In the Education Tips series, education experts in the United States give you tips about how to improve your English skills. This week, Suzanne Meyer, the assistant director at the English Language Institute at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, discusses question-asking and the development of critical thinking skills.
在教育技巧系列中，美国的教育专家为您提供有关如何提高英语技能的技巧。本周，诺克斯维尔田纳西大学英语语言学院副院长苏珊·迈耶 (Suzanne Meyer) 讨论了提问和批判性思维技能的发展。
For VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.
这是美国之音英语学习频道的教育报告。
Suzanne Meyer, the assistant director of the English Language Institute at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, says that many students need to develop critical thinking skills.
诺克斯维尔田纳西大学英语语言学院副院长苏珊·迈耶 (Suzanne Meyer) 表示，许多学生需要培养批判性思维能力。
In other words, students need to learn how to collect information, and then evaluate the information and apply it to a new context .
换句话说，学生需要学习如何收集信息，然后评估信息并将其应用到新的环境中。
"We need to get students actively engaged in inquiry , from the beginning levels on, into those levels where they really are close to professional and university contexts."
“我们需要让学生积极参与探究，从初级开始，一直到他们真正接近专业和大学背景的水平。”
One way to develop critical thinking skills, Meyer says, is to teach students to be creative about the types of questions that they ask.
迈耶说，培养批判性思维能力的一种方法是教学生创造性地提出他们提出的问题类型。
Benefits of question-asking for English learners
提问对英语学习者的好处
Meyer says that there are many benefits to using question-asking activities with English learners. Question-asking activities help students to become better language learners.
迈耶说，对英语学习者进行提问活动有很多好处。提问活动帮助学生成为更好的语言学习者。
"Question-asking overall helps students be better language learners. Not for the obvious, because you ask a question you get an answer. Often, questions are the first point of contact. And so if my question is not good, then that's going to direct the level of our conversation."
“总的来说，提问有助于学生成为更好的语言学习者。这并不明显，因为你提出问题，你就会得到答案。通常，问题是第一个接触点。所以，如果我的问题不好，那么这将直接影响我们谈话的水平。”
Meyer also says that question-asking may help develop critical thinking skills by allowing for more interactions :
迈耶还表示，提问可以通过允许更多的互动来帮助培养批判性思维技能：
"People who can ask questions are very confident. And when you are confident, you can have more interaction. That extra interaction might lead to critical thinking. Because you are more likely to actually integrate in some fashion into a new setting if you are in an ESL scenario. So, I think overall, just the whole question-asking idea has so many benefits."
“能够提出问题的人非常自信。当你自信时，你可以有更多的互动。额外的互动可能会导致批判性思维。因为如果你处于 ESL 场景中，你更有可能以某种方式真正融入新环境。所以，我认为总的来说，整个提问的想法有很多好处。”
How can you practice asking questions?
如何练习提问？
There are many strategies to improve question-asking and develop critical thinking skills. One possible strategy, says Meyer, is to use question-asking patterns that start with concrete questions and move to abstract questions.
有许多策略可以提高提问能力和培养批判性思维能力。迈耶说，一种可能的策略是使用提问模式，从具体问题开始，然后转向抽象问题。
SOURCE: SUZANNE MEYER
资料来源：苏珊·迈耶
So, for example, if students were reading a new text, they would design a series of questions using three different steps.
因此，例如，如果学生正在阅读新文本，他们将使用三个不同的步骤设计一系列问题。
In the first step, students create questions about information in the text that they are reading. In the second step, students create questions about how the information in the text connects to their own life. In the third step, students create questions about abstract ideas – ideas that came up in the questions about themselves.
第一步，学生针对他们正在阅读的文本中的信息提出问题。第二步，学生提出关于文本中的信息如何与他们自己的生活联系起来的问题。第三步，学生提出关于抽象想法的问题——在关于他们自己的问题中出现的想法。
If students follow these three steps, they have not only practiced creative ways to ask questions, they have also started practicing critical thinking.
如果学生遵循这三个步骤，他们不仅练习了创造性的提问方式，而且还开始练习批判性思维。
Example of a question-asking activity
提问活动示例
Meyer gave an example of what this activity could look like:
迈耶举了一个例子来说明这项活动的样子：
SOURCE: SUZANNE MEYER/Text is from Zwier, Lawrence J. “Fat for Brains.” Inside Reading 2. 2nd ed. Ed. Cheryl Boyd Zimmerman. Oxford: OUP, 2012.
来源：SUZANNE MEYER/文本来自 Zwier, Lawrence J.“Fat for Brains”。内读 2. 第二版。埃德。谢丽尔·博伊德·齐默尔曼。牛津：牛津大学出版社，2012。
In the activity, students read part of a story. In this case, the story is about how different foods affect a person.
在活动中，学生朗读了故事的一部分。在这个例子中，故事讲述的是不同的食物如何影响一个人。
In the first column there are questions about information in the text. One example of a question is this: How can food help a person's performance? In the second column, there are questions about how the information in the story connects to students' lives. For example, "how do I feel and act when I don't eat well?" In the third column, there are questions about abstract ideas that build on questions in the second column. The question "Even though people know some foods are unhealthy, why do they eat them?" is one example.
第一栏中有关于文本信息的问题。一个问题的例子是：食物如何帮助一个人的表现？在第二栏中，有关于故事中的信息如何与学生的生活联系起来的问题。例如，“当我吃得不好时，我的感受和行为如何？”在第三栏中，有一些关于抽象概念的问题，这些问题建立在第二栏中的问题的基础上。 “尽管人们知道某些食物不健康，但他们为什么要吃它们？”这个问题。就是一个例子。
These questions, and other questions listed in the table, are examples of how to develop questions. You should, of course, create your own questions!
这些问题以及表中列出的其他问题是如何提出问题的示例。当然，您应该创建自己的问题！
Practical tips:
实用技巧：
Meyer says that when teachers tell students which questions to answer, students are less likely to be creative about the types of questions that they ask.
迈耶说，当老师告诉学生要回答哪些问题时，学生就不太可能对他们提出的问题类型发挥创造力。
So, practice developing your own questions! Try making a list of questions that go from concrete to abstract, like the steps outlined above. Check with your teacher to make sure that your grammar is correct, and try to practice in the classroom.
所以，练习提出你自己的问题！尝试列出从具体到抽象的问题清单，就像上面概述的步骤一样。与你的老师核实，确保你的语法正确，并尝试在课堂上练习。
You can also write us your questions about this story in the comments section, or on our Facebook page. Give question-asking a try, and let us know how it works for you!
您也可以在评论部分或我们的 Facebook 页面上向我们写下您对这个故事的疑问。尝试提问，让我们知道它对您有何帮助！