UWS BA ePDPs

Task: to read a chapter from the book specified and to write a review on the given chapter

The main aim of the chapter is to break apart the meaning and concept of questioning. The chapter goes into great detail explaining the various types of questions and how they are used in order to receive suitable responses. There are many strong themes in the chapter including: the purpose of questions, the types of questions and asking questions within a context.

Throughout the chapter it became apparent that many interesting claims had been made. One point that I did agree with is that recall questions are considered to be more appropriate for learners who are not as advanced as others. This is due to recall questions only requiring facts to be remembered and regurgitated and is usually just testing the respondent’s ability to do so. However, on the other hand, process questions require a much deeper thought process which means that the reader may have to make their own conclusions before they respond. Ultimately, making process questioning more complex and thought provoking than recall questioning. There is evidence to support my point of view – Rubie-Davies, 2007.

Rudyard Kipling’s question classification of What, When, How, Where and when states that this take on questioning can mould and shape the answer that the questioner requires. Personally, this is an argument that I find rather fascinating to read.

Within the chapter it also mentions that leading questions can instil a sense of stress and pressure in children and that closed questions may be better suited to this age group.

Overall, the chapter was an interesting piece and it has broadened my understanding of questioning as well as improving my understanding of all the main themes of the text.

The main aim of the chapter was to illistrate that there are many ways in which you can ask questions. Key themes in this chapter is that questioning gives people a better understanding, questioning is important in communicating and that there are many types go ways to ask a question. it was shown that when answering certain types of questions people may find some types easier to answer than other people do the text states that “some open questions place more restrictions upon respondents than others”. There was also connections made throughout the piece of writing it was especially shown that questions are a vital part in communicating with people. in this chapter I do not think there is anything in which I disagree with as this allowed me to learn more about the ways I can use questions within a classroom and learn about all the other ways of questions and how to use them.

Main Themes

The main theme of this text is to convey how questions can and will effect your communication. It gives reader an insight into how questions can be asked and whether they can be effective or ineffective to the listener. The main themes are:

1. The different types of questions
2. The purpose of questions (Why do we ask them)
3. How effective different questions can be depending on the context they are used in.

Claims and Evidence

This text claimed that throughout school children are frightful of answering questions due to class mates reacting in a negative manner. The US study mentioned within the text goes on to further convey that throughout a student life and as they grow older they become much less comfortable with answering out in class. As someone who has always had quite a ‘loud’ manner, I cannot agree with this statement on a personal level within my school time but since going through college and doing a course I wasn’t sure about, I can agree that I was much more conscious of the answers I was giving and was typically more embarrassed if they were wrong. As a student teacher this experience has allowed me to become more confident in asking for help and this is something I can possibly bring to the children in a classroom.

Analysis and Evaluation

Within the example with the children from the ‘Orkney satanic abuse’ trail, I cannot agree with the question type used. It was portrayed in a manner that was far above the child’s age and was conducted by a biased questioner. By using these types of leading questions, a questioner can begin to manipulate and trick a child into saying things that are just not true to benefit the latter party. Children can find these questions extremely difficult due to them being asked in an adult manner, too advanced for a young child to comprehend.

Knowledge and Comprehension

Throughout the text there were multiple words I did not understand, Some were as follows:

• Presuppositions – a thing tacitly assumed beforehand at the beginning of a line of argument or course of action.
• Elicit – To evoke or to draw out of someone.
• Acquiesce – accept something reluctantly but without protest.

The funnel sequence

This is a theory in which people are asked an open question which may have multiple answers. For example: ‘What do you do after school?’ Multiple answers can be given and eventually the questioner will begin to whittle the question down to a closed question by giving respondents knowledge, context and information in order for them to all get the same answer. Closed questions must only have one answer. ‘The funnel sequence’ is in reference to a funnel in which it begins very wide, with multiple answers’ and begins to narrow as you come towards the closed question and the final, only answer.

I think that the main aim of the chapter is to highlight the importance of using a wide variety of different questioning techniques within our daily communication.

I have identified some of the key themes in this chapter to be:

• different questioning techniques
• the purpose of different questions
• where these different questions are used

Many academic sources were used throughout this chapter in order to back up all the claims that were made. An interesting claim by Hargie is that “questions are at the heart of interpersonal encounters.” This means that Hargie believes that being able to ask questions in a number of different contexts is an interpersonal skill which can lead to either the success or failure in different scenarios. Due to this I therefore believe that questioning is essential to help an individual acquire certain pieces of knowledge, that they may never have got, is required to become successful in their field. A theory which supports this is the ‘funnel sequence.’ This is when the individual questioning starts off with asking very generic open questions however, over the course of the questioning period , the questions become more closed and specific allowing them to pin point a definite answer.

