Summary:
“Does everyone understand?” gets a room full of nods and doesn’t actually confirm anything. This post makes the case for concept checking questions (CCQs), a core CELTA and TKT technique, as a real diagnostic tool instead. It explains what a CCQ actually is, a targeted question that tests whether students grasp the meaning of a grammar structure, and breaks down how good checks work across form, meaning, and use. From there, it lays out the rules for writing CCQs that actually work: keeping the language simpler than the target structure, never using the target grammar in the question itself, and mixing yes/no, either/or, and wh- questions instead of relying on easy guesses. Real classroom examples walk through CCQ sequences for “used to” and the present perfect, and timelines are introduced as a visual partner that does much of the same work without words. The post also places CCQs correctly within a lesson, right after presenting meaning and before controlled practice, and flags common mistakes like overloading students with questions or only ever checking the strongest student in the room. The core message: a genuine question takes thirty extra seconds and saves an entire re-teach later.
Picture this. You’ve just presented the second conditional. You wrote a clean example on the board, highlighted the form, and even drew a little diagram. You turn to the class and ask the question every teacher asks on autopilot: “Does everyone understand?”
Twenty heads nod. You move on to practice. Three minutes later, half the class writes “If I will win the lottery, I will buy a house.”
If this has happened to you, you’re not a bad teacher. You just asked the wrong question. This is where concept checking questions, or CCQs, come in. They’re one of the most practical tools to come out of the CELTA and TKT teacher training tradition. Once you start using them properly, you’ll wonder how you ever taught grammar without them.
Why “Does Everyone Understand?” Doesn’t Actually Work
There are a few honest reasons students nod along even when they haven’t understood a grammar point.
Some genuinely believe they’ve understood. They only discover the gap when they try to produce the language themselves. Others understand parts of it, the form perhaps, but not the meaning. A yes or no question doesn’t leave room for “sort of.” Some simply don’t want to be the one student in the room asking the teacher to explain it again.
None of this is a discipline problem. It’s a design problem. “Do you understand?” is a closed question about a feeling, not a real check on a concept. If you want a genuine answer, you need to ask a genuine question. It needs to require the student to actually use or apply the grammar point, not just report their own confidence level.
That’s the whole idea behind a concept checking question.
What Are Concept Checking Questions (CCQs)?
A concept checking question is a simple, targeted question. It tests whether a student has grasped the meaning of a grammar structure. It doesn’t test whether they can recite the rule, and it doesn’t test how confident they feel. It’s a diagnostic tool, not a comprehension survey.
Take the sentence “She’s been living in Rabat for six years.” A weak check might be: “Do you understand present perfect continuous?” A proper concept checking question looks more like this instead. “Does she live in Rabat now?” (Yes.) “Did she start living there six years ago?” (Yes.) “Is this finished?” (No.)
Notice what’s happening there. The student isn’t repeating grammar terminology back at you. Through their answers, they’re demonstrating that they’ve actually grasped the timeline and the state the sentence describes. That’s the difference between a question that checks understanding and a question that just checks politeness.
Checking Form, Meaning, and Use
Good CCQs don’t only target meaning. The best grammar checks work across three related dimensions. It’s worth knowing the difference so you know what you’re actually testing.
Form asks whether the sentence is built correctly. Is “I didn’t went to school yesterday” a good sentence? No, it should be “I didn’t go.” This isn’t a concept question in the classic sense. But checking form matters just as much as checking meaning, since a student can understand a grammar point perfectly and still produce it incorrectly.
Meaning sits at the core of what a CCQ checks. It’s about what the sentence actually communicates. Is the building described as “gigantic” big or small? Big. Simple, but it isolates exactly the piece of understanding you care about.
Use covers the situations where a structure fits. “You must not walk on the grass.” Is it okay to walk on the grass? No. This tests whether students grasp the function of the language, not just its dictionary definition.
Most grammar points genuinely have more than one use, too. That’s exactly why a single nod is never enough information. The present simple alone covers describing a permanent state, a scheduled future event, a habitual action, and even a dramatic storytelling narrative. If you only check one of those uses, you’ve only checked a fraction of what the student needs.
How to Write Concept Checking Questions That Actually Work
Writing a good CCQ is a skill. Like any skill, it gets easier with a few clear rules in mind.
Keep the Language Simpler Than the Target Structure
This is the golden rule, and new teachers break it most often. If you’re checking the second conditional, your CCQ cannot itself contain the second conditional. That defeats the entire purpose. Your question needs to sit comfortably below the level of the language you’re testing.
