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. 5th ed. London: Routledge.
