Constraint questions: how can they be taught to children with special needs?

The current study was designed to determine whether efficient question-asking strategies can be taught to children who do not display them spontaneously. The relative efficacy of two different teaching techniques was compared to determine which would increase the quality of question asking. This study is descriptive in nature. Twenty-eight students served as subjects. The treatment took place during a 28-day time period and consisted of a pre-test, two teaching sessions and a post-test session, each 14 days apart. An array of 25 pictorial objects and animals was used to stimulate constraint questions, which are more efficient than hypothesis questions for information seeking. A major finding in this investigation was that 6-year-old children with special needs could be taught to ask constraint questions and generalise this strategy using a self-evaluative teaching method. The number of constraint questions asked increased significantly using this method in comparison to the modelling teaching method. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between teaching methods and cognitive-linguistic strategy development.