I agree with many of the ideas in this chapter however, one claim that I disagree with is the process of questioning. I believe that the process is suitable for all ages including younger children, as they are just as capable but just need a bit more initial support  and time to help comprehend and provide a well-thought through, established answer.

 

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

Group and Leadership

• Within the group there was not one clear group leader. Everyone all took part in leading the team in some way.
• It was informal as everyone was putting their own points across and everyone was ensuring they listened to them.
• For me there was nothing difficult about working in my group as everyone in the group were friendly and were all hard working.

Explaining

• In my opinion I felt that my team mates were very clear when it came to explaining what we were doing when building the den. if anyone was not understanding what was being explained them someone else in the team would try to help and explain it in another way for them to understand.
• When building the den I think my team possibly forgot the last part of the 5ps the postmortem. as once we were finished that was it done and we didn’t reflect on what we did well as team or go through possibly what could have been changed with the process which we used.

Environment 

•  Being outdoor I feel made our communication a little less formal than it would of been if we were in a class discussing.
• Changes I made when explaining something that I might not of used in a typical classroom setting was I was showing people what I meant by physically doing it and showing them exactly what I meant.
• I feel that being the outside we had a speak a little but louder but not too loud to the point of shouting. we had to speak louder to ensure that everyone was hearing us. a strategic which we could of done to make it easier on the speaker and listener was possibly standing in a corner to ensure that the sound is slightly being blocked out.
• The environment we were in could be distracting as there was so much to see. We could overcome this by ensuring that we are in a place which has the least activity so that people are not turning around to see what is going on behind them.

Negotiation

• In my team everyone negotiations were taken into consideration and were put to the test to see if they would work. If what was being suggested was going to work we would then have a discussion to see if we wanted to change it or keep it the same.
• I think that there were no challenges when making negotiations as everyone was listened to and there was good communication within my group.

Chapter 5 is written about questions and explores key themes relating to this such as the importance of asking questions, techniques of questioning, the purpose of questioning and the contexts that questions may be asked in. Generally, the main aim of the chapter is to discuss a deeper meaning of why we ask questions and the role they play in our society. One of the first claims made in this chapter is that the ability to ask questions is a core interpersonal skill and that asking questions can influence success and failure across different contexts. What I understand from this is that through questioning a person can use questioning techniques to enhance their knowledge of a topic to increase their chance of success.  

In this chapter Hargie also claims that including subtle leads into the question you are asking can influence the answer that the person being questioned gives. The wording of a question can indicate your own opinion and generate a biased response from the respondent.  

Hargie also discusses that questioning can induce stress from the respondent, particularly if the questions are rapid (a technique used by lawyers to apply pressure to the suspect to catch them out). I found this section useful as he also advises that asking too many questions can evoke stress and anxiety in pupils which is not the intended outcome. I will bear this in mind when I am asking my pupils questions in the classroom however I do feel that asking several questions to pupils is very important in order to gage their understanding of the topic.  

The aim of the chapter is to explain the importance of questioning and the different types that exist. The three different themes that Hargie covers within this chapter are the different types of questions, the different impacts questions can have, and the importance of questions in the classroom.

One claim that Hargie makes within the chapter is that questions are key to a child’s cognitive development. the evidence used to back this up was “it is important for the child’s development that parents take time to answer these questions”

Another claim that Hargie makes is that without questions conversations and interaction would be limited. his example used in the text was a group of four having to discuss the events of the week and conversation was very difficult.

Another claim that Hargie makes is that children will not ask questions within the classroom environment as they would be worried that their peers would judge them. one way Hargie backs this up is by quoting Dillon (1998) who states that “one major reason given by students for their reluctance to ask questions in class is fear of negative reaction from classmates”.

One claim that Hargie makes that i do not agree with is that “some open questions place more restriction upon respondents than others.” i disagree with this as i find that open questions allow for more varied and detailed answers that you may not be able to get from a closed question.

Some words  from the chapter that i did not understand were:  presuppositions, corroborated,  multifaceted and stenographer.

Reference

Finding out about others: the skill of questioning, chapter 5- Hargie, O.(2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: research, theory and practice 5th ed. London: Routledge