Leveled Questions
Leveled Questions is a differentiated questioning practice in which the teacher asks the same content question in several linguistically calibrated forms so that every emergent bilingual student can answer meaningfully at their current English proficiency level while engaging the same rigorous concept. The cognitive demand stays constant for all students; what shifts is the linguistic load of the prompt and the form of response invited (a gesture, a one-word answer, a phrase, a sentence, or an extended explanation). It pairs each proficiency level with question types and response demands the learner can already handle while stretching toward the next level. Used well, it lets a beginning-level student and an advanced student participate in the same discussion of the same text or problem at the same time.
How it’s typically applied
- 1Identify the core content concept and the single rigorous question you want all students to engage (for example, 'Why did the character make that choice?'). Keep the thinking demand the same for everyone.
- 2Determine each student's current English proficiency level using TELPAS data, the ELPS proficiency level descriptors, and ongoing classroom observation, so you target the right linguistic demand for each learner.
- 3Write a tiered set of prompts for that one concept, calibrating linguistic demand at each level: non-verbal point-and-show prompts at Pre-Production; yes/no, either/or, and one-word prompts at Beginning; short open-ended 'where/when/who/how' prompts at Intermediate; and 'why/how/what if' explanation and justification prompts at High Intermediate and Advanced.
- 4Attach scaffolds to the prompts that need them: sentence stems and frames, a word bank or picture support, partner rehearsal time, and visuals, so the response is supported rather than the content simplified.
- 5During discussion, intentionally direct the version of the question that matches each student, and give generous wait time (especially during the early receptive period) so processing in a second language is honored.
- 6Affirm and revoice every response, then extend it upward: recast a one-word answer into a full sentence the student can echo, or ask a follow-up that nudges the learner toward the next proficiency level.
- 7Track responses formatively to confirm the level you are targeting still fits, and adjust the prompt set as students grow so the questions keep stretching them just beyond their current level.
Why it works for emergent bilingual students
Emergent bilingual students arrive with full conceptual and reasoning ability and a first language whose academic skills and knowledge transfer to English as their second language develops (Cummins, 1979). What is still developing is the English needed to display that thinking, and conversational fluency typically emerges well before cognitive academic language, so students can reason rigorously before advanced English appears. Leveled Questions separates cognitive demand from linguistic demand, so a student in an early stage of English can demonstrate sophisticated thinking through a gesture, a word, or their home language rather than being excluded from rich discourse. This treats their bilingualism and funds of knowledge as a resource. The practice operationalizes Krashen's (1982) comprehensible input by pitching each prompt just beyond the learner's current level (i+1), making participation possible while still stretching language, which also lowers the affective filter. Because each prompt invites a response the student can actually produce, it creates the structured output opportunities that push interlanguage forward (Swain, 1985), and the interaction it generates supplies the negotiation of meaning that drives acquisition (Long, 1996).
Adapting it across proficiency levels
Pre-Production
At Pre-Production, honor the early receptive period and ask questions answerable non-verbally: 'Point to the...', 'Show me...', 'Is this the ___?' answered with a nod, gesture, picture choice, or thumbs up/down. Provide extended wait time, model the answer, and accept responses in the home language or through pointing. The student demonstrates understanding through highly scaffolded prompts and visuals without being required to speak in English yet.
Beginning
At Beginning, ask questions that invite one- to two-word and formulaic responses: yes/no questions, either/or questions ('Is it a solid or a liquid?'), and labeling or listing prompts. Pair every prompt with a word bank, picture, or sentence starter so the student can locate the language to answer, and revoice the response into a full sentence for the student to echo.
Intermediate
At Intermediate, ask short open-ended questions ('Where...?', 'When...?', 'What happened next?', 'How are these alike?') that call for phrases and simple sentences. Provide sentence frames and stems ('I think ___ because ___'), allow partner rehearsal before answering, and accept developing grammar while attending to meaning. Begin asking for brief reasons to bridge toward explanation.
