Assessing comprehention of oral language
Analysing responses to question forms and questions of increasing complexity
(Ulliana & Mitchell 1996)
Purpose:
To assess a student’s comprehension of question forms (ie question syntax) starting
from simple modelled questions to more complex ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions.
Assessing students’ understanding of question forms is important, given the frequency with
which teachers use questions to monitor students’ understanding.
Instructions
Step 1:
Using the table below as a guide, determine the questions that will be asked and
record these in
column 1
of the
The
examples provided are a guide only and should be adapted according to the context/activity.
Plan so that questions can be asked in the context of naturally occurring interactions or
activities.
Note:
To ensure that the understanding of question forms is being assessed,
the content of questions should be simple and familiar to the student.
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Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
English K–6
Speaking and listening
ASSESSMENT
Types of questions
‘What/who’ labelling questions
Questions that explicitly ask the name of a person, animal, place or thing, for example:
•
What’s that
?
•
Who’s that?
Simple ‘where’ questions
Questions that ask about the location of a person, place or thing that is in view or in its
usual place, for example:
•
Where’s your Dad?
•
Where’s the house?
‘Want’ questions – choices in and out of view
Questions that ask what the student wants with the items/representations in and out of
view, for example:
•
What do you want?
•
What does the boy want?
• Do you want a book or computer?
‘Yes/no information’ questions
Questions that require the student to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ about information concerning
the student, common activities, people or places, the surrounding environment, for
example:
•
Is the computer on?
•
Is that yours?
