Call on

How it is used

Used mostly in American English. Teachers call on students who raise their hands, or call on students at random. Cold calling means calling on students who have not volunteered. British teachers often say 'ask' or 'choose', and language teachers sometimes 'nominate'.

Example sentences

1. I call on students at random so everyone stays ready to answer.

2. She called on Deniz, who hadn't spoken all lesson.

Common collocations

• call on a student
• call on someone at random
• cold calling
• call on volunteers

Related terms

• raise your handAn instruction asking students to lift one hand in the air when they want to answer, ask a question or show agreement, instead of calling out.
• check for understandingTo find out during a lesson whether students have really understood an explanation or instruction, usually by asking targeted questions or giving a quick task.
• elicitTo get information, ideas or answers from students by asking questions or giving clues, instead of telling them directly.
• student engagementHow involved, interested and active students are in their learning, shown by their attention, effort, participation and curiosity.

More terms: Classroom Language

• homework
• hand out
• hand in
• go over
• settle down
• dismiss