Month: October 2017

Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5th ed. London: Routledge.

Throughout chapter five it is clear that the main aim is to discuss questions and the importance of questioning in different situations.  in my opinion key themes which are shown are teaching; types of questions and children’s education.

An example of a  claim made in this chapter would be that open questions allow for more discussion over a longer time. Evidence used in this chapter is from (Hill, 2004:118), which says that open questions has the effect of “encouraging clients to talk longer and more deeply about their concerns”. The chapter agrees by saying in a classroom environment it would result in children taking more control of the lesson as they would be discussing to their varying degrees of prior knowledge.

There are a lot of arguments present in this chapter an example of one would be that teachers must be trained in questioning asking  in order to be able to teach children and help them to understand. Evidence to support this argument is made by Morgan and Saxton (2006:46), that states that if teachers want “students to think about what they are learning so that learning becomes part of their view of themselves and the world, you have to ask questions that will help them understand… and help them think about the meanings being made.” This is further support by Hargie (1983:190), which argues that during training “attention should be given to means whereby teachers can increase their use of thought-provoking questions as opposed to factual or recall questions.” I agree with this argument as teachers need to make sure they are using all of their skills including questioning to explore areas of the curriculum in depth and variety for the children’s learning.

There was not really a part i disagreed with however i felt that points differed in their importance to the overall document.

References: Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5th ed. London: Routledge.

The man aim of this chapter was to analyse questioning in more depth. In which after reading this has showed me the qualities, importance and different aspects of questioning, ones that I would have never thought of before now.

Hargie explores many themes throughout this chapter he opens with first of all giving us context of why he chose to discuss questioning. He shows how something so simple can mean so much to us with this first quote:″We all know how to ask questions- after all, we have been doing it since we could talk- but as you likely realize becoming a questioner is hard″ Morgan and Saxon (2006:12) This is why many of us believe that questioning is pretty straightforward because we can do it without having to think too hard about it. While that is true I have found after reading this chapter there is a lot more to questioning as it more complex than just words formed into a sentence. As once you look into questioning in more depth you find that there is a lot more different structures and types of questions and in fact there is more benefits to asking a question than just finding out an answer.

Human interactions make us who we are, as the more we have the more open and effective at communicating we become. Without realising we use questions in our everyday human interactions and not giving it too much thought we are able to form a question in our head and decide what context to say it in all before we open our mouths to say it. Also sometimes there is other factors like our body language and our gestures that can indicate to a person that a question is about to be asked. This therefore allows that person to fully engage and even sometimes predict what question might be presented to them. I think it is important to note that questioning is a matter of skill, and if you ask the right questions this leads to more effective communication and information as the right question gets straight to the point.

In this Chapter Hargie explains that any reply to a question can be split into two groups. The first one is called the ‘preferred’ and this refers to when the response is what the questioner expected it to be and with the other group the ‘dispreferred’ is when the respondent replies in the complete opposite direction of what was expected. After all asking questions is a way of showing that you want more depth or to discuss a topic that you are unsure about. It is known that children are the most likely to ask more questions than adults and this is because at a young age we seem to be more inquisitive always looking for the answer to questions. Hargie highlights that at this very young age it is very important for the parent to take their time and answer and listen to what their child has to say after all this all plays a huge part in their learning and development process.

After reading this chapter I have now grown a deeper understanding for questioning and the effects of asking the right questions. I now understanding that asking questions is beneficial and healthy for my brain as it keeps it always wanting to know more and learning more as I go. What I can now take from this is how crucial it is to always take the time to give children your attention whenever they ask a question and not to brush it off to the side or ignore them as I now know the effects that could have on their future development.

″He who asks a question remains a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask remains a fool forever.″

References: ‘Finding out about others; the skill of questioning’ Hargie, O (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5th. Ed. London: Routledge.

The main aim of this chapter is to convey the importance of asking questions. The author explains how, to most people, questioning seems very straightforward, but in reality, it is a very complex feature of communication.

As the author describes different ways in which questions are important, he repeatedly mentions the education system and learning. Other themes in the text include the effect of questioning in social interactions and also in a professional context.

A claim made in the chapter is that the way in which questions are contextualised can affect acquiescence. The evidence for this is in the context of asking people about their earliest memory:   if you say something like “If you don’t remember it’s all right” (i.e.  low expectancy conditions) as opposed to “Tell me when you get an earlier memory” (i.e. high expectancy conditions), you may not get the best answer out of the person. Hirt et al. (1999) showed earliest reported life memories from respondents of 3.45 years and 2.28 years respectively, showing that high expectancy conditions can produce a better answer.