High Intermediate / Advanced
At High Intermediate and Advanced, ask higher-order, open-ended questions that require explanation, justification, prediction, and synthesis ('Why...?', 'How...?', 'What if...?', 'What is your evidence?', 'How would you compare...?'). Use academic-conversation moves (elaborate, support with evidence, challenge an idea) and expect connected, content-rich discourse. Scaffold the academic register and precise vocabulary rather than basic syntax, pushing students toward grade-level cognitive academic language.
In the classroom
In a 5th-grade science lesson on why ice floats, the teacher poses one core question to the whole class: "Why does the ice float on top of the water?" A Pre-Production student is asked to point to where the ice is and give a thumbs up or down to "Does the ice sink?" A Beginning student answers an either/or prompt, "Does ice float because it is heavier or lighter than water?", with the words 'heavier' and 'lighter' on a card. An Intermediate student answers "Where is the ice, and where is the water?" using the stem "The ice is ___ and the water is ___." An Advanced student responds to "Why does ice float, and what would happen if it didn't?" with an extended explanation using academic vocabulary such as density and molecules. All four students reason about the same phenomenon at the same time, each producing language at the edge of their current proficiency.
Research basis
Language is acquired when learners receive comprehensible input pitched slightly beyond their current level (i+1); leveled questions calibrate each prompt to be comprehensible yet stretching for that learner, and reducing anxiety lowers the affective filter so input can be processed.
Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Pergamon Press. [link]
Academic skills and conceptual knowledge developed in a first language transfer to a second through linguistic interdependence, and cognitive/academic language proficiency can be empirically distinguished from interpersonal conversational skills, so questions can engage rigorous thinking before advanced English emerges.
Cummins, J. (1979). Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the optimum age question and some other matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism, 19, 121-129. [link]
Teachers should match question types to the learner's stage of second language acquisition (nonverbal point-to prompts at the earliest stage, yes/no and either/or at early production, and why/how/explain prompts at speech emergence and beyond), keeping cognitive demand high while adjusting linguistic demand.
Hill, J. D., & Flynn, K. M. (2006). Classroom instruction that works with English language learners. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Effective sheltered instruction promotes interaction and engages English learners at all proficiency levels in higher-order thinking through scaffolded questioning rather than reducing content rigor.
Echevarria, J., Vogt, M. E., & Short, D. J. (2017). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model (5th ed.). Pearson.
Pushing learners to produce output that stretches their current interlanguage promotes acquisition; questions calibrated to invite a response just beyond the learner's level create structured output opportunities.
Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In S. Gass & C. Madden (Eds.), Input in second language acquisition (pp. 235-253). Newbury House.
Negotiation of meaning during interaction, prompted by questions and clarification, makes input comprehensible and drives second language development.
Long, M. H. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie & T. K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 413-468). Academic Press.
Structured academic conversation moves (elaborate, support with evidence, build on or challenge ideas) develop the higher-level oral language and critical thinking that advanced-level leveled questions target.
Zwiers, J., & Crawford, M. (2011). Academic conversations: Classroom talk that fosters critical thinking and content understandings. Stenhouse Publishers.
The WIDA Can Do Descriptors specify what language learners can do across proficiency levels for each language domain, providing a basis for calibrating questions and expected responses to a student's level.
WIDA. (2016). WIDA Can Do Descriptors, Key Uses edition. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. [link]
Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, the Texas English Language Proficiency Standards define five proficiency levels (Pre-Production, Beginning, Intermediate, High Intermediate, and Advanced) with proficiency level descriptors that support targeted instruction across all content areas.
Texas Education Agency. (2024). English language proficiency standards, grades 4-12, adopted 2024, 19 Tex. Admin. Code § 120.21. [link]
Sources reviewed by an independent second-language-acquisition specialist and an adversarial citation audit.
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