Understanding WH-Questions

WH-Questions

• WH-questions are interrogative sentences that begin with question words such as "who," "what," "when," "where," "why," "how," and "which."
• They are used to seek specific information about a particular topic.
• The structure of a WH-question typically involves inverting the subject and the auxiliary verb, or putting a question word at the beginning of the sentence.

Types of WH-Questions

• Who: Asks about the person or people involved.
• Example: Who ate the last cookie?
• What: Asks about the thing or things involved; asks about actions and events.
• Example: What did you do yesterday?
  • Example: What is the capital of France?
• When: Asks about time.
• Example: When does the movie start?
• Where: Asks about location.
• Example: Where did you leave your keys?
• Why: Asks about the reason or cause.
• Example: Why did you do that?
• How: Asks about the manner, method, or degree.
• Example: How did you break your arm?
• Example: How much does that cost?
• Which: Asks for a specific choice from a limited set of possibilities.
• Example: Which car is faster, the red one or the blue one?

Teaching WH-Questions

• Introduction: Start with simple questions and gradually introduce more complex ones. Focus on demonstrating the function of each question type.
• Modeling: Teachers should model the use of WH-questions in conversation and in different contexts. They should demonstrate how to form the questions correctly.
• Vocabulary Development: Expanding students' vocabulary will help them to answer a wider range of WH-questions.
• Contextual Use: Provide specific contexts to encourage students to ask and answer various WH-questions. Example: Describe a scene or event and ask questions about it.
• Answering: Establish clear expectations for how students should answer WH-questions: clearly, with context, and using complete sentences, if possible.
• Practice Exercises: Use diverse activities like oral drills, flashcards, and games to increase student familiarity and confidence.
• Visual Aids: Utilizing visuals, diagrams, and illustrations to create context for WH questions will reinforce understanding, especially for younger learners or those with differing learning styles.
• Real-World Application: Encourage students to apply their knowledge of WH-questions to real-life situations, like asking for directions, ordering food, or gathering information.
• Grammar Focus: Incorporate discussions about the grammatical structure of WH-questions. Identify verb inversions and how they work correctly in different sentence structures.
• Differentiating Instruction: Modify lesson plans and activities to accommodate different learning needs. Provide extra support for struggling learners and challenge more advanced learners with more complex questions.
• Developing fluency: Provide tasks that encourage students to form and answer WH-questions in conversations and dialogues.