Hargie states that “with over talkative clients”, open questions “may be less appropriate”. Despite agreeing with this to a certain extent, I disagree that this is the full picture. Open questions allow for room for an unexpected answer, which definitely does not always mean an irrelevant answer. Out-of-the-box thinking is welcome with open questioning: if we always asked closed questions, we wouldn’t have the platform for imagination and progression that open questions gives us.

When reading the chapter, I was unsure of the word “acquiescence”.  I looked it up to find that it means the reluctant acceptance of something without protest.

A concept in the chapter that I found particularly interesting is the effects of leading questions upon children. The section spoke about how easy it is to ‘contaminate’ a child’s statement through the use of suggestive language. This distorting effect particularly affects younger children (3 – 5.5 years) as they are less able to resist suggestion than older ones (5.5 – 8 years) (Hardy and van Leeuwen (2004)).

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the different types of questions and found it fascinating that questions have such a big impact on our every day life.

References: Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’, in Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5^th ed. London: Routledge.

Upon reading chapter five it is clear that the main aim of the chapter is to illustrate the many ways in which questions are a vital part of learning. Throughout the chapter there are many themes that are illustrated such as; the effects that questions have on children, the effects of questions in the classroom, how questions can improve relationships and the importance of questions. Within the theme ‘the effects our questions have on children’ it highlights throughout the necessary use of caution when asking children leading questions such as ‘did someone tell you to say that? Did someone tell you to lie’ as using these questions children are more likely to become aggressive and reluctant to answer the questions as they are aware that you do not believe them and in turn they are less likely to tell the truth or confide in you. These claims are backed up in an investigation by the times 2004 surrounding child abuse.

Although I agree with the majority of the authors comments throughout the chapter I do disagree with particular quote within the ‘questions and control’ section. During the section the author quotes Bold (2009) “questions allow the questioner to control the conversation by requesting to engage the addressee to engage with a specific topic” while questions allow the questioner to decide the conversations direction they do not know the addressee’s knowledge on the certain subject and therefore the addressee could quickly gain control of the conversation.

Overall, I found the chapter a very beneficial read. It provided a deeper insight into the many different types of questions and the way they can shape conversations and/or relationships. Most importantly I feel the chapter highlighted the importance of being mindful in the way we ask questions to young children as it can greatly improve or affect their learning.

References:

‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’ Hargie, O. (2011).Skilled Interpersonal Communiction: Research, Theory and Practice. 5th ed. London: Routledge.

 

The main aim of “Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice, Chapter 5” is to explore the act of questioning.

There are 4 key themes explored in the chapter: what is questioning, questions and social interaction, how questions control a conversation and types of questions.

One of the claims made in the chapter is “Questions allow the questioner to control the conversation.” Page 121 This claim is backed up with the evidence found in Baxter et al. (2006) study. The way in which a question is asked influences the way a question is responded to. For example, the study revealed that a question asked in a firm and formal manner meant that a respondent altered their initial answer. They thought about what they said more carefully.

There are a few arguments presented in the chapter. Both sides of the open/closed questions argument are presented. Positive and negatives are presented. The conclusion that most texts suggest that open questions are favoured to gain more accurate and detailed information.

There were a few words in the chapter I was unsure of:

• Ubiquitous – found everywhere
• Recalcitrant – unwilling to cooperate with those in authority
• Efficacy – to produce an intended result
• Parlance – speaking a manner specific to a professional
• Inoculated – to protect from

References
‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’, in Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5th ed. London: Routledge.

 

The aim of this chapter is to show that question are vital in communication. We question everything and it is so important in education to question to learn. Not only should the children question but the teachers also.

One of the key themes is education. All the points in the passage lead back to the central concern of education. “Information seeking is a core human activity that is central to learning, decision making and problem solving”. Ultimately questioning is what lays the foundation for life long learning and it is so important that children are able to question everything to understand what they are learning instead of just being told everything without elaboration.

 

Stress is a theme which is touched upon. The way you ask questions can lead to anxiety and make the situation for the child unpleasant thus it is not healthy for the child’s mental health and can lead to the child from holding back from answering future questions. So although questioning is important, the way you introduce them is also important. In the classroom rapid fire questioning like in the court room is not sensible.

