the hypotheses, qualitative and quantitative analyses were carried out in both the I-QM group that underwent I-QM exercise (n=40) and the T-S group that received T-S interaction (n=40). The author gave two kinds of pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaire, pre-speaking test (Pre-test) and post-speaking test (Post-test), and two-week classroom experiment in order to collect data.
The findings of the study
The following were the main findings of this study:
First, I-QM is a feasible communicative exercise in class for seven reasons: (a) Participants were able to practice I-QM exercise as the author planned, (b) The amount of preparation time and speaking skills necessary to adequately use I-QM were realistic for non-native English teachers, (c) The majority of the participants thought that I-QM was useful for improving their communication skills, (d) The Post-test proved I-QM's effectiveness, (e) Approximately two-thirds of the participants found I-QM exercise fun, (f) I-QM exercise is convenient for teachers to use in class, and (g) Teachers are able to link I-QM exercise to other teaching contents which s/he teaches.
Second, I-QM exercise helps improve students' pronunciation, grammar and fluency compared to T-S interaction. Among those three grading areas, the most outstanding improvement was observed in pronunciation. Although this paper discussed possible reasons for the improvement, further study is needed to identify real causes.
Third, the advantages of I-QM are: (a) I-QM exercise will improve students' concentration on input from teachers and amount of student output, (b) I-QM exercise is a stable exercise so that teachers can rely on it as a classroom exercise, and (c) Students who practice I-QM exercise will be likely to improve at the same rate. Even in large classrooms with only one teacher, I-QM will be a useful exercise both for the teacher and students.
Lastly, the disadvantage of I-QM is that I-QM will require extra encouragement by teachers because students may feel so shy that they will be hesitant to answer vocally. Considering that I-QM was designed to decrease student anxiety during student output by all students answering simultaneously, the high degree of student anxiety even in I-QM exercise is an important finding towards learner's anxiety.
Suggestions
Although a single case study cannot completely guarantee the effects of I-QM exercise, this study would suggest that I-QM exercise can be useful for teachers who have to teach large numbers of students in class. The use of I-QM can be an effective approach to improving students' communicative skills in large classrooms. Since I-QM is less likely to be influenced by student behavior, teachers will be able to provide students with a stable learning environment, which can lead to better learning.
Every teaching method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Like any other methods, I-QM is not a perfect tool. However, it is strongly recommended that teachers should adopt I-QM exercises along with teaching methods they have been using. Furthermore, if teachers utilize I-QM in their classes, their new findings concerning I-QM will either make I-QM better-suited to classrooms or lead to another new teaching method which is more efficient than I-QM. As a result, the use of I-QM can lead to new developments in the field of teaching communicative languages.
This study is merely the first step towards exploring a new teaching method. However, what the study confirmed and implied will lead to future researches, which will definitely contribute to teachers who teach communicative language in a large classroom.