Say your students are learning “If I won the lottery, I would buy a house.” A workable CCQ looks something like: “Is this real or imaginary?” or “Do I have the money now?” Short, simple, and answerable without needing the very structure you’re checking.
Never Use the Target Language in the Question Itself
Related to the point above, but worth calling out on its own. Don’t ask “is this an example of present perfect?” A student who has memorized the label “present perfect” will happily say yes, even without understanding what it does. You’ll have learned nothing. Strip the grammar terminology out entirely and ask about the situation instead.
Mix Yes/No, Either/Or, and Wh- Questions
Yes or no questions are the easiest to write. But relying on them alone means students have a fifty percent chance of guessing right without understanding a thing. Mix in either/or questions like “Is this happening now, or did it already finish?” Add simple wh- questions too, using who, what, when, why, and how. This gets students actually producing language rather than just picking a side.
A good rule of thumb: three or four well chosen concept checking questions per grammar point is usually enough. You’re not running an interrogation. You’re confirming understanding quickly enough to move on to practice with confidence.
Concept Checking Questions in Action: Real Classroom Examples
Theory is one thing. Seeing it mapped onto real teaching moments is where it clicks. Here are two classic examples, the kind you’ll recognize from any CELTA input session.
Checking “Used To”
Say your model sentence is “David used to play football.” A useful sequence of CCQs might run like this.
- Did he play football in the past? (Yes.)
- Does he play now? (No.)
- Did he play once, or many times? (Many times, it was a repeated habit.)
Three short questions, and you’ve confirmed the student understands something important. “Used to” signals a past habit that has stopped. You didn’t need to mention the grammatical term at all.
Checking the Present Perfect
For “I’ve visited most of the countries in Europe,” try this sequence.
- Is this about my life experience, or one specific trip? (Life experience.)
- Do we know exactly when? (No, and it doesn’t matter.)
- Is my life finished? (No, I could visit more.)
Each question isolates one slice of the meaning that makes the present perfect genuinely tricky for learners. Together they cover the connection to the present, the vagueness of timing, and the sense of an ongoing, unfinished period.
Timelines: The Visual Partner to CCQs
Concept checking questions are powerful, but they’re not the only tool in the box. Pairing them with a visual often does half the work for you. A timeline is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a simple horizontal line with “past,” “now,” and “future” marked out, with the target sentence’s action plotted somewhere along it.
For a temporary situation like “I’m living in Australia at the moment,” draw a short, wavy line hovering just around “now.” That visually signals temporariness in a way that’s genuinely hard to put into words for a lower level class. For a repeated past habit, a row of little crosses marching up to “now” and stopping does the same job.
There’s no single correct way to draw a timeline. But once your students know the convention, a two second glance at the board answers questions that might otherwise take a paragraph of explanation.
Used together, a quick timeline plus two or three sharp CCQs will do more for genuine understanding than five minutes of verbal explanation ever will.
Where CCQs Fit Into Your Grammar Lesson
Concept checking questions aren’t a standalone activity. They belong at a specific point in the lesson. Use them right after you’ve presented the new language and highlighted its meaning, and before you move into controlled practice.
Think of the sequence like this. Build context, present the model sentence, and highlight the meaning, using a timeline if it helps. Then check understanding with your CCQs. Only after that should you move to the form, writing the structure on the board and highlighting it, before finally releasing students into practice.
The order matters. If you check understanding before you’ve actually presented and clarified the meaning, you’re testing nothing. If you skip straight to practice without checking at all, you’ll only discover the gaps later. By then, your students will already be making the same mistake across an entire worksheet.
Common Concept Checking Questions Mistakes to Avoid
A few habits are worth watching for, because they undo the whole point of the technique.
Asking questions that are really about the situation, not the language, is a common one. “Would you like to go to Paris?” tells you nothing about whether a student understands the grammar point being modeled. Piling on too many questions is another mistake. Three or four focused CCQs beat ten scattered ones.
Directing every question at the strongest student in the room defeats the purpose entirely. Spread your concept checking questions around instead. The quiet student in the back row is usually the one you most need to hear from.
Grammar rules themselves shift over time, and so does what “correct” usage looks like. That’s exactly why checking real understanding matters more than rule recitation ever could. A student who can genuinely use a structure will keep using it long after they’ve forgotten the label you gave it. That’s the real test, and it’s the one CCQs are built for.
Next time you’re tempted to ask “does everyone understand?” pause. Ask a real concept checking question instead. It takes thirty extra seconds in the lesson. It saves you an entire re-teach next week.