Another key theme is equality. The passage states that those who are “male, white, high income groups, those with higher self-esteem, those who felt accepted by the teacher” feel more at ease with asking questions. Clearly, this shows that the more predominant and wealthier feel more confident within themselves and that minority groups have insecurities which holds them back from learning. However the fact that those who feel accepted by the teacher fall into the same box highlights that a teacher can do something to break these barriers.

 

˜Finding out about others: the skill of questioning Hargie, O. (2011)

Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practise. 5th ed.

London: Routledge, Chapter 5, p117-153

Personally I believe that the aim of this chapter is to develop an understanding of questioning, the importance of questioning and the relationship between questions and learning. In addition, probes are developed in the chapter with their specific link to questioning.

The theme of education was developed throughout the text. This is represented through the importance of questioning to develop a wider understanding of specific topics or outcomes.

As well as this, authority can be examined as a theme in the sense that asking or answering questions can give control and dominance to the interrogator or the latter.

The topic of teacher to pupil questions is investigated. This is aroused by a discussion regarding the importance of children’s maturity and development through the experience of questioning and answering. This is then backed up by many statistics, however I found Dillon (1982) to have the most influential and understanding point:

“In a review of such studies, Dillon(1982) reported results to show that teachers ask about two questions per minute while their pupils ask about two questions per minute, while their pupils taken as a whole only ask around two questions per hour, giving an average of one question per pupil per month.”

Specifically within chapter 5 an argument is formed around arrogant thoughts of patients when enquiring with healthcare professionals. This is obviously regarding someone’s own health, if this is the case nobody should jeprodise their health for the sake of asking a silly question. In fact professionals want you to ask questions so that they know how well you have grasped your diagnosis. The argument however is classed as invalid due to the modern self diagnosis from the likes of ‘Dr Google’.

I found the chapter as a whole rather self explanatory and repetitive due to the nature of the document. I personally did not disagree with any of the points mentioned in the text, it was more a matter of not potentially grasping some points as well as others.

Unambiguously was a word which had drawn in my attention. This means to make something unclear.

Echo probes are used to reiterate what a person has said in a slightly different context to adapt further questioning.

Due to reading this chapter I feel the aim is to help people recognise the importance and power of questioning. The skill of questioning is found in every area of society and social interaction and begins at a young age as children are keen to learn about the world and environment around them.

A theme portrayed throughout this chapter is the effectiveness and crucial role questioning has in a child’s development, maturation and everyday life. Which leads into the idea given of how parents should listen to their children’s questions and take the time to answer them and help them understand what it is they want to know. Other themes within this chapter include the power of questions, the different types of questions and the effects they have as well as the responses people give when asked question and why they may respond this way.

The way people and children respond to questions depends on how the question is asked and how comfortable the person is when answering. Similarly how comfortable a person or child is has an effect on whether or not they themselves will ask a question. The chapter identifies that children within the classroom are less likely to ask questions or respond to questions being asked out of fear of getting a negative reaction from their classmates and their teacher.

The power of questioning is just that, power, depending on the situation the skill of question can be seen as a negative tool while trying to gain information. However I feel that this view of questioning should be challenged as not all questions are designed to make people uncomfortable and stressed. Questioning is an important skill and should not be abused so that the questioner feels like they are above those being questioned as this creates an uneven balance in power. While also creating a negative view on the technique, skill and importance of asking questions to gather necessary information which should be encouraged and not discouraged.

 

Reference List:

‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’, in Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5^th ed. London: Routledge.

I believe that the main aim of this chapter is to highlight that questions are key to communication. It would be extremely difficult to communicate with other people if questions were not involved. Also, that questions can be very beneficial to us when communicating with other people. Some of the main themes established in this chapter are the importance and complexity of questions, education and children.

One claim that is made in the chapter is that it is very important for children to ask questions. However, in a classroom setting they may be too afraid to ask questions. This may be due to the fear of being wrong or being too embarrassed to speak out in front of other classmates. This can be backed up as Tizard et al (1983) who found that “on average per hour the children asked 24 questions at home and only 1.4 at school”.

An argument that is highlighted in the chapter is that “asking questions is a fundamental part of communication and as such will be an important factor in the work of many professionals”. This statement was made by Walterman et al (2001:477). I agree with this statement as questions play a main role in communication.

I strongly agree with the majority of the chapter. However, I disagree with the statement that suggests that questions are uneffective when asked in a large audience. I believe that questions can always be beneficial to some extent and when interactive questions are asked within large audiences it will always benefit someone and also help to consolidate information.

Reference List:

‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’, in Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5^th ed. London: Routledge.