A Survey on the Levels of Questioning of ELT - A Case Study in an Indonesian Tertiary Education

Oct 15, 2026

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This study examines the levels of questioning in Indonesian tertiary education. A survey research design is used in a private university in North Sumatra, targeting English summative assessment items from undergraduate education. Sixty-five questions administered by four English lecturers in Universitas Muslim Nusantara (UMN) Al-Washliyah Medan are analyzed via qualitative content analysis using the Gallagher/Aschner Bloom Classification System. Lower order thinking questions dominate (69%), while higher order questions account for 31% of the summative test.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Teachers’ questioning and Bloom-based frameworks

Willen (1991) Gallagher–Aschner/Bloom hybrid classification

Questioning levels and examples

Level I: Low Order Convergent

Level II: High Order Convergent

Level III: Low Order Divergent

Level IV: High Order Divergent

Related studies

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 Vol. 8 No. 3; June 2017 Australian International Academic Centre, Australia | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | Flourishing Creativity & Literacy | | | | | | A Survey on the Levels of Questioning ofELT: A Case Study in an Indonesian Tertiary Education Rido Imam Ashadi (Corresponding author) The University of Sydney, Australia Nazriani Lubis Muslim Nusantara Al – Washliyah University, Medan, Indonesia E-mail: [rash7410@uni.sydney.edu.au](rash7410@uni.sydney.edu.au) Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.3p.26 URL: [http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.3p.26](http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.3p.26) Received: 16/03/2017 Accepted: 11/05/2017 Abstract This present study focused on examining the levels of questions in Indonesia tertiary education. A survey research was conducted in one of the private universities in North Sumatra. The English summative assessment in an undergraduate education was used as target of survey. There were a collection of questions that had been administered by four English lecturers from Faculty of English Education in Universitas Muslim Nusantara (UMN) Al-Washliyah Medan, Indonesia. The sample of research included the sixty five questions of summative tests. The qualitative content analysis which is based on Gallagher/Aschner Bloom Classification System used to categorize the questions. It was found that the lower order thinking level still dominated the question types (69%) . There was only 31% higher order questions used on the summative test. Keywords: Thinking level of questions, English subjects, summative assessment 1. Introduction Questioning students is regularly used by educators as a pedagogical approach and an instrument of assessment. It is an indispensable expertise which the teacher or instructors must possess; regardless their style of teaching or the lesson content (McNamara, 1981, p.106) . Unluckily, Hill and Flynn (2008) reveal that remembering factual records is what many teachers mostly employ when they test the students. This practice focusing in lower order level questions might not contribute to the development of students’ cognitive skill in reasoning and analyzing (pp. 48 – 49) . Bloom taxonomy (as cited in Forehand, 2010) established a scheme for sorting questions into different thinking domains. The six classified stages consist of knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. It is graded from the least to the most difficult logical processes. Wilen (1991) also develops the Gallagher-Aschner/Bloom hybrid system which will be employed in this study to categorize the questions level. This scheme is a simplified and has been appropriately used to examine teachers’questioning level. Unlike, the six hierarchical questions in the original Bloom taxonomy; there are only four levels of questions in this classification. The questions are mainly assigned into convergent and divergent questions. The convergent questions’ purpose is to assess students’ basic knowledge and understandings (lower order) . On the other hand, divergent questions oblige students to employ in higher-order thinking process as seen in Table 1. Table 1. Teachers’ Questioning Levels by Willen (1991) | Levels | Definitions | Purposes | | Examples | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Level I - Low Order Convergent: | This is equal with Knowledge level in
Bloom’s taxonomy
(McComas & Abraham, 2004) . | The teacher's major purpose is to demand student’s ability to remember or memorize answers which has already been definitely delivered in classroom. | 1.
2.
3. | Define the term.
What is a ? Who did ? Name . | | Level II - High Order Convergent | Comprehension and Application levels in Bloom’s taxonomy are measured to be in this level | Learners are asked to display further than recall skill but ability to apply the information and exhibit understanding | 1.

FAQs

What does the study focus on?

The study focuses on examining the levels of questioning used in Indonesian tertiary education, specifically within English summative assessment items.

How were the questions categorized?

Questions were categorized through qualitative content analysis based on the Gallagher/Aschner Bloom Classification System, using a hybrid system that assigns items into four levels.

What proportion of questions were lower-order versus higher-order?

Lower-order thinking questions dominate, making up 69% of the summative test items, while higher-order questions account for 31%.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Cipher