What are the best ways to teach ESL students to ask questions?

To teach students a question words and structure we can practice exercises where students create their own questions using different question words and sentence structures. Additionally, provide plenty of opportunities for students to ask and answer questions in pairs or small groups to build confidence and fluency for example asking questions like "Who is your favorite actor?" or "Who is in your family?" Create a map of the school or local area and have students ask and answer questions about locations. Use timelines or schedules to teach time expressions. Have students ask about events in the past, present, and future and etc.

To provide models and feedback we can praise students for correct usage and improvement, reinforcing their efforts and celebrate students' progress by showcasing their ability to ask meaningful questions in various contexts or encourage students to ask for clarification if they don't understand something.

Providing models and feedback is indeed a crucial aspect of teaching ESL students how to ask questions effectively. By presenting examples and offering constructive feedback, teachers can scaffold their students' learning process, guiding them towards improved proficiency in forming and utilizing questions across various contexts and communication situations. This approach fosters not only linguistic competence but also confidence and autonomy in language acquisition.

I have just returned from holiday in Italy. I knew my group of A2 learners would be interested. I showed them my photos but we only talk about them in response to a question from them. This turned out to be an amazing team Building exercise as well as a lesson in using the correct word order for asking questions in English! It was genuine, they were curious and they really wanted to know something-motivated like never before!

To use authentic and relevant material l will ask students to listen to the dialogues and practice asking questions based In the context and ask students to formulate questions they might ask if they were interested in the products or services advertised that encourage them to ask questions or express their opinions based on the content they see or we can ask students to role playing to take on different roles and practice asking and answering questions accordingly.

??To create interactive and collaborative tasks we can encourage them to ask open-ended questions to elicit more detailed responses and ask their question to a partner or group member and discuss the answer that encourage students to ask relevant questions to learn more about the topic .

To encourage self reflection and self correction we can encourage them to set achievable goals and develop action plans to work towards those goals and demonstrate how to reflect on the purpose of the question, consider the appropriate question word and structure, and anticipate the response.

*Write some flashcards containing basic common questions, which are usually asked by pre-intermediate language learners, and their meaning in students’ mother tongue. Ask students to read flashcards and memorize questions. Strictly ask pupils to use those questions when they need to. Students who ask a question in their mother tongue must bring some sweets for their classmates as a penalty. *Establish Telegram or Whatsapp debating groups under your supervision. Encourage students to ask questions about recently taught subjects. Fix their mistakes if they make any, indirectly teaching them how to ask a question accurately.