‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’ Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practise.

The main aim of chapter 5 Hargie,O. (2011) is taking a more in depth look different types of questions and how effective they are for communication. These types of questions can be used to get the right information dependant on the situation. For example, in a teaching environment or between a doctor and a patient.

There are a few themes that run throughout this chapter including crime and health. However, one of the main themes is education due having subheadings dedicated to the effects of leading questions on children, as well as most of the subheadings having one or more references to children or the general classroom setting.

One claim made in the chapter is that process questions are more effective in raising levels of participation and achievement of people with a high intellectual ability, with recall questions being more beneficial for those who have a lower level of ability. Rubie-Davies (2007) discovered that teachers who had higher than average expectations for pupils used more higher order questions that those with below average expectations. By consistently using process questions, this is more likely to stimulate pupils with a high IQ but might be confusing for those with a lower IQ. This evidence backs up the claim.

One of the ideas presented is the function of pausing as a silent probe is advantageous as pausing before the question means the attention of the listener is stimulated which in turn gives the question greater impact. Rowe (1969, 1974a, 1974b) found that increasing the wait time after pupil’s responses, the length of these responses increased from 7 words with a 1 second pause compared to 28 words with a 3 second pause. She also discovered that pupils who did not contribute much started talking and produced good ideas.

I agree with most of the chapter except for a statement made by (Smith et al., 2006). It was stated the because closed questions have a structured control that this was one of the main reasons that teachers used more closed than open questions. I feel that more open questions are asked in order to gain a better understanding of how the child is coping with a learning objective or is feeling generally.

I was able to identify a couple of words I was unsure of by finding them on the Critical Dictionary of Education and noting them down for reference in the future.

Reference